So if you're planning a vacation
one of your biggest questions is likely, what are we going to do while we're there
To answer this question, people typically search online and YouTube and come up
with a list of the most popular things to do in a given city or town
The problem is that everyone else is finding the same things to do, which means more crowds
And obviously, it might be a little bit overrated. Now, if that's fine with you and you
want to see the most popular places, great. Go for it. But if you want to experience something
a little more secret or behind the scenes, or even something that gives you a deeper
dive into the culture of the area or how the other people live who lived in that area
then you need to search in a different place. You need to conduct your research differently
from what everybody else is doing. Now, as a professional travel advisor
I've learned how to find activities no one else is talking about
And that is what I'm here to share with you today. So if you want to find the hidden gems and unique things
to do for your next vacation, let's go ahead and dive in with my top tips for finding the secret things to do
All right, my first stop is YouTube. Now, this one could go either way
You could use YouTube to find all of those popular destinations. But if you're lucky, you might be
able to find all of those lesser talked about things, those hidden gems and unique things
to do that might make your vacation far more special. Let me show you what I mean
So for instance, if we looked at Catalina Island here in California, you'll see a ton of things to do
a lot of videos talking about things to do. Now, if I were to go into each of these
most times they're going to be talking about the same 10, 15, 20 things to do over and over again
So really, you don't need to watch very many of these to get an idea of what the most popular things to do
on Catalina Island are. But if you do a little bit of research
and do a little bit of searching through the options, you might find things like, oh, I don't know
this one, this lovely little video from yours truly where we talk about things to do on the island
that nobody else is talking about. Now, it's not just Catalina Island
We've done it for a few other things, but I'm not the only one. There are other people that are sharing
lesser talked about things, and you can get an idea of what to do in your destination
by researching on YouTube and finding those videos that are sharing those unique things to do
I like using YouTube also because oftentimes they have lots of video of doing it themselves
of going around wherever it is that you are and those experiences
You can get a glimpse of what it's like and then make a better determination
of whether or not you want to do it on your own vacation. The next place I want to show you is Airbnb
Now, if you go to Airbnb, the home webpage, and scroll down here to where it says Experiences
this is my absolute favorite way to find unique experiences. It is what I recommend to all my clients
and if you've seen any of my videos, I always include Airbnb experiences
when I'm doing a specific destination. You have two options here. The online experience is something you can do from home
so if you want to have a live cooking class with an Italian grandma, great
You can do an online experience, but we're not talking about that. We're talking about going on vacation
so let's go ahead to Experiences. The first thing that's going to pop up
is just experiences near you, and I happen to be in California, but I want to show you all of the amazing things they have
So for instance, I'm going to type in Tokyo, Japan, and just do a general search
to get an idea of what's available. Now, 146 experiences. Now, let me explain why this is special
These are experiences that are put on by locals, and they are completely unique in what they offer
It is not the main tourism, huge clouds. They're usually small groups
They're usually relatively inexpensive, and the best thing is that when you do them through a local
you get lots of incredible information about other things to see and do on your vacation
So for instance, they might give you even more tips on great restaurants to go to
other activities that you can do, the insider information in the area
and just make your vacation far more special. Not to mention, you can meet some new people
and they might even be up for doing more things with you
It might be a really great experience for everybody. So I always recommend doing these types of experiences
at the beginning of your vacation because they can share a lot of experiences with you
and a lot of recommendations and things. The best thing to do is do it at the beginning
because then you can incorporate any of those recommendations for the rest of your trip
I did one of these in Tokyo, and unfortunately, I did it at the end of my trip
and then by that time, it was too late for me to add in all of the great recommendations
that they had for me. I wish I had done it at the beginning so that I could have added those things in
throughout my trip. So that's my greatest recommendation. Always, no matter what destination you go to
come to Airbnb Experiences, and then book something, even if it's just one thing
at the very beginning of your trip, and then that way you can learn some new things
and incorporate it through the remainder of your vacation. All right, my next favorite place to look
and this one is actually pretty new. They have an app, and they're similar to your Airbnb Experiences
but it's particularly with eating and dining. They aren't everywhere yet, but they are growing in more and more places
and so this is one of my up-and-coming favorite places to look. This is where you can actually purchase experiences
that are food-based. So for instance, here in Chicago, you can learn how to make Mexican mole
and have lunch with this person. In LA, you can have an African vegan dinner party
in Playa Del Rey. You're meeting new people. A lot of times it's small groups, such as this here
You can meet new people, experience new cuisine. You can learn how to cook sometimes
experience gourmet meals. It's just, there's so many amazing things that can come from an experience such as this
Now, they're not that expensive. I guess you could look through to see where you're going
and what might be available. There's all different types. It could be going to somebody's home
and sharing a meal with them, or it could be like this in Houston where it's an entire food tour
or here in Van Nuys where it's al fresco dining with a wine pairing
There are so many cool things that you speak with how to offer, and like I said, it's a brand new platform
and has so much to offer. I can't wait to see it expand and offer more and more destinations
And then my final tip for finding things that nobody else knows about is your typical Google
but do not just search things to do for X destination. What I want you to do is specifically choose activities
that you love. So say, for instance, activities that you love in wherever you're going
So for instance, if I wanted to go scuba in let's say Catalina Islands again
I would wanna look for this specific activity I'm interested in doing
If I'm interested in, you know, I love to go to theater
theater shows in let's say Venice, for instance, go to the activities that specifically speak to you
Whatever your favorite activities are, if it's active, if you enjoy flying, hiking, scuba
mountain climbing, whatever it is, you look for that specifically. If you enjoy shopping, if you enjoy theater
if you enjoy whatever it is that you love to do, search for that specific activity plus your destination
And that way you're gonna find, even if the plays in Venice aren't on the top 20 lists
that you see everywhere else, you'll be able to find all of the available options
for that specific activity in your destination. It is really the best way is if you get ultra specific
with what you're interested in, you will definitely, definitely find some amazing options
in your destination. So those are my top four tips for some unique things to do
and hidden gems on your next vacation. I will link all of the websites I talked about below
So if you'd like to go check those out, and if you are planning a vacation this year
these videos will help you out. And I wanna thank you so much for stopping by
and we'll see you on the next video. Take care, bye-bye