Comments on: The Myth of Living Like a Local http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/ Giving My Child the World. Inspiring Others. Tue, 19 Apr 2016 20:02:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.10 By: CityGuide.Guru http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-279071 Sun, 03 Apr 2016 23:46:36 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-279071 New trackback, from CityGuide.Guru

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]]> By: Talon Windwalker http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-274394 Thu, 24 Mar 2016 05:45:39 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-274394 In reply to Laura.

Sounds like you’ve had some pretty incredible experiences. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

]]> By: Laura http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-273966 Wed, 23 Mar 2016 12:48:04 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-273966 Having lived in India for 4 years, I definitely relate to this post. I might have lived “like a local” when it came to the food I ate, the flat I lived in, the clothes I wore, etc…. But to me there was one major difference : I did not have the moral constraints the locals did.
I remained a Western girl : although I dressed more conservatively than I would have normally, I did not feel any of the familial and cultural pressure that the girls my age were under.
As a western girl, I enjoyed all the freedom Asia has to offer. I was living a simple lifestyle, but nonetheless better, in my eyes, than the one I would have had in the West. I drove a bike without worrying about getting a license, ate my fill of fresh exotic fruits, could afford eating out, going out, travelling around the country. Things that had previously been completely out of reach as a broke student in France.
Obviously, being a white girl in India, I also experienced racism and sexism in a rather brutal way. One important thing to remember : the locals themselves would never consider me like a local, even though I was well integrated and spoke Hindi. I didn’t grow up there, I was white, my parents were not Indians. For any local, that was final.

Although, one of my Indian friends once told me ” I feel like you have become Indian!”. And I know it meant a lot to him!

]]> By: Talon Windwalker http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-214351 Mon, 09 Mar 2015 19:06:06 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-214351 In reply to Edwina.

I love that! Absolutely true. I was thinking about this today as we went to the state-owned hospital. I had to pay for our care, unlike a local, but we were ushered to the front of lines because we needed an interpreter. So even though we live in an all-local neighborhood, ride the same buses, eat at the same places, and go to the same doctors, we definitely aren’t “like” locals. Definitely living with and getting a taste of what local life is, but I still have advantages they don’t.

]]> By: Edwina http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-213983 Sun, 08 Mar 2015 16:49:31 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-213983 Great post. At a conference I attended last year, one of the keynote speakers, Robert Reid, made a great point: He said (and this is probably not an exact quote): “Don’t live like a local, live with locals”. I liked that, because it seems much more real than believing we are locals, when we are not. And it focuses on what’s important: interacting with locals.

]]> By: Talon Windwalker http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-213802 Sun, 08 Mar 2015 07:19:03 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-213802 In reply to Tracey.

I’m glad it got you thinking! I find that keeping in mind the differences and advantages I have helps me to live more deeply. I ask more questions, consider things from different perspectives, etc. Someone the other day was quite endeared to me when I had said “It’s really inexpensive to live here if you aren’t on a typical Romanian salary.” The fact that I knew and recognized that difference was huge for them.

]]> By: Talon Windwalker http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-213801 Sun, 08 Mar 2015 07:16:50 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-213801 In reply to grasya.

Often the fact that you’re visiting from another country already removes you from “living like a local.” Just because we live in similar neighborhoods, eat at the same places, etc., our experience is still very different.

]]> By: Talon Windwalker http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-213800 Sun, 08 Mar 2015 07:16:02 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-213800 In reply to Allan Wilson.

I don’t care for the authentic label either. That will probably be a post here soon. LOL

]]> By: Talon Windwalker http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-213798 Sun, 08 Mar 2015 07:15:24 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-213798 In reply to Katrina the Two Week Traveler.

Even then, you aren’t truly “living like a local.” You can be living in places with locals and experience a big part of the local culture, but simply living somewhere isn’t really the same thing when you don’t have the same burdens, etc.

]]> By: Katrina the Two Week Traveler http://1dad1kid.com/the-myth-of-living-like-a-local/#comment-213640 Sat, 07 Mar 2015 20:59:09 +0000 http://1dad1kid.com/?p=3794#comment-213640 I agree, it’s a myth that you can ‘live like a local’ while traveling. The only way you can actually live like a local is if you…live there.

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