How to Travel Off the Beaten Track in a Foreign Country

You don't always need to speak the language or have a lot of travel experience to have a good backroads travel adventure. A little creativity, flexibility and open-mindedness can lead you to some exciting and unimagined places.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Foreign Language Phrase Books
• Local Guidebooks
• Maps
• Two-way Foreign Language Dictionaries
• Bottled Water
• High-energy Snacks
• Pads Of Paper
• Pens

1. Purchase a local travel guide book geared towards low-budget, adventure travelers. Such books will tell you of places that are more difficult to get to and have less tourist traffic.
2. Visit adventure travel Web sites and chatrooms and talk to other travelers for ideas of possible destinations. Consider these when drawing up your itinerary.
3. Consider arranging to do a homestay or service project with a tour company that organizes such programs. You'll get to less-frequented locations without having to deal with all of the logistical arrangements and risks on your own.
4. Draw on the advice you have accumulated in your research to identify places on the maps that no one has talked about but look interesting to visit. If you have heard about a beautiful and seldom-frequented beach, look for smaller coastal roads that go beyond there but appear to be unpaved or dead end.
5. Be prepared to use more difficult transportation alternatives such as public buses, hired drivers, pack animals, bicycles, your own feet, tractors or open trucks. Places are usually "off the beaten path" because they are harder to find and more difficult to reach.
6. Hang out at bus stations or guest homes and ask people what lies on the map between less frequented destinations. If a place looks interesting, hop off the bus en route.
7. Talk to taxi drivers and drivers at public bus stations about the possibility of hiring a car to take you somewhere that buses can't go: off of paved roads, away from main bus routes, away from coastal or urban centers.
8. Embrace unusual accommodations such as convents, temples or bus station dormitories. Get suggestions from other travelers and local drivers, and check your guidebook for creative lodging options particular to the country you're visiting.

Tips & Warnings

• Carry a road map, phrase book, two-way dictionary and pen and paper as essential communication tools along the way. Snacks, water and layers are advisable in case you are stuck for long periods without a ride.
• Have someone who speaks the language write down a destination for you where you know you can ultimately be comfortable, safe and back on the map. You can always return to this location if "off the beaten" starts to give you a beatin'!