This is not your sign to visit Hertfordshire

What an absolute joy it is to visit a new place and not rely solely on the internet to govern what you see and do. Or even why you go there in the first place. Hertfordshire is, it turns out, a really beautiful part of England, but I’m not writing this to persuade you to go there.

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I’ve been travelling for a long time now, pals. The first big trip, aged twenty-two, was before Instagram had really taken off, and we didn’t have internet access on our phones. In fact, the main things that guided us through our trip were a very battered (and heavy) copy of Lonely Planet USA, and the strangers we met in hostels. I’m thirty seven now, and the way we travel has changed.

It’s easier, yes, but it’s also way less fun.

We choose where to go based on algorithms. We follow the fastest route on Google Maps, often ignoring the scenery around us to get to the next point on the checklist of iconic places to visit. At destinations around the world, people queue to take pictures at ‘instagrammable spots’ and eat at ‘the best restaurant.’ Often the queue goes directly past other restaurants and other beautiful views. I’ve written about over-tourism before, and it’s something that I really struggle with, particularly as someone who works on cruise ships. I’m well aware that cruise ships play a huge role in swamping environments and cities around the world. I am part of the problem.

In Phuket, we hired a moped and drove, stopping at beaches and temples that looked interesting. Later that day, when I described the temple filled with elephant statues that we’d stumbled across, my friend was disappointed and confused. “That sounds so beautiful…I don’t understand why ChatGPT didn’t tell me about that place?” In Japan, we went to the bus station in Shimizu and asked the lady at the counter how to get to Miho no Matsubara, to see Mount Fuji. We got on the bus, and some colleagues boarded a few stops later, following an itinerary made for them by ChatGPT. When we chose to take our own path at the other end, instead of join them on theirs, they looked at us in complete bafflement: “But ChatGPT says this is the quickest route.”

I know this blog is about travelling, and advice, and giving recommendations, but the clue is also in the name. Get lost. How fun is it to be surprised!? So without further ado, here is everything I re-learnt about travel, from a trip that took place much closer to home.

Don’t choose your destination based solely on the internet

We chose to meet somewhere in Hertfordshire because it was a good halfway point between my hometown of Eastbourne and Nottingham, where Chris lives. London is great, and easily accessible, but we were both craving somewhere new. Plus, the English countryside is stunning. My pal Rosie lives in St Albans, so it was a great excuse to pop in for a visit.

With Roman ruins, a quaint old town and a stunning cathedral, St Albans is absolutely beautiful, and the nearby countryside is filled with rolling golden hills and skies abundant with red kites. Before we visited, it’s an area that I knew absolutely nothing about.

We actually almost chose the Cotswolds, and don’t get me wrong, the Cotswolds is also stunning. But the reason it was the first place that sprung to mind, is that it’s consistently being presented to me on instagram. How rebellious of us, to choose the wildcard of Herts instead.

You’ll experience a place better with a person who knows it

The best way to visit anywhere in the world is with a person who has a personal connection to it. I enjoyed my time in NYC twice as much the second time round, because I was visiting friends who were really excited to show me the city. I had never been to North Carolina before, but I loved being shown around by my pal Rachel and her family.

It was really nice to be reminded of this as Rosie showed me around St Albans. How amazing is it to witness a place through the eyes of your pal who lives there, and see their favourite places for a walk, or grab a coffee in their go-to coffee shop or try out a new local restaurant together? Way more personal than following the same TikTok checklist as 10 thousand other people, that’s for sure.

If you don’t know anyone local, find someone. Book a walking tour. Talk to a stranger.

The less-visited places hold the biggest surprises

I’m trying to be more intentional about my choice of accommodation when I travel, as it’s no secret that in heavily-visited cities like Barcelona and Venice, holiday rentals are pricing locals out. It’s a huge problem, particularly when big companies buy up entire apartment blocks to turn them into Airbnbs.

But there are some really wonderful locally-owned Airbnbs and hotels which are very much worth a stay! Hertfordshire is not a massive tourist destination, so for starters I didn’t feel as if I was adding to a crisis by choosing Airbnb accommodation. Chris and I discovered a beautiful little spot on a farm in what felt like the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely stunning, and probably one of the best stays I’ve had through Airbnb ever. The hospitality of the owner was second to none, and every little detail had been thought about.

Don’t get me wrong, you can find truly brilliant places to stay anywhere; but where’s the surprise when you’re only going because it’s the exact place that everybody else has been directed to go, too?

Travel in the style of AA in the noughties. It’s really fun.

Seriously. Bring back noughties AA directions. You know, the ones where you would print off a list of instructions to get you from A to B, instead of following a blue dot on an app?

Chris found a route for a hike which was described AA-style: as a list of instructions rather than a blue dot. Pals, call me simple but what a wonderful adventure this was. I finally felt like I was connected to my brain as we read out directions like-

“Cross the dirt path and look for a hedge gap. Head through the hedge gap and then continue diagonally towards the biggest oak tree in the field.”

Concern about what constitutes a hedge gap ensued. Back-tracking occasionally occurred. Five hours after we began the walk, we finished and I felt like we’d truly achieved something!

Ask locals what they recommend.

We only ate in places that were recommended to us by actual physical people that we could see with our own two eyes. Not the internet, or Tripadvisor. What a novel idea! How wonderful is it to go into a local pub because a local recommended it.

We ate in some real gems. I’m sure they’ve all got really great reviews on Tripadvisor, in fact I’d be shocked if they didn’t. But talking to humans is a great way to feel more connected to the world, and less connected to my screen.

(I just checked and the Waffle House in St Albans, predictably, has great reviews. Good job, guys.)

Find actual hidden gems by looking on a map.

PSA: a hidden gem is not a hidden gem if everybody knows about. And I’ll let you in to a secret. There are a few of my favourite spots around the world that I purposefully don’t include on this blog, because I do not want to ruin them. That’s right, pals, I’m very much a gatekeeper. Soz.

I’ll tell you what makes a great way of finding a true hidden gem, though. Looking on a map, finding something that lights a little fire of curiosity in your little soul, and going to check it out. On our second day, looking for another walk, I got Google Maps out to see what intriguing locations might be nearby. We zoomed in on Old Gorhambury House, a ruined Tudor mansion on the outskirts of St Albans.

What a blooming find, pals! We were the only people exploring the crumbling ruins of the mansion that Queen Elizabeth I reportedly stayed in several times; it was a magical thing to have stumbled across.

This is not your sign to visit Hertfordshire.

The world is such a wonderful place, don’t you think? And the internet is a really fantastic tool to help us move through it. I use it to research my travels all the time, and I’m also love not just being able to document my travels here, but to chat away to folk like you, giving advice and inspiration and telling all my tales. But I think there’s a deceptively thin line between using the internet as a tool and using it as a replacement for our brains. I travel so often because I enjoy experiencing new places and meeting new people, but when I fall into the checklist trap I start to feel as if I’m mentally regressing, quite frankly.

So I’m well aware that this entire article might sound altogether ridiculously contradictory. (And just because I wrote it on the internet, does not by any means mean that you have to agree. Obv. Perhaps you don’t.) But I reckon it would be just brilliant, if we were able to give ourselves a little bit more agency, and freedom from the screens we’re increasingly glued to. It might not be as friction-free, but it certainly is fun.

So pals, this is your sign not to visit Hertfordshire.

Unless you really really want to.

It is beaut, after all.