The local tourist adventure - Europe

Even though many of us have traveled to countries far away, we haven’t discovered the hidden gems of our hometown and surrounding towns yet. In this swap we’ll go on a local adventure. With that I want to challenge you to not spend too much money. The cheaper the better. As it is local there will be lots of options to stick to a very small budget.

The assignment will be to explore your hometown and at least 1 surrounding town. More towns is definitely encouraged. Journal your quest, take lots of photographs, and share it with your swappartner in a notebook, on nice paper or type it and then print it. That way we all will get a fun local vacation and get to experience a fun European vacation through the journal of our swappartners. We will also get our swap partners some souvenirs.

Some ideas for your trip/journal

• parks
• monuments
• museums, as they are local they usually are cheaper or free.
• historical sites
• local culture
• forests
• local history/myths/legends/ stories. No creepy stories please.
• wildlife, no scary insects or spiders though, as most people don’t like it.
• … There’s a lot to choose from and a lot without spending to much money. This is a great swap to include your partner/spouse/children. So you could make it a fun family project. :-)

The journal?

It can be a A4 notebook, A4 writing paper or you can print it out. Make sure to add enough pictures of the local trip for your partner to visualise. You can decorate your journal a bit too if you want. If you write your journal by hand then make sure it’s readable.

The contents have to be at least 10 full written A4 pages with decent size pictures. This does not mean huge pictures. So 5 pages for your hometown and 5 about a town near you. The text has to be equal to the pictures or more. So it can’t be a swap with only pictures but it has to be a fun reading experience with some pictures.

The souvenirs?

Add all of the following items to your swap:

• a local souvenir with a value of maximum 3 euros ( or whatever that is transferred in your currency.) Think postcards, bookmarks, keychains,…
• Add a local drink. Make sure it’s good quality and not past it’s due date. Only factory a canned drink, bottle or some hot drink sachets.
• Add a local snack, one sweet and one savoury. Good quality and not past it’s due date. Only factory packaged snacks.
• Add a map/multiple maps of the area. This doesn’t have to be a fancy store-bought map. It can be printed out too, but it has to be good quality. As a fun idea, you can mark the places on the map where you’ve been while on this trip
• (this one is not obligated, but fun for your swap-partner)Folders from local shops, events, museums. Tickets from places you’ve visited.

This souvenir part is profile-based. So make sure you’ve got a well-filled profile.

With local I mean local to your area, town or country. So no international brands like Milka, KitKat, coca cola,... You could get those almost anywhere in the world, it's less fun receiving that.

Tips to save more money

• Don’t eat out. I will only eat out for snacks like an ice cream or waffles. but otherwise you can save a lot by making a prepackaged healthy lunch with a bottle of water and some fruit. Let everyone carry his own backpack. If you really need something else, plan beforehand and buy it at your supermarket.
• Take public transport. As it is local, taking the bus/subway/train should be very cheap.
• Or even for free, take your bike or go on foot if it isn’t so far.
• Don’t spend too much money on souvenirs, set a strict budget for this. The same goes for other shopping like clothes, books,…
• …

Safety tips?

Anything can happen when you’re on ‘vacation’ even when it’s local like with this project. I cannot be held responsible for anything that happens while you’re on this adventure. I can give you some tips to make it a bit safer though:

• Don’t take any valuable items like: jewels, designer backpacks, designer clothing
• Don’t take a fancy camera with you, use your smartphone to take pictures. The quality from smartphones is good enough for quality photographs.
• Use a simple shoulder bag or a backpack facing front that can be closed with a zipper. Backpacks or open handbags are easy victims.
• Pack lightly. Fill your bag with your lunch, drink bottle, small snacks, wallet,… only the essentials. If you’re packed like you’re moving you’ll be an easy victim for theft.
• Don’t bring too much cash, credit cards are safer.

I hope these tips help. It’s important to stay safe, but also to enjoy this adventure. Be alert to potential danger, but don’t let it spoil your day.

Other swap requirements?

You must have a minimum of a 4.98 rating . You must have done a minimum of 50 swaps, have received a positive rating from them, and at least 20 of them have to be type 3-swaps(ATC not included). So this means no Newbies or unrated swappers. No recent or unexplained 1s or 3s. I will check profiles thoroughly, if anything looks suspicious or when you don’t meet the requirements then I will remove you from the swap. Please no flakers! I know for some, these requirements seem strict, but I want to make sure everyone in this swap is safe from flakers and that everyone receives something nice. I will angel, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

Rating is a requirement. We will all put a lot of time, energy and some money in this swap, so it’s a sign of respect to your swap partners to rate. If you’re not willing to do this or if I get a glimpse of non-rating on your profile, you will be removed from this swap.

If you have questions, you can always pm me or leave a comment below. ^_^