How To Get “Off the Beaten Track”

Getting off the beaten track doesn’t always have to be about spending months in the deepest darkest parts of the Amazon jungle, nor does it have to be about never ever seeing another tourist… Sometimes all a traveller needs to do to get off the beaten track is simply look the other way…

Its an age old travellers cliche but the phrase “Off the beaten track” is one that every traveller has uses at some point along the way. Travellers often meet up at night in backpacker bars and guest-houses sharing their off the beaten track stories with each other, each trying to trump the last. I mean I’m as guilty as the next person really, but whilst travelling by motorcycle through Laos (see link for wicked awesome video) something changed the way I saw things, I realised that there was a good chance that I had missed so so much on my travels so far.
We had hired motorcycles from Vang Vieng and headed up the main road to Luang Probang, We made a stop at a small village somewhere along the way for food and while trying to do a pretty lame mime of engine oil to a local shop owner and a quickly forming curious crowd, a tourist bus crammed with book faced backpackers screamed past… It smacked me right round the face, that so many times before – that had been me. If I’d of taken the bus, the easy way, the sensible way, I would have missed this idyllic scene, this defining travel moment.

I had plenty of time to gather my thoughts as we struggled on into the night, tired and hungry to Luang Probang. What I realised along the way was that I was on the exact same road as those bus bound backpackers, I’d passed the same way as thousands before but what I had seen and experienced was so different to what they had seen – a fleeting glimpse rush past, behind dirty glass as they turned to the next page. Now I aint trying to poo poo on tourist buses, they’re cheap, easy and sometimes the only way. But to get off the beaten track is much easier than most travellers think. While clocking up the last few miles into Luang Probang under a starry sky I found a few other examples which fell into line with this.

Camping on Bamboo island:
Its moments away from Koh Phi Phi, a common backpacker haunt often shunned by the seasoned traveller for its rowdy bars and tourist boat clogged beach. But twice we’ve been to the little isolated Island and come 4pm when the last of the tourist boats head off back to Phi Phi we’ve had the whole Island to ourselves. In one moment it was a small crowded snorkelling hotspot and the next, it was utter perfect paradise.

Even on Koh Phangan, we were staying on Haad Rin on the run up to full moon and popped into a small restaurant called Mr K’s for some dinner, there’s more than one place nearby that’s seemingly owned by the mysterious Mr K but we chose to sit in the one that serves up purely Thai grub. We got chatting with the waiter and ended up hanging out there al evening. The place directly opposite was crammed – and every single person was fixed on watching Family Guy re-runs on TV. I learned some Thai and made a friend… What did they learn?
Even only meters from the most notorious beach in Thailand and within spitting distance of chicken snitzels and Family Guy we were well off the beaten track…

I could bang on for ages about all the great places I’ve been that are well “On the beaten track” but have a hidden side, a quick doorway back Off the beaten track… But why would I do that, it’ll only get over run with tourists…
I think I’ll finish up with a little travel quote:

“It doesn’t matter where you stand in life… But in which direction that you look.”

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What do you reckon? If you’ve ever felt well off the beaten track be it near or far then don’t hesitate to share it.
I have followed this post up with some ideas that have worked for me and hopefully help you get well off the beaten track too.

Aaron Bradford has written 366 articles. +Aaron Bradford is the leader, mentor and chief geek of HappyTimeblog. He put together the crack team of writers known by codename “The Firm“. He's a permanent traveller and a lifestyle hacker. Wanna know more? Check out my Bucket List or my About page... I'm here to show you how to live a Life Less Ordinary