Act Like a Tourist in SA, with Vitality Travel

"Travel means different things for different people, but for me, it is almost spiritual"

I say this because I find that whenever I change the scenery, a much-needed perspective shift inevitably follows.

When you travel, your mind opens up. You realise that there's no one way to live life. Meeting people from other walks of life shows you that your worldview isn't the same as everyone else's. At the same time, adventuring somewhere new allows you to slow down to speed up, and you stop thinking in glances.

"It's when you're away from your usual routine that you realise what's really important in life"

There is a beautiful quote by St. Augustine where he says that "Life is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." Alongside this, you can always make more money, but you can't get back time. Speaking from the heart, it's when you're away from your usual routine that you realise what's really important in life.

"I could write a book about the reasons that travel isn't as much of an expense as it is an investment, but the point I want to direct your attention to is that for most of my life, I thought of travel as only taking place when I left our borders. Who knew it would take a pandemic for me (and many others) to explore more of our own beautiful country? This is one of the many reasons I started a travel content platform called Like a Tourist.

"My goal is to get people to act more like tourists in their own cities and their own country"

There are so many beautiful towns all over South Africa that most people haven't explored yet, and they're no worse off for doing so. The way we try to inspire people to travel is by showing them rather than telling them. We have a YouTube channel, and we use our social media outlets to share stories of trips we've done all over South Africa. It's almost impossible to look at those pictures and not want to visit.

I believe that two versions of South Africa exist simultaneously. The first version we know well. We deal with crime, load shedding, unemployment, corruption, etc. on a daily basis, and this version of South Africa is shoved in our faces every day. But the other version of South Africa is less familiar because we often get stuck in a rut trying to survive.

"When you travel across South Africa, you are reminded of the incredible beauty this country has to offer"

Many foreigners spend tens of thousands of dollars to experience what's on our doorstep. And then, when you travel, you really get to experience the most heartfelt and caring people. South Africa's true beauty lies in the many people that make this country so great.

I keep telling people that traveling all over South Africa might help heal your broken relationship with our country. I follow that up by telling people that the soul of South Africa resides in our small towns, and they show you the true nature of our country.

In these small towns, the pace of living is a lot slower, people are more friendly and caring, and they really put care into their craft. I've eaten some of my best meals at local restaurants in small towns because they focus on their specialties, and they care about each meal that goes out. Also, the people in smaller towns are some of the friendliest people on earth.

"No matter where you live, there are always new places around you to explore and adventure"

Don't get caught in the trap of doing the same things and going to the same places just because they're familiar to you. Routine and structure are good for many things, but they don't help keep you young. This is why travel is a mindset. Although Like a Tourist is only six months old, we recently hit the jackpot as Discovery Bank and Vitality Travel decided to help amplify our content and make it easier for us to create more. I can't tell you what a big deal this is, but I can show you. Keep an eye out on that YouTube channel and our social media channels. But I warn you, it will be hard to consume our content without wanting to plan your next trip immediately.