‘Life-seeing’: Could this travel trend be the antidote to overtourism?

SPOTLIGHT / The roads less travelled

The extent of tourism in Venice is irking locals.Credit: Getty Images

If there’s one word that’s been regularly bobbing up in travel headlines this year it’s “overtourism”. In the wake of the post-COVID tourism boom, and masses of Insta-obsessed holiday-makers hogging iconic landmarks, an international backlash has been accelerating, from Venice rolling out an entry charge for visitors to angry Barcelona locals spraying tourists with water pistols. Meanwhile, a Japanese resort town has erected a temporary fence to prevent traffic-stopping visitors posing in front of Mt Fuji. All of which may be driving a counter-trend: visitors bypassing the well‑trodden tourist spots for lesser-known regional places or little-known city neighbourhoods.

The buzzword? “Life-seeing”, as opposed to “sight-seeing”, which explores what everyday life is truly like for locals and discovering hidden, Insta-free gems that will make a visit stand out. A recent survey by booking.com found that the majority of tourists want “authentic experiences that are representative of local culture” and this applies to internal as well as overseas travel.

The trend has already reached our shores, according to Austrade (Australia’s Trade and Investment Commission), with 78 per cent of younger Aussies planning a local holiday in the next 12 months and regional locales figuring in the top five most-preferred places. Surveys show a yen for experience rather than ticking off visits to iconic places like Bondi Beach. Overseas travel has long been a rite of passage for Aussies aged 18 to 24 but here, too, most are after an experiential, immersive holiday rather than a tour of tourist traps. Greg Callaghan

READ / Past imperfect

Set in rural Australia and London, The Echoes explores complex issues including the impact of intergenerational trauma.

The Echoes, the fourth novel by English-Australian writer Evie Wyld (her last, The Bass Rock, won the 2021 Stella Prize), is a ghost story with a twist. The main narrator is English Max, who has recently died, leaving behind his Australian girlfriend, Hannah (the other narrator), who’s estranged from her family. The story shifts backwards and forwards in time between their life together in London and Hannah’s childhood in rural Australia. The Echoes explores complex issues around family relationships, whether it’s possible to escape your past, the impact of intergenerational trauma and the plight of the stolen generations. Haunting. Vintage Australia; $35.Nicole Abadee

LISTEN / Serial offender

The latest season of Serial takes on Guantanamo Bay and the chaos behind the prison camp’s walls.

It’s been a decade since Serial put podcasts on the map and opened the door to the true-crime tsunami. In the latest season, Sarah Koenig and Dana Chivvis take on one of the US’s most secretive and controversial subjects – Guantanamo Bay, the prison camp in Cuba that was opened in 2002 under the auspices of combatting the War on Terror and is still in operation despite presidential promises to close it. The duo interviews detainees, guards and wardens to discover exactly what has happened behind those walls. What they find is a chaotic place where rules have been bent or broken and torture and abuse are allowed to flourish. They also bring to light the bizarre Disneyfication of the place (local gift shops carry Disney-branded T-shirts). Barry Divola

SHOP / Speaker of the house

This 17-centimetre-tall portable smart speaker offers 10 hours of battery life.

Good things come in triangular oblongs, as Toblerone-lovers know, and the new Roam 2 speaker ($299) is definitely a sweetie, especially if, like me, you already speak Sonos. First, at just 6cm x 17cm x 6cm and 0.4kg, it’s truly grab ‘n’ go portable; second, it’s got 10 hours battery life; and third, it packs a wallop for its size, the bass juicy, the treble crisp and everything in-between wholly satisfying. It pairs easily with your phone via Bluetooth – I do this nightly so I can fall asleep in the company of the ever-sonorous Stephen Fry reading a Sleep Story – but also integrates with the Sonos app to become a “satellite” speaker for your existing home sound system. (Having a party? Stand your Roam 2 in your bathroom – flat or upright like a baby Flatiron Building – so guests don’t lose the vibe during loo stops.) Oh, and it’s fully waterproof and comes in five cool colourways. Love. Sharon Bradley

WEAR / Coyote pretty

Western embellishments are creeping onto sleeves.

The country music invasion has made its way into city slickers’ wardrobes. The twang of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé has led to an influx of cowboy hats and boots from out west. Even the humble denim shirt has changed its tune, with western embellishments creeping onto sleeves with tobacco-coloured embroidery and decorative yokes adding drama to simple stone-washes. Streetwear brand Ksubi has turned to the wide open plains with a western capsule collection that looks equally at home in the back paddock as at the front of the bar (Frontier shirt, $260, pictured below). Damien Woolnough

EAT / Can can

A Kin can offers the chance to try Australian southern bluefin tuna, which is mostly sent to Japan.

Almost all of Australia’s southern bluefin tuna is sent to Japan, where it’s prized for sashimi. South Australia’s family-owned, sustainability obsessed Kin brand is now keeping some for the domestic market, including this luxurious and delicious tinned tuna (from $9.90). The fish is cooked and simply seasoned or flavoured with native ingredients, including saltbush and desert lime. The onshore canning industry is in flux and ongoing supply is challenging: catch these now. Dani Valent

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