An article written by Thuha (in English)

Exploring other cultures off-season

There’s something extraordinary about traveling during the off-season. You can find much better and cheaper deals, escape the crowds, and be able to experience a place in a different way. More importantly, it’s one of the more sustainable things you can do. If you need more convincing when it comes to traveling during the off-season, continue reading!

You don’t have to fight for the popular spots

There’s nothing worse than coming to a popular sightseeing spot and seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of people there. Yes, I know, it IS a popular spot! But that doesn’t mean that I enjoy sharing it with so many other people. Everyone’s usually sweaty, hungry, and we all just kinda wanna get out of there. The good thing about traveling during the off-season is that you probably won’t have the same experience. You see, when most of the tourists stay home, those places clear up—no more fighting people off with your elbow. Instead, you can truly enjoy the sight.

It’s cheaper

I recently went to Sardinia, a popular tourist destination in Italy that’s truly magical. Since we traveled during the off-season, we got some really good prices on hotels. For example, we read that one of the hotels we booked would cost more than double the price during the high season. So if your budget is a bit strained or you just don’t wanna spend a fortune, traveling during the off-season can save you a lot of money then.

There’ll be more availability

When I’ve traveled during the off-season, I’ve never had to fully plan ahead because I knew that most places would have spots for me. For example, on buses, tours, restaurants, museums, et cetera, I knew that I wouldn’t have to book beforehand. Unfortunately, when you’re traveling during peak season, there’s a good chance that those tickets and activities will be fully booked. If you’re like me and enjoy the flexibility and spontaneity, you’ll probably appreciate traveling when there’s not as much pressure.

You can get more ‘authentic’ experiences

Traveling when there are little to no tourists often means more contact with the locals. It means getting to know a place differently and being able actually to converse with the people who live there. Getting to know a country’s culture and traditions through locals is what I’d call an ‘authentic’ experience. And that’s one of the most amazing things you can get while traveling.

It’s more sustainable

Traveling most sustainably as we can should be the goal for everyone who wants to explore the world. We should want to minimize our footprints and positively impact the places we visit, rather than the opposite. Not only is off-season travel better for you and your wallet, but it can also be better for the locals and the environment...

Local communities might have a difficult time finding other jobs during the low season period or lose money because there are no customers. But here comes you, the brave traveler who decided to go when no other travelers were in sight. By staying in local accommodations and restaurants, you’re contributing to the local economy and thus helping the people living there as well to be able to sustain themselves all year round.

As for the environment, well… Big crowds of people are usually never great. For example, crowded hiking trails can cause soil erosion, altered hydrology, damaged vegetation, and so forth. In other words, not the impact we want to make. But if we’d instead opt to travel when there are fewer people, we can ensure that our impact will be far less damaging.

Traveling in a sustainable way won’t take away the experience - quite the contrary. You can get more enriching experiences if you change the way you travel, and perhaps more importantly when you travel. So next time you book a trip, why not consider going when it’ll be less crowded? I promise you; it’ll be a completely different travel experience (and one you won’t regret!).

More articles about responsible and sustainable travel may be found at the TripLegend website or on Thuha's blog 'slower roads'