Local Knowledge — All Articles — Page 5 of 7

These posts are about the local people we meet, with insider tips we gather from locals, Q&As with locals, as well as great local spots and hidden gems we discover.

A Local Guide to the Cape Town Music Scene

By Lara Dunston|

We’d heard a lot about South African music before coming to Cape Town and were eager to experience as much of Cape Town music as we could, so much so that Terence even signed up for a drumming workshop! We were particularly keen to see some live music, especially jazz, but were surprised at how ...

A Local Guide to Cape Town

By Lara Dunston|

Sabelo Maku is a man with a big smile and a heart equally as large. He’s a guy with the kind of warmth, generosity of spirit and openness that you want in a tour guide. He's the kind of person who epitomises the African concept of Ubuntu, that Faldela was talking about, of being open ...

Testing Out Local Tips, from Local Markets to Rump Steak Rolls

By Lara Dunston|

Good old-fashioned radio proved to be a great medium for us to connect with locals during our time in Cape Town. It was like getting tips from a bunch of mates around a bar. We’ve been relying on local advice rather than using guidebooks this year. The only times we’ve picked up guidebooks have been ...

A Local Guide to Buenos Aires

By Lara Dunston|

People often ask us how we meet people when we travel and how we make local connections. We use a wide variety of strategies, which we wrote about in this post Meeting Locals, from connecting with people online via their blogs (which is how we met the Taco Mafia in Austin) to using Twitter (as we did ...

Local Knowledge: Manoela from Rio de Janeiro

By Lara Dunston|

We meet locals in many different ways when we travel. Sometimes the people we connect with are friends of friends, sometimes we meet them in restaurants or bars, occasionally we meet them through the owners of the places we’re staying, and at other times we connect through social media channels such as Twitter. That's how ...

Local Knowledge: Ivan from Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

By Terence Carter|

The Pacific coast town of Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica is hot and humid. Stand still long enough here and you’ll see mould appearing on your body. The locals, however, have standing still down to an art. Languid and laid-back, Costa Ricans take their time with everything. It’s common sense when just the act of waxing ...

The Gangs of San Miguel de Allende

By Lara Dunston|

I discovered the satirical blog The Gangs of San Miguel de Allende by Richard Lander* while doing research on the town. It was the first blog that had made me laugh out loud in a long time. It was hilarious but it especially resonated because we were in San Miguel and we quickly recognized the people, ...

Local Knowledge: Giovanna from San Miguel de Allende

By Lara Dunston|

San Miguel de Allende, our second 'home' in Mexico, is renowned for its shopping. I was told it was possible to find anything here from anywhere in Mexico, and it seemed to be true. As I did the rounds of the stores, I saw every kind of Mexican handicraft and folk art conceivable, from the ...

Local Knowledge: Fernando from Mexico City

By Lara Dunston|

It was on the Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City, that we met Fernando Revilla on our first trip to Mexico City (gulp) some years ago. We’d been watching, and Terence was photographing, a riotous demonstration by university students on the square. Terence had been getting a little too close for (my) comfort to the burning ...

A Local Guide to the Austin Film Scene

By Lara Dunston|

Austin is known as the USA's live music capital but this arty, laidback city also has a flourishing film scene. In fact, for film-types like myself, it was an indie movie, Richard Linklater's Slacker, about a day in the life of 20-something Austin Gen X-ers, that put the city on the map. Successful Austin-based directors include Terrence Malick ...

Austin Live Music Scene 101 with Dan Dyer and Suzanna Choffel

By Terence Carter|

We introduced you to Austin musician Suzanna Choffel who shared her local tips and insider secrets for our Local Knowledge series. Now meet the amazingly soulful singer, hirsute and hunky Dan Dyer. These guys aren’t just friends, they also share a stage with their well-received side-project, the band The Coveters. We sat down with Dan Dyer and ...

Local Knowledge: Suzanna Choffel from Austin, Texas

By Lara Dunston|

We first watched Austin local Suzanna Choffel perform with her band on a sunny afternoon at the sprawling alfresco café at Central Market. We were lucky to find a table — the place was packed with families and groups of friends enjoying some Texan wine while they watched this sassy young singer-guitarist perform. Suzanna’s performance was ...