> It's fun to hang out and party with other travelers, but you don't really learn anything about the country when you do that. The country you're traveling in g

> It's fun to hang out and party with other travelers, but you don't really learn anything about the country when you do that. The country you're traveling in gets reduced to an amusement park for you and your fellow travelers. Meeting locals and getting a feel for life in the country is IMO slightly deeper. I actually think interacting with other travelers is one of the best ways to connect with other cultures. It's one of the few situations where people from all over the world end up in a similar situation, at a similar level, doing similar things. With locals, there's invariably going to be a large disconnect, even when you can speak the language (and in most countries, few tourists do). You're always going to be a tourist visiting their home, whereas with a fellow traveler, you're a peer. It's not unlikely that someone would have a more productive cultural exchange hanging out with a Japanese traveler in Peru and a Peruvian traveler in Japan then trying to meet these people in their respective countries.