Stop Googling "HIDDEN GEMS"

Do this instead....

Hi, it’s Aakanksha 👋

OKAY I have been getting this question a LOT and I always feel bad answering it in 3 sentences because the real answer is not short.

So today, properly. My ENTIRE system for finding local, non-touristy experiences. Before the trip AND once I’m already there 👇🏽

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P.S: Before you start…We're dropping something at the end of today's newsletter that this community gets exclusively before anyone else, TRUST ME, you’ll love it! 🥹

First, the mindset shift that changes everything

Most people start trip planning by asking: “what is there to SEE here?”

I start with: “what would I want to KNOW before coming here that nobody tells you?”

Here’s what that looks like in practice: when I went to Cape Town for the first time, instead of Googling top things to do, I searched “Cape Town things tourists do that locals hate” and “Cape Town if you live there vs if you visit.” The results completely changed my itinerary. I ended up spending a morning in Woodstock at a vegan market that opened at 7am and was almost entirely locals! 🥹🫶

That one shift from SEEING to KNOWING is what separates a trip you remember from a trip you just photographed.

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BEFORE the trip 🔍

Reddit. Always, always Reddit.

Specifically the sub reddit for the city I’m visiting. I search things like “[City] underrated” or “[City] what do locals actually do” or “[City] skip this go here instead.” Real people. Real opinions. No sponsorship. No algorithm pushing the same five places.

The recommendations I’ve gotten from Reddit threads have genuinely been some of the BEST of my travel life 💌

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Follow local travel creators and bloggers BEFORE you go

Follow Creators who LIVE in that city and post their actual life.

This one is SO underrated and honestly the hack I’d give everyone.

Here’s the thing…a travel creator who visits a city for a few days will always end up showing you the same spots. But a local creator who actually LIVES there? Completely different. They’re posting the most unique cafes in their neighbourhood, the sunset spots and the HIDDEN gems.

That’s the version of a city I want to find. And local creators on both IG and YouTube show it to you constantly…you just have to look for them before you go.

Bonus: if you engage with their content before your trip, sometimes you can just ask them directly. Most creators who live somewhere LOVE recommending their city to someone who genuinely cares about the real version of it.

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Atlas Obscura bookmark this right now

A database of the world’s most unusual, offbeat, genuinely interesting places. I search the destination and pick 2–3 things that make me curious.

Every single time, these end up being the best stories I bring home.

That’s actually how I found a HAIR MUSEUM in Turkey 😭 An entire museum filled with locks of hair that women sent from all over the world as tokens of love decades ago. One of the strangest, most fascinating things I’ve ever seen. I made a whole short about it and people were OBSESSED. Would never have found it otherwise. These things EXIST. Atlas Obscura finds them.

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The AI prompt I use now 🧠

This is newer but it’s become part of my pre-trip research every single time:

I’m visiting [CITY] for [X] days in [season/month]. I want hidden, underrated places + experiences (not tourist highlights, not “top 10”, not Instagram-famous).

Give me 10 picks across these categories (make it balanced): food spots, neighbourhood pockets (specific streets/blocks/markets to wander), experiences (hands-on, local, or niche - not a generic museum), hikes/ sunset spots (quiet, not the main famous one), “weird/unique” things that’s specific to this city

For each pick, include:

What it is (1 line)

Why it’s underrated (what most visitors miss / why locals love it)

Best time/day to go (and any “only good if…” conditions)

Exactly what to do/order (1–2 specific recs)

Local tip (how to do it like a local / what mistake tourists make)

Vibe + cost: chill/energetic, and $ / /$

Hard filters: avoid landmarks, famous viewpoints, chain spots, anything that regularly appears on “best of” lists. If something is popular, only include it if it still feels local and explain why.

PS: If you’re a specific kind of traveler (food / history / art / nature / nightlife, etc.), add that preference to the prompt so the recommendations skew toward what you actually care about.

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ON The Ground🗻

Ask your airbnb host, taxi driver or hotel receptionist …but ask it RIGHT

Not: “where should I go?”

That question gets you the same three places every tourist gets told.

Instead ask: what’s the one place or sunset spot you go to with friends when you need a break from life? That’s what gets you to the local spots.

Or: “where do YOU actually eat?”

That second question especially. People LOVE answering it when someone bothers to ask properly 😭

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Free walking tour on day one

Meetup.com , Guruwalks, Airbnb experiences lists locally-run free walking tours in most cities. This is the fastest way to understand how a place is laid out and the best guides always drop recommendations for things that never make it into any guidebook.

For example: in Budapest, my walking-tour guide took me to this hidden underground bar where the walls were covered in sticky notes from people all over the world…I’m talking EVERY. SINGLE. CORNER. 📝🌍

I would’ve never found it on my own.

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The HONEST thing

All of this comes down to one thing: Being willing to be a LITTLE uncomfortable.

Asking a stranger a real question. Eating at a place with no pictures on the menu. Wandering without a plan for an afternoon.

These aren’t big risks. But they feel scary to people who’ve been trained to follow a checklist and stick to what’s reviewed and rated and photographed by 50,000 people before them.

The best travel moments I’ve had across 50+ countries? Not one was on a top 10 list. Every single one happened because I was curious enough to look a little harder 😌

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Unpacking Your Question 💌

Okay so this one is genuinely hard to explain without sounding like I’m making it up… but it’s REAL. 😳

There’s this cafe in Tokyo called Dawn Avatar Robot Cafe, where everything is run by robots the waiters, the receptionist, the baristas… ALL of it. 🤖☕️

But here’s the twist: these robots aren’t AI. Each one is being controlled remotely by a disabled person somewhere in Japan who can’t leave home.

A waiter rolled up to our table, told me their favorite food, and then said how much they LOVE getting to meet new people from all over the world every single day. And the whole time, they were at home maybe even paralyzed and that robot was their way of showing up to work, talking to strangers, and feeling part of the world again.

That’s what’s so WILD about Tokyo: tech doesn’t always replace us… sometimes it actually INCLUDES more of us. 🥹🫶🤖

Spots like this → the ones that actually stay with you are exactly what Julian and I spent a month in Tokyo finding 🗾

we wanted to make sure that when YOU go you don’t miss a single one of them!!!

Soooo → we put everything into the One Stop Tokyo Guide : 100+ spots, downloadable maps, 3 & 5 itineraries! So much time & money saved on your end!

And we're launching it HERE FIRST. In this newsletter. Before anyone else gets it, so far only our closest circle has used the guide & they LOVED IT!🥹

This newsletter community means everything to meeeee 🫶🏼

So here’s an exclusive discount code JA20 for our Unpacked community
→ Get the One Stop Tokyo Guide here💌

You deserve the BEST Tokyo trip and we really made this so you have it!

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One Cool Thing I Did This Week 💕

Did a forest hot stone bath in Bhutan 🪨✨ WOW. This country has genuinely reset my stress levels and if you ever go, you NEED to try a hot stone bath when you’re there. I traveled with Breathe Bhutan and cannot recommend them enough! (not sponsored, just genuinely obsessed 😭)

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Tell me what’s the best local experience you’ve EVER found? The one nobody told you about?

Hit reply. I want the list 👇🏽

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That’s it for this week’s Unpacked…see you next Wednesday with something new to unpack 👋🏽

Lots of love & sunshine,

Aakanksha