15 Tips for Meaningful Journeys from the World’s First Deep Travel Magazine
Get the best tips for successful deep travel from One Planet Journey, the world’s first deep travel magazine. Editor-in-chief, Richard Lindberg guides you throughout the entire process, from planning, getting into the right mindset, how to think about budgets, concrete suggestions while at the destination, and advice for post-trip reflection. Filled with pro-tips on how to deepen your experiences so you will never want to travel in another way.
You’re here because you want, and expect, more from your journeys. It’s not enough to observe, you desire full sensory immersion with experiences that move beyond surface level tourism. You know what I mean. To understand the soul of the place, to uncover the real and gritty truth, we have to dig deeper. Connect with people, traditions, and culture to get to the genuine stories that define a destination.
It’s easier said than done, even for the ones who have the mileage to prove it. How do you go from being a passive observer to the protagonist of your own travel narrative, uncovering layers of heritage, history, and humanity in the process?
At the core, deep travel is a mindset, an attitude, a willingness to brave the unknown and emerge changed. Skip the clichés of mass tourism; create stories you’ll tell for a lifetime, not photos you will forget in a week. Here’s 15 deep travel tips on how you can make it happen.
Tips for Successful Deep Travel
1. Be Intentional
Before you go, plan and decide on a purpose. What do you want out of the journey? Is it to pursue a particular interest? Personal development? Whatever the reason, take time to dig into your destination’s history, culture, and traditions. I love to read books myself, but find the medium that suits you best, be it documentaries, inspirational articles, or social media clips. The more you know, the richer your experience will be. Stick to your plan, but make sure you have room for spontaneous and serendipitous encounters.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Once you hit the ground, don’t stop learning. Be curious, ask questions, and listen deeply. Every interaction and conversation is a chance to broaden your worldview. Challenge your preconceptions and embrace surprises. If you leave with more questions than answers, it means you’ve done well.
2. Try Normal Life
Pick a neighbourhood and make it your base. Find your favourite café (or bar) to frequent, attend a community event, and shop at nearby markets. These routines turn you from a tourist into a temporary local, giving you a richer, more grounded experience. Once you step into the everyday lives of the people who call your destination home, you might even leave with new friends, making the trip a genuine win.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Apart from the grocery store, I try hair salons, street markets, and gyms to increase the chances of local insights and authentic encounters with locals.
3. Slow or Fast – You Decide
We get this question a lot. Is it deep travel if I’m in town only for a few days? Do I have to stay for a month and practice slow travel?
The truth is, deep travel isn’t about pace. Intentionality and mindset are key. You can have an in-depth cultural experience in one day if you planned it well. Choose a select few quality places to visit. See our itineraries from London as examples. Personally, I tend to stay longer periods, sometimes a year, but normally 1-3 months.
The pressure to cram every landmark into a single trip can strip the joy out of it. This has led to the emergence of slow travel, a subset of deep travel. Instead of rushing from sight to sight, carve out time to just exist in a place. Some like to sit in a café and people-watch. Others wander aimlessly through a neighbourhood, letting the day unfold on its own terms.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Whatever time frame, decide on a purpose for the trip. It creates the proper conditions for the right things to happen.
4. Combine Travel with Work
If you have the flexibility, consider blending work and travel. “Bleisure” trips, workations, or digital nomad lifestyles allow you to spend more time in a destination, making it easier to engage in deep travel.
Through work, you can build stronger connections with the people and places around you. It’s a win-win: productivity and personal growth in one package. I take every opportunity to work from abroad. The scenery change works wonders, and you get to meet fantastic new people. Sometimes an energetic city is just what you need, other times it’s a quiet village by the sea. Different moments in life demand the right setting.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Do some research before to find dedicated co-working spaces also used by resident entrepreneurs, making it easier to form local connections.
5. Explore the Unsung Places
The world is full of destinations that don’t make the “Top 10” lists, be it countries, cities, or individual sights. Overlook them and you risk foregoing real magic. As a bonus, these spots are often less crowded, more affordable, and packed with unique stories.
