Have you ever gone to a popular beach, and realized there’s not even enough room to sit on the sand? That’s just one of the many reasons why I prefer to travel to underrated countries…
Get inspired by reading my countdown Top 10 – the Best Underrated Countries to travel
1. Get Surprised
We all use the internet to get information about things we are planning to do. Even adventurous travelers do the same. There’s plenty of information about the touristy destinations available. Hence, we have the opportunity to get a better idea of what things will be like. It’s practical and convenient. But then, once you get there, everything looks and feels just like the way you thought it will be. Not really an exciting experience, is it?
When preparing to travel to underrated countries, it is harder to find out what to see and what to expect. It’s a surprise!
2. Sites and activities are less crowded
Underrated countries can be very densely populated, but if you are interested in visiting a site, you’ll’ have the whole place for yourself! Similarly when you hike a trail, if you do see a human, it will probably be a local shepherd with his herd.
3. Travelling underrated countries is safer!
You may be surprised by this one, but I am very comfortable with this statement. The most touristy country in Africa is South Africa, which is also the most dangerous country I have ever visited. No joke.. check out My Story! The most touristy country in South America is Peru. It is also after Venezuela the most dangerous country in the continent. In popular Costa Rica, someone broke into my car and stole all my belongings. I know, it could happen anywhere, but it didn’t happen in any of the lesser-known countries I’ve visited.
In touristy countries, tourists are targets. The locals have the opportunity to develop a successful mugging/robbing/scamming business. In underrated countries, that kind of business is simply not productive. Next, to keep in mind, in many underrated countries, travellers are protected like saints. The local governments know if something happens to a tourist, that news could have a horrible effect on both country’s international reputation, and the local business. Hence, when you travel to underrated countries, locals will likely have a fear of harming you.
What about war, terrorism, etc?
In most cases, those kinds of hostilities happen only in certain parts of the country. The police checkpoints won’t even let you go there. You don’t need to research where’s dangerous. The local government does it for you. In so many countries, random people would frequently warn me about potential dangers in the area.
I’ve learned a lot about safety from my experiences. Check out my Travel Safety Tips post.
4. You’ll have more stories to tell
Let’s say, you take a trip to Maldives, for example. You are really enjoying yourself while scuba diving and drinking cocktails on the beach. It’s an amazing vacation, but unless you get chased by a shark, you’ll have no stories to tell when you come back.
5. People are more friendly and it’s easier to meet new friends
In underrated countries, westerners are treated with huge respect. They don’t see us very often, so we appear interesting. They feel pleasantly surprised and honored we have decided to visit their country. For those reasons, we could easily meet local friends. Other than having fun with them, they could be very helpful with travel tips, and most importantly, having local friends is the best way to experience the lifestyle. All they want for return is our company and kindness. They may hope for some cash tips, which is reasonable.
Many adventurous travelers prefer to find somebody local though Couch Surfing or social media, before their trip. I don’t think that’s necessary, cause I find it easy to meet friends once I get there.
Other than meeting locals, underrated countries are better for meeting other travelers.
True, you see them rarely, but they tend to be whey more interesting. When I visited Guinea, I have met only 3 travelers and all 3 of them were very interesting. On the other hand, I met hundreds of them in Colombia, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any of them interesting.
6.Less upcharging and less hustling
Have you ever walked on the beach, disturbed by a local, trying to sell you a neckless, offer a boat tour, taxi ride, weed, or a prostitute? Then, as soon as you get rid of him, you enjoy the sound of the waves for 5 minutes, then another guy comes over, with a big smile, and offers you the same stuff… You can imagine, that kind of business is simply not profitable in the underrated countries. Hence, hustlers are scarce.
Also in underrated countries, it’s more likely you’ll get a fair price when buying food, groceries, transport, etc… The vendors are not very skillful with up charging. There is another explanation for that. In many less touristy countries, locals would guess I am here for work or some kind of business. Hence, they would assume I know the prices, so they won’t upcharge me.
7. No need for sites or activities – just run an errand, or wander around
I’ve been to Cote Ivoire for 8 days. Most of the time in Abidjan, the 4,5 million people capital. My main activity was getting visas for Mali and Burkina Faso. Sounds terrible right? I have visited a country just to get something done. Well, not really. It was fantastic, actually! Let me explain… It takes 1.5 hours from my guesthouse to the nice neighborhood where the embassies are. I had to walk, take a shared taxi, take a boat, then walk, then a bus, then walk again. With street food stops, and coffee stops, coconut stops, it’s a 3-hour journey. So going there and coming back is a full day activity full of culture and lifestyle experiences!
8. The health risk is not greater (it’s likely to be smaller)
I am not saying you won’t get sick while traveling underrated countries, but the risk of getting sick won’t be any greater, than in touristy countries. Food poisoning, skin rash, or malaria are correlated with hygiene and pollution, not with the capacity of tourism. Just because you haven’t heard of a certain country, that doesn’t mean it’s full of unknown diseases. Typically, I am trying to stay healthy by working on my immunity, not by visiting more touristy countries.
You have more chances of getting poisoned by eating in touristy western-style restaurants than on a street market. Anthony Bourdain feels the same. In this Youtube Video, he says, in India, he never got poisoned from eating on the street, but he did get poisoned from the catered pasta bolognese. I also recommend checking out my post about The Best Countries to visit for Street Food.
9. You’ll get better at languages
In touristy Costa Rica, there’s plenty of people that can speak English, especially in hotels and at tourist sites. In next-door underrated Nicaragua, not really. It sounds intimidating, but after spending one week in Nicaragua, you would learn more Spanish, than if you spent the same amount of time in Costa Rica. It happens naturally, whether you are interested in learning or not.
10. You will learn more about the country you visit
If you’ve been to a Kenyan Safari, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been to Kenya. Safaris are protected areas, isolated from the country and its people. Other than experiencing wildlife, any experience of Africa inside the safari is gonna be artificial. Also, if you’ve hiked Kilimanjaro, that doesn’t mean you’ve been to Tanzania. Even the city in the footsteps of Kilimanjaro doesn’t have a feel of real Tanzania. if you go to the rave festival in Goa, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have visited India.
Bottom line is, tourist activities are distancing tourists from the country they are visiting
In high touristy areas, there are western accommodations, western restaurants, and western facilities. Not really a cultural experience is it? Don’t even wanna talk about the resorts, where you are physically separated with a gate, from the country you have visited. What a waste of visa…
Guided tours, museums and similar activities do provide some sort of learning about the culture, but that is an artificial learning environment. I prefer learning by taking public transport or getting street food. And most importantly, it’s more fun that way!
Bonus: You are spending your money in the right place!
When you visit a certain country, you definitely will leave some of your money there, no matter how cheap you travel. The money you leave in a poor country will have a greater impact, than if you leave it in, for instance, Spain… Especially if you stay in local guesthouses and shop at the street markets…
On top of that, when you come back and tell everybody how great time you had, and post some photos on social media, you are promoting actively tourism of the Underrated destination!
Is there a downside to traveling underrated countries? There’s gotta be… I recommend checking out my post 10 Challenges of traveling Underrated Countries
Touristy countries can definitely be fun. I love Cuba, Peru, Philippines, Zanzibar, South Africa, Belize, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, Maldives, Seychelles… However, while traveling in those countries, it is important to know How to Avoid Commercial Tourism in order to get an authentic experience. I will have that topic covered for you soon as well!