How to Be a Tourist at Home
This article explores how to cultivate a traveler's mindset while staying in one's own hometown. It suggests activities like exploring local ethnic cuisines and acting as a tour guide for visitors to rediscover familiar surroundings.
Why it matters
Encourages community engagement and local economic support while promoting mental well-being through curiosity.
You don’t have to leave town to discover something new.
Spencer Platt / Staff / Getty July 26, 2026, 7 AM ET Share Save This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Travel has a way of making us curious. We wander unfamiliar streets, strike up conversations with strangers, linger in museums, and notice details that we’d otherwise rush past. But that mindset doesn’t need to be reserved for vacations. Below, Atlantic writers and editors share their advice on how to rediscover the places they know best.
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