These hidden gems offer a chance to experience something unspoiled by mass tourism. Plus, your visit can help support communities that rarely benefit from tourism. There is a certain convenience to the touristic areas, with their hotels and restaurants. But, if you want the real deal, checking out lesser visited neighbourhoods sets you up for finding those local secrets. I have lived in London several times in my life, and every time I choose a new neighbourhood. It’s made me understand the city in a way I never imagined.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
You can “get lost” and explore by chance encounters, but it’s also possible to receive quality tips from like-minded travellers.
6. Luxury or Budget Travel? Both work.
Hedonistic luxury traveller or budget conscious backpacker? When it comes to deep travel, the price tag is irrelevant. It’s the attitude you bring to the journey that truly matters. Not if you’re staying in a high-end lodge in the Masai Mara National Reserve or a modest guesthouse tucked in a rural village. Deep travel is about forging meaningful connections and experiencing moments that feel unrepeatable, irrespective of the setting.
Deep travel transcends budgets. Instead, you focus on authenticity, curiosity, and genuine interaction that leave the richest memories, no matter the cost. I find it a personality building exercise to go from five star accommodation to staying in hostels. Or to switch from a private driver to using local metros where you get packed in like a sardine. India made me grow as a traveller in that sense.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Whether you’re splurging or saving, go for the homegrown experience. A luxurious meal at a farm-to-table restaurant connects you to local flavours, while a humble street food stall can reveal the heritage of a community.
7. Prioritise Experiences like Classes, Crafts, and Workshops
Experiences enrich your soul and positively impact your well-being. Invest in activities that immerse you in the local culture. Take a cooking class, join a traditional dance workshop, or learn a craft unique to the region. Let your heart choose.
These hands-on experiences do more than entertain, they create lasting memories. And who knows? You might discover a new passion along the way. Last time around in southern Sweden, I helped out on harvest day at a winery. Exhausting but a lot of fun, not least when cracking open the barrels in the evening.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Before your trip, check local groups on social media to find tips on events and service providers vetted by people just like you.
8. Hire Local Guides and Eat Local Foods
Supporting a local business is a smart move. Guides with deep roots in their communities have insider knowledge that no corporate tour operator can match. They’ll take you to those hidden gems, and tell you stories you won’t find online.
The same goes for food. Dive into the culinary scene. Whether you dig street food or fine dining, these meals reveal what you need to know in a delicious way.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Check the website of organisations that focus on creating connections between travellers and locals, with a strict mandate to support local businesses. They list service providers with a proven track record.
9. Learn the Local Language
Before you ask. No, you don’t need to be fluent, but taking the time to memorise a few key phrases can be such a game changer. Especially if you go beyond the basic stuff like hello, thank you, and the swearing. Aside from showing respect, it opens doors to genuine connections.
Language is more than communication; it’s a direct translation to grasping the culture. I got by much easier because of my efforts in Arabic while living in Egypt, especially outside Cairo. I also left with friends that I still have contact with, ten years after my last long stay.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Use the power of digital technology if you don’t feel like dragging along a phrase book. Language apps on your phone have in-built AI capabilities allowing you to try speaking with “locals”, and of course the AI generators help with instant translation that are pretty decent.
10. Visit Festivals
I have a soft spot for festivals tied to local heritage. It sets a pleasant mood and function as a quick way to get a glimpse into a culture’s soul. Traditions, music, food, and community come together to party. What’s not to like? Whether it’s a religious festival, a harvest celebration, or a street art event, it represents a chance to go all in.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Check major festivals and events around the world at the beginning of the year to get a good overview and then try to match your journeys. Mexico’s Day of the Dead in early November, for example.
11. Pocket the phone
I’m not going to pretend. The smartphone is on my top 3 for best inventions ever, but they can also be a barrier to being in the now. Challenge yourself to reduce your screen time and spend more of it engaging with your surroundings.
