North America- How to Make the Most of a Destination

Welcome to Habibi Tour

OFFICIAL BLOG OF HABIBI WORLD TRAVEL & TOUR

North America- How to Make the Most of a Destination

24 Hours Anywhere – How to Make the Most of a Destination

by Elin Hert

Elin knows what she’s talking about. She writes Las Almas Journey Guidebooks.

Yellowstone

Throughout Las Almas years there has been a clear common thread among our travelers: The desire for authenticity. Getting to the essence of a place has been Las Almas raison d’être since Day One, and we’re sure that is why curious and engaged travelers seek us out.

Whether you want to meet locals, explore national parks with a naturalist, wander around the local sculpture park, pick up the best picnic lunch, rub elbows (with locals) at a small-town café, or watch the sunset from the go-to point, Las Almas gets you there. We are that friend – the one you call to say “Hey! We’ll be in your territory soon. Tell us what we need to know!”

Here are some of our tips to help you find the true essence of a place.

Strategies for Getting to the Heart of a Place
You have arrived! Now what? It takes strategy, logic, and finesse to get to the essence of a place – meet the local people find the cool places, and partake in the unique experiences that make each place the one-and-only that it is.

If you’re on a mission to get to the heart of it all, here are some strategies. (Hint: The last strategy is the easiest – contacting Las Almas to plan your next adventure.)

ASK A LOCAL Some travelers are bolder than others, but asking people on the streets is an adventurous and fun way to source information – the pedestrian waiting at the crosswalk, your barista, or your surf instructor. “Excuse me, do you have a recommendation for…?” or “We have about two hours in town – what’s not to miss?” “What’s your favorite place for lunch?”

Jackson Lake

ASK THE HOTEL STAFF
The concierge and front desk staff are at the ready and love to share their expertise, with answers to a world of questions. If you want more than the standard answers, tell them a little bit about yourselves so you can get the best advice – for you.

PRINTED LOCAL GUIDES
These vary on how helpful they are, as they are not typically based on quality but rather list businesses that have paid to be included. That said, you might find excellent descriptions of museums, parks and local trails – and it might include a great area map.

“BEST OF” SURVEYS
Sometimes local publications do an annual “Best Of” survey with results based on local votes. Keep in mind that the publication’s demographic might not be a perfect match to you with regard to age or interests. Still, hundreds or thousands of survey responses can be a great indicator.

GO FOR A RUN, WALK, OR BIKE RIDE
One of the best ways to get to know a town or city is to hop on a bike (there might be some at the hotel for guest use) or put on your walking or running shoes. Ask for a little direction or just roam – through neighborhoods, to city parks, along a fabulous bike or walking path, or to the top of the town hill for views. It’s one version of smelling the roses – because when you’re not in the car, you really can!

Lake McDonald

Valley with opportunities for wolves, coyotes, bears, bison, elk, otters, eagles, and more

ACCOMMODATIONS LOCATION

Choosing to stay in the heart of town, by the local river, on the beach, or near the main attraction is always a win, because you can leave the car behind and walk where you want to go. Bottom line: Don’t stay near the interstate or airport unless you have to!

CONSUMER REVIEW PLATFORMS – TRIPADVISOR, Facebook , YELP, GOOGLE
These apps feature experience-driven, consumer-generated reviews – someone dines at a restaurant and posts about their experience, writing details, rating facets numerically, and posting pictures. This can be a very helpful resource if you know how to scrutinize what you see. Once you become familiar with any of these platforms, it doesn’t take too much time to become a savvy user. There are a few important considerations when looking at an entity’s ratings, and rather than taking a rating for face value, it’s best to dig in.

Who is behind this review?
Do they have similar standards, interests, and values as you? Are they traveling with family while you’re two adults? Are their kids young and yours old? Are they history buffs and you’re not? Are they gourmet-or-bust and you prefer casual, down-home? (And in the case of a bad rating, do they seem like the type that complains about everything?) How Many Ratings? How many total ratings is the entity’s ranking based on? If the #1 restaurant has a 5-star rating based on five ratings and the #2 restaurant has a 4.75-star rating based on 500 ratings, which do you feel more confident about? Number of entries factors in!

Grain of Salt. Some reviewers rate an entity poorly based on something that you find trivial – like whether the TP rolled from the top or bottom. Others might make a big deal out of a one-off experience, such as noisy neighbors or a poorly calculated wait time at a restaurant. While every experience matters, you might have to read more reviews to gauge whether the one you’re focused on is typical of the entity or not.

Search! You can search within a business’s world of reviews for characteristics that matter to you. If you want to get a feel for a hotel’s location, search for the word “location” and all reviews containing that word will be presented. Depending on what you want to know, you might search for: view, service, breakfast, WiFi, parking, etc

Fly home from Jackson with a new mantra: Wow!

Yellowstone National Park

LAS ALMAS JOURNEY GUIDEBOOK
We’ve sussed it all out and this is the bomb! When you travel on a Private Custom Journey with Las Almas, you get a personal Journey Guidebook that takes you through your trip day by day and gets you right to the heart of all the places you’ll travel to or through.

In your guidebook, the Along the Way section details stops you might be interested in as you travel from Point A to Point B, noting cool cafés, historic sites, turnoffs that lead to hidden hot springs, picnic spots, spectacular viewpoints, and not-too-far side trips.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

The Exploring section has robust information for each individual destination you visit, including history, current vibe, lay of the land, restaurants, and recommended museums, shops, galleries, parks, cool local spots, trails, bike and kayak rentals, and the best local outfitters.

WISHES TO YOU FOR HAPPY TRAVELS! Have a wonderful time finding the essence of all the places you travel!

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes You can steer yourself Any direction you choose.

–Excerpt from Las Almas, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Afoot, Travel Notes