Why should we travel in our own city ?

               Originally, people used to travel to natural and distant lands, unaffected by humans. Today citytrips, during which we discover a city in a few days, have transformed the way we travel. Cities have become one of the favorite destinations for tourists looking for a change of scenery for a few days.

               Unfortunately, it turns out that we sometimes better know the history of the cities we visited than the one in which we actually live. Today, I would like to explain to you why, it is worth to travel in our own city!

1. It’s much cheaper

               Let’s start with the most evocative reason to explain why travelling in our own city is great – the low cost of the experience. Even though airline ticket prices have been steadily declining for the past 20 years, traveling is not within everyone’s reach. That’s why being a tourist in your own city is the best way to travel cheaply.

               I will go even further. I will say that there is no need to spend money at all! Many travel guides about the secret Paris are available in the library, and thanks to the Navigo pass and our feet, it is possible to discover the best hidden secrets of the city without spending any money.

2. It’s ecologically sustainable

               I’m sorry to disappoint you, but even a retreat in an eco-lodge in the depths of the Ardèche will be less ecological than a walk in your city. Transport is one of the main sources of CO2 emissions. By visiting our own city, we limit the transport, and therefore the CO2 emissions induced by our travels.

               At the same time, when we travel to our city or region, we are more ecologically responsible than when we travel in places that are foreign to us. Naturally, we are more interested in protecting the places where we live than those in which we spend just a moment.

               Finally, traveling in our own city is sustainable in both meanings of the word – ecological but also sustainable in time and reproducible a million times, and everyday 😉 !

3. It helps the promotion of local heritage

               By traveling in our own city we participate in the promotion of local heritage much better than when we travel to a different city. And the reason for that is simple – because we have the time. By discovering our own city, we are more inclined to discover a small museum, a restaurant not very known because we know that we will have ALL the time to discover the great museums, the restaurants that everyone is talking about and to participate in the trendy activities. This is especially true in a city like Paris, which has nearly 200 museums and more than 2000 national monuments. According to the survey on the use of Paris cultural sites in 2017 by the Paris Tourist Office, 16 sites have accumulated 82.5% of the visits of the cultural sites studied. This means that many less popular museums or national monuments have only a few visitors.

               You know what you have to do, right? Next weekend, put on your sneakers and check out a museum or national monument not far from your home 😉

4. You can do it everyday !

               In our city we work, we eat, we sleep – we live. And apart from the hours when we sleep, we can travel at the same time as we do each of these activities. Because one of the main components of daily travel is changing your mindset about travel. No need to leave for whole days to have the same feelings as during a trip. Just allow yourself to be surprised by a street next to where you live or work, but which you had never seen!

               This is largely what I try to share during the guided tours of The Morning Walk. Learn to open your eyes to have the feeling of escaping by traveling in our own city: while going to work, or trying food you have never tasted in a restaurant or while observing the architecture of your city.

5. It simply makes you happier

               I know, it’s a bit easy said like that, but traveling in our own city can really make us happier, because we learn to be proud of where we live. But it happens only if we give our neighborhood the opportunity to seduce us. When we learn about the history of the neighborhood where we live we develop a a kind of friendship with its streets, the people who lived there and the businesses that are installed there. Because in order to love (a place, a person or a thing) you must first get to know it!

               I want to point out here something very important here – all the points I mentioned above apply to all cities of all sizes. Because I often hear the idea that “it’s easy to travel in your city when you live in Paris”. It is true that Paris offers many things to discover and that one could intuitively think that only a city of this size can surprise someone who lives there. In fact, every city, every neighborhood has secrets that are worth discovering. If you don’t believe me, I would like you to challenge me in find something interesting in YOUR city, by leaving a little comment down below :).

I hope you found this article interesting and see you soon !