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Mr. Nicholas Kontis
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Going Local: Experiences and Encounters on the Road Kindle Edition

by Nicholas Kontis (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 143 ratings
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Today’s traveler seeks authentic experiences, not just viewing awesome sites, taking must-see photo opportunities, and checking an item off of a bucket list. Today’s modern day explorers seek immersion, wisdom and better and greater understanding of people and places. Real life experiences are compelling people to travel and bridge cultures together. Travel opens us up to the wonders of the world, and to the serendipitous occurrences when different cultures merge. At the forefront of any journey, travel begins with people and protecting local society and wilderness. It’s a powerful lesson that cannot be learned staying home viewing travel shows on television.

Included in the book are:
• Ways to become part of the peer to peer, sharing economy, experiential travel movement.
• Case studies in living overseas, seeking out culture through local cuisine and
sharing a meal, volunteering while on the road, how an around the world adventure is a life changing involvement.
• Learning what it means to be a responsible traveler and choosing operators who protect and give back to local societies.
• Keynote interviews with world-renowned travel insiders on their perspectives on travel.
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  1. Print length
    252 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    September 19, 2016
  5. File size
    10375 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Nick "Nick Kontis fully showcases a better way to travel by fully immersing into local society" Richard Bangs Author, television personality, and regarded as the father of modern adventure travel Nick Kontis writes about the way we should be traveling. It's not about package tours and brief stops, but deep immersion into getting to know locals and finding out about why they - and now you - love the places they call home." Michael Luongo "Award winning New York based novelist, freelance writer and photographer" "Nick Kontis is committed to the kind of travel that brings peace, communication and joy." Judith Fein Award winning travel writer, speaker and videographer "Nick Kontis is championing a travel concept that I have held for decades, "Immersion" in local culture. I believe this is the path to international understanding and I applaud him for his work." James Michael Dorsey Explorer, award winning author, photographer and lecturer "With more and more people traveling into remote corners of our increasingly accessible and complicated world, it is incredibly valuable to have voices like Nick Kontis to guide us towards a more memorable and enlightening travel experience." David Noyes Award-Wining Travel Writer and Photojournalist "With more Nick Kontises on the road, we'd have a much more peaceful world. Support his kind of "going local." John Lamkin Award-winning journalist and photographer "The single biggest impact on my children's education is the experiences they share, with locals, around the world. Nick Kontis opens up a world many don't realize is accessible to them." Jim Pickell President of HomeExchange.com "If Jules Verne were alive today he would use Nick to go "Around the World in 80 days" Arthur Frommer Founder of the Frommer's series of travel guides and Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel[ magazine "Many people - Mark Twain included - have noted how travel is a certain cure for bigotry and narrow-mindedness. I hope Nick's book may help persuade people to take the treatment." Tony Wheeler Co-founder of Lonely Planet Guidebooks

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01LZJ8JH2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nicholas Kontis; 1st edition (September 19, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 10375 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 252 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 143 ratings

About the author

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Mr. Nicholas Kontis

Mr. Nicholas Kontis

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Nicholas Kontis was born on one of the most breathtaking islands in the world, Santorini, Greece, and brought up in America's culture capital of San Francisco. Nick developed a passion for travel at a very young age, going back and forth between San Francisco and Athens, Greece during summer vacation. At age 12 he learned the meaning of travel immersion by staying in various relatives homes, sleeping on couches, and learn to bake bread.

At age 19, Nick did his first Europe stomp, renting a car with two friends in Nice, France and later participating in the annual “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain, during the San Fermin Festival, where he came out unscathed.

It would be an exploring trip around the world at age 24 that would end up being a life changing experience. Subsequent to travelling by car, train, plane, bike, boat and hitchhiking all through the globe, even saving a baby in Bangladesh. It was this trip of a lifetime that drove Nick to a long-lasting affection for travel as well as to a career in the travel industry.

After returning to his native San Francisco with no job in sight, Nick proceeded to start the first successful travel agency in the United States specializing in discount around the world airfares.

Nick has been featured as a guest speaker on both radio and television. He has been mentioned by Lonely Planet's Tony Wheeler as an airfare master, and often alluded to as the "father of around the world airfares." Arthur Frommer once said, "If Jules Verne were alive today he would use Nick Kontis to go around the world in 80 days." He is also a guest writer for USA Today and Huffington Post Travel, as well as numerous other travel publications. Maybe the greatest point of distinction for Nick is that numerous fellow travel writers and specialists in the field have referred to him as the inspiration for their decision to embark on careers in the industry. Nick's first book is titled, “Going Local – Experiences and Encounters on the Road.”

