You often hear of people wanting to travel off of the ‘beaten path’ and some do actually achieve this increasingly difficult feat. Of course, the definition of what is on and what is off the oft-treaded trail varies by traveler.

On the beaten path are most European destinations – or at least the famous parts of these such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and any number of monuments throughout that part of the world. Most travelers in the USA will visit Washington, D.C. at some point in their lives, as well as New York’s Time Square and at least a few of the many national parks that have been turned into artificial wonderlands for city folks. Canada’s cliché spots include Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia, Montreal’s old city, Niagara Falls, the Calgary Stampede and Whistler in the Rocky Mountains.

When we set out to travel through Mexico, Central and South America as part of our ‘round the world trip (RTW), we knew we would be on the beaten path for some, but not most, of the time. Popular destinations such as Mexico City and the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize’s coastal reefs, Machu Picchu, Buenos Aires and Brazil’s Amazon were sure to be crowded with tourists.

But, we thought, there are also a number of destinations that weren’t as well known including the beaches of Nicaragua and Ecuador, the mountains of Bolivia and Peru, the glaciers of Patagonia and, of course, Antarctica.

Once we started on this nine-month leg of the RTW, we began seeing some of the same people at attractions, markets, hostels and transportation hubs. We then learned about the ‘Gringo Trail’ – the semi-permanent path frequented by backpackers and outlined in detail in a number of travel guides including the Moon and Lonely Planet series.

While we still wanted to see the famous spots, we decided it was time we went further afield. Equipped with a pretty good facility with Spanish (as well as our English-Spanish dictionaries), advice gleaned from other OTBP (Off-The-Beaten-Path) travelers, and fearless resolve we headed off to smaller towns where tourists were rarely seen.

We found that everything was a little tougher to handle as the Spanish wasn’t as familiar to our unaccustomed ears; the food and food names were different enough that we didn’t always know what we were eating in restaurants; there were fewer transportation and accommodations options; and, often, not much to see or do.

Our senses of adventure and humor came in handy, though, as I got the shortest haircut possible in Ecuador when I said cut off this much (thumb and index finger about half an inch apart) which was interpreted as leave this much! We stayed in an office-cubicle-sized room made of cinder blocks in northern Mexico and were offered Valium at $1 a pill to help us sleep. The scariest things was, however, not knowing whether you were on the correct bus and where you might be headed if you were wrong!

We kept up our OTBP travel on later parts of the RTW in India and Asia as we tired of the crowds and found out-of-the-way places to enjoy. In these, we discovered friendly people not jaded by the demands tourism makes on their cultures and ways of life. Getting there was often a greater challenge but, by then, we were pretty used to chicken buses. The accommodations and food were always much cheaper than in more popular locations as were activities – if there were any to partake in.

We still enjoy OTBP travel and find it is particularly easy to do when you live in a country as you get more opportunities to learn about places the nationals visit but which aren’t well known to tourists. Of course, no place remains a secret for very long and as soon as you see a traveler consulting his travel guidebook about a place you love – you know that you had better return before the crowds arrive.

If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the word ‘subscribe’ at the top of the left-hand menu. You will receive notification by e-mail every time this blog is updated. I solemnly swear to never sell, trade or give away your information to anyone!