Without constant notifications, you’ll start to notice more, like the sounds in the background, the texture of a meal, the warmth of a conversation. Travel becomes memorable when you’re present, and sometimes that means going offline.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Practice at home before you travel. I usually leave the phone in the house when I go for walks. Normalise the behaviour.
12. Solo Travel
Travelling solo means connecting with yourself and the world around you. On your own, you have total freedom to follow your instincts and interests. You get to take the scenic route you like, sit longer at the café, or strike up a conversation with a stranger. Solo travel equals independence and allows for spontaneity you didn’t know you needed.
I travelled solo on many continents. The experiences made me more self-reliant, and it also meant it became easier to meet new people on the road. Give yourself the chance to really get to know yourself outside the comfort of your routines.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
If you haven’t done solo travelling before but feel curious, I’d suggest starting with a weekend getaway close to home. Perhaps a long hike to help you build confidence in your ability to navigate alone while easing into the mindset of solo travel.
13. Homestays and Public Transport: Go Local
If you want a slice of local life, this is it. A homestay means being part of a household, including meals, insider tips, and conversations you’ll probably never get to have in a hotel. Meanwhile, public transport is a front-row seat to everyday life, chaotic, colourful, and crowded. I always try to walk as my go-to option but if I want to save time, a metro is hard to beat.
Here you can forget about the polished brochures; it’s a raw, unfiltered way of travelling. It gives you the chance to learn about a place’s quirks and charm, the cadence of the language, and the secret spots only a local would know about. Messy, yes, but the kind of mess that makes travel meaningful.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Find out if it’s a cash society or if you can use digital payments. This is not a joyful surprise if you get it wrong.
14. Go Day-tripping
It’s easy to fall into the trap of sticking to a city’s main attractions, but the surrounding areas often pack a punch in terms of authentic culture. Provided you do some research, day trips get you out of the tourist bubble to discover untamed landscapes, or lesser-known historical sites. One of my favourite places on Earth, the French Riviera, is full of spots to hang out for the day, be it coastal gems or mountain villages, each with its unique charm and heritage.
The beauty of day trips lies in their flexibility. You can return to the comforts of your base while still scratching that itch for exploration. Small side adventures often stick in your memory long after the main event.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Ask locals for recommendations on nearby spots. They know the latest- and best-kept secrets and letting you in on what roads or routes to avoid.
15. Reflecting on Your Journey
The journey doesn’t have to end with you unpacking your suitcase. As you reflect during the days, weeks, or even months afterwards, the real depth of your experiences surface. Who did you meet, what moments moved you, and what did you learn? These reflections can turn a good trip into a life-changing one. I found journalling combined with photos helps anchor my memories, giving me something tangible to revisit. It’s easy to devote a few minutes before going to bed each day.
Pro Deep Travel Tip:
Start each journal entry with a simple prompt, like “What surprised me today?” or “What did I learn?” The real-time aspect helps you capture the small moments that might otherwise fade.
Why Now Is the Time to Travel Deep
With increasing frequency, travellers seek to escape from traditional tourism. There’s a growing desire for authenticity, personal development, and cultural immersion while on the road.
The future of travel isn’t in crowded hotspots or cookie-cutter itineraries. It’s in deep travel, experiences that connect us to people, places, and ourselves. At One Planet Journey, we celebrate this revolution in how we explore the world by producing a digital magazine for and by travellers. Filled with stories and insights from individuals who share your passion for authenticity and meaning. We hope you find these deep travel tips well suited for your next adventure.
Destinations and brands see the writing on the wall and need to keep pace, offering curated experiences for mindful travellers. With the advent of sustainable tourism, digital nomadism, and the focus on local communities, there’s never been a better time to embrace the ethos of deep travel and discover a more fulfilling way to explore the world.
What other tips would you include? Let us know in the comment section! Subscribe to our newsletter and benefit from travel guides, sustainable tourism and luxury travel tips, insightful interviews, and inspirational places to visit. One Planet Journey – The World’s First Deep Travel Magazine.
