What is ‘offbeat travel’?

Simply put, offbeat travel refers to looking beyond the ordinary tourist activities, destinations, and experiences. It means discarding any pre-conceived ideas you might have about a destination and digging deeper.

This, in my opinion, is fundamental to the travel experience – challenging your assumptions and looking beyond the surface.

Here are my top tips for offbeat travel:

1. Think experiential. Hands-on experiences where you can appreciate a way of living first-hand will help you muster a more genuine understanding of a culture, destination or activity.
2. Don’t avoid popular tourist destinations. Look for their less-visited neighbourhoods, talk to locals, and see what made the destination tick before tourists flooded in.
3. Stay or travel with a local. Whether that means chatting to someone at a bar or staying in a homestay, locals have insider’s knowledge on (to use the corny phrase) ‘undiscovered gems’. Don’t ask ‘Where should I eat?’. Instead, ask ‘Where do you eat?’.
4. Consider your impact. While having an offbeat mission is great, don’t overstep any boundaries and definitely do not intrude upon anyone’s personal space. Ask permission, act respectfully, and be mindful of how your presence can impact other people.

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Why can you trust Escape Artist Katie as a travel blog?

I have been a travel journalist since 2018 and over the years, I have worked with international media, commissioned articles from freelance writers, and collaborated with tourism boards across the globe.

My Favourite Travel Booking Resources

I have an entire page dedicated to my favourite and recommended travel resources.

However, the following resources are the bees knees, in my opinion, for booking travel. These are the booking resources that I return to time and time again.

• Skyscanner: When it comes to booking flights, I always use Skyscanner. Their tool scans the internet for the cheapest flights, presenting you with a line-up of the best flight deals at that exact moment. It also has the option to search for flights with the lowest carbon emissions, which is a win-win in my books.

• Booking.com: Unless I am staying in a hostel or in a homestay, it’s unlikely you will catch me using any other booking website than Booking.com. The intuitive interface is handy, but the most attractive part about Booking.com is that it covers a wide range of accommodation, including hotels, resorts, hostels, and more unusual accommodation types such as treehouses and glamping sites. When you continue to book with Booking.com, the Genius Program provides free discounts and upgrades, which has saved me hundreds of pounds over the years.

• Hostelworld: As a solo digital nomad, I depend upon meeting other people on the road. Hostels are an excellent place to meet likeminded people and find travel companions. Hostelworld has the largest selection of hostels, and their reviews and rating system makes it easy to tell apart the good eggs from the bad.

• Homestay: If you want a real feel for the daily life of the locals in your chosen destination, a homestay is an excellent option. Homestay has a large selection of trusted homestays where you can live and dine with locals. Get the real insider’s scoop.