Do expat’s offer the best local tips?

Print This Post Print This Post       Written by Vicky Baker on June 19, 2009

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I’ve been commissioning a lot of longterm expats on the guidebook project I’m currently working on. For this type of work, this is the ideal vantage point.

outside looking in? or inside looking out? / Photo by Stephen Chapman

outside looking in? or inside looking out? / Photo by Stephen Chapman

I woke up this morning to find that I’m an “interesting expat”. Which was nice.

At least so says Matador Network in a piece on “20 interesting expats on Twitter“. It’s not the list, but a list, they point out.  But let’s not worry about that.  Today I’m officially interesting and I am going to bask in the moment. Tomorrow I may not be.

Anyway, all this got me thinking about expats in general. How long does it take you to be deemed an “insider” in a place? Being a foreigner, can you ever be truly “inside” a country’s psyche?  Or will you always been on periphery of sorts? Maybe that periphery is a good place to be. Especially when it comes to offering travel advice.

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Vicky Baker

Vicky Baker

Freelance journalist from London, currently based in Buenos Aires. Vicky regularly writes on her blog at goinglocaltravel.com and shares tips, advice and news on travelling the local way: covering couchsurfing, hospitality tourism, travel networking and home exchanges.