(Newswire.net — January 17, 2020) — When planning a new trip, how do you choose your destination? Whether you’re a new travel blogger or you’ve been around the world a few times, your blogging career depends on visiting interesting places. Sometimes the most interesting places turn out to be small towns with a strong sense of community.
If you haven’t found a small town to visit yet, here are 6 reasons to start your search:
1. You’ll spend less money and have more time to play
Unlike tourist towns, small towns are less stressful to navigate and you probably won’t need to worry about parking. If the town is really small, you’ll be parking in the dirt and on gravel roads without those pesky meters. You might even end up parking next to a horse!
Without chain restaurants and retail shops lining the streets, you’ll spend less money on food and souvenirs and you’ll have more time to play. The lack of a bustling retail area provides the opportunity to explore and investigate.
2. Small towns are an opportunity to connect to nature
Visiting a small town is a great way to enjoy nature in the form of mountains, rocks, lakes, and the ocean. For instance, Cecil County in Maryland is surrounded by plenty of freshwater and saltwater, making it the perfect spot if you love to fish. If you don’t have a license to fish, you can walk around the area and enjoy your surroundings. Interview some of the locals and find out why they love to fish. Everyone has an interesting story to tell – even if it’s just a fish tale.
Another cool coastline to visit is Capitola Village in California. Capitola Village is perfect if you want to visit the beach and be close to Santa Cruz without the influx of tourists.
3. Small towns hold unique events
While the big cities have cookie-cutter parades, festivals, and fireworks shows, many small towns have unique events. Unique events are more fun to write about and your readers will appreciate the humorous ones. For instance, you could visit Bridgeville, DE for the World Championship Punkin Chunkin and see how far you can make a pumpkin fly. Or, head out to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, IN to celebrate the local residents’ Polish heritage (how far can you toss a Pierogi?).
There’s no doubt you’ll come across some strange events that will make great blogs, whether you participate or not. Imagine the blog titles you could come up with after attending a festival that celebrates the life of Mike the headless chicken.
Other interesting festivals you can catch around the world include rib festivals, kite festivals, a Duck Tape festival, and even a cow chip throwing festival.
4. You’ll meet some interesting people
Wander around a small town for any length of time and you’re bound to meet or hear about some interesting characters. You might run into someone claiming to be the descendent of someone famous. Or the locals might tell you a few ghost stories. Whether the stories you hear are true or just legend, your encounters will make great blogging material.
5. The townspeople will appreciate the recognition
Some small towns have just as much history as large towns, but don’t get the recognition they deserve. In a small town, there are always residents with enormous pride in the town’s history and they’ll be elated to hear you’re writing about their town.
6. You’ll find unique handcrafted goods
Small towns tend to have local shops full of handcrafted goods. You might discover some brilliant artists, sculptors, or people who use scrap material to make amazing pieces of art. You’re bound to run into some handmade soaps, clothing, and souvenirs made in the likeness of local legends. For example, in many small towns in Washington state, you can find hand carved statues of bigfoot that range from pocket-size to life-size.
Find the strangest small-town event and go for it
The crazier your stories, the more your readers will enjoy your blogs. Give your readers what they want by heading out to the craziest event you can find in a small, relatively unknown town. Make your readers wonder if there really is a festival celebrating a headless chicken named Mike. If you don’t think your blog post will sound like fiction, keep looking – you haven’t found the right event.