Nicholas Kontis still calls San Francisco home, and spends the dominant part of his year travelling between his four home bases of San Francisco, The Napa Valley, Los Angeles and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

His web site is www.nicholaskontis.com

Follow Nick

Twitter & Instagram @nicholaskontis

Facebook – World Travel List , Nicholas Kontis

Linkedin – Nicholas Kontis

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
143 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ed W.
5.0 out of 5 stars The Sharing Economy: Connecting the Dots (and Eating Well)
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
I was drawn to this book because I just attended a hoteliers' conference (#CHIEF2016) at which the two primary topics in the presentations were the sharing economy and experiential travel. And these are Kontis' two main topics. (Well, two of three, because he squeezes a lot of descriptions of food as a part of experiential travel, and man, can this guy write about food!)

Anyway, what I love about this book is that he connects the dots between the sharing economy and experiential travel, and in doing so he uses wonderful anecdotes, which he does well, because (1) he's a great story teller, and (2) he sure has done a ton of traveling. But there's one other aspect of the book that impresses me, too, so let me explain: The conference I attended was of, by, and for the Caribbean Hotel & Travel Association. Kontis appears to have done much of his traveling in Europe, especially Greece, and in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. He's not an expert on the Caribbean. And yet this spoke to me, because the trends and pleasures he's describing are real and universal, so without even having spent swaths of his life in the Caribbean, as I have, he is absolutely on target. Talk about a timely book!
7 people found this helpful
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travelambition
5.0 out of 5 stars I love the way that this travel book encourages you to ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2016
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I love the way that this travel book encourages you to get off the couch or off your work rut, to go and travel. It even takes the fear out of traveling as a solo female if you have no partner or friends to travel with, willing ones, or ones that can afford or want to travel. It shows how you can tap into communities so you won't feel alone when your traveling. It also shows an alternative way to travel by contributing and immersing yourself into local society and showcases how you don't need much money to travel all while also encouraging you to recharge your karma. It's a great buy or gift for those in need of a vacation, looking to take a sabbatical, take a trip after graduation, or going into retirement. It doesn't matter what age you are, what level of or lack of experienced traveler you are, this book will guide you and cheer you on to take your next journey. I'M BUYING A FEW MORE BOOKS FOR GRADUATING NIECES AND RETIRING FRIENDS. If this book doesn't not encourage you to go and travel, then I don't know what will. It will literally make you run out of excuses for not going.
One person found this helpful
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River A DeLiso
5.0 out of 5 stars A must have reference for anyone even thinking about taking a trip, local or abroad!
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2017
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This book is an absolute treasure for those who love to travel, or even the person who is just daydreaming about it. No more excuses that it’s too expensive or you don’t like hotels! Going local shows you a whole new world of travel. From house swapping to camping on someones couch, this book covers it all. It has concise descriptions of tons of new options with all the relevant info such as websites and contact names. The author shares entertaining little travel stories that make it fun to read. The world of adventuring to another place has come a long way, and this is a must have reference for anyone even thinking about taking a trip, local or abroad!
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Don Kidwell
4.0 out of 5 stars "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness" - Mark Twain
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2017
Verified Purchase
Eclectic travel book good for giving you a broad range of ideas on "taking the road less traveled, living off the beaten path [and] visiting more than just the typical tourist sites." Contains mention of sources you might already be familiar with such as Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Uber, and Rick Steves as well as many exciting new ideas such as Gogobot (groups organized by tribes), Pubsulike Guide (staying in a British Pub), Culinary Food Tours (always wanted to try one) and working with Archeologists in Romania (can you dig it?) Plenty of great ideas to get you started including photos and an active table of contents for ease of use such that it made for an illuminating read and I did enjoy. Gotta go now as I've trips to plan!
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book for both beginners and experienced travelers!
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
What's great about Nicholas Kontis' book, Going Local, is that he travels like an "average Joe", appreciating the local culture and peoples. He'd much rather wander and discover the places than plan ahead and follow a schedule. That's my kind of travel, and Nick just helps to reinforce that we all need to keep on going places. Media would like us to believe there are so many scary people and places. In 20 years of going all over the world, sometimes alone and sometimes with others, I can attest that 99.9% of people are kind, helpful and welcoming. Travel teaches us that humans are very much the same all over--wanting decent jobs to feed their families and wanting peaceful surroundings in which to live. If more of us could realize and appreciate this by getting out there and experiencing other cultures, I believe we would have a decent chance at peace on earth. I also enjoyed the travel experts he invited to share their pointers in some chapters. Thanks, Nick, I retired 3 years ago planning to spend a year out there; here I am 3 years later and still traveling 90% of the time. And I love every place I've been!
One person found this helpful
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David Nikel
5.0 out of 5 stars On-trend advice from an expert
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2017
Verified Purchase
As an expat of six years living in Scandinavia, I like to think I have a good grasp of what "going local" means. I know I have a much better idea of what real Scandinavian life is like, well beyond Viking history and the world's sudden obsession with "hygge", because I've slowed down and taken my time to get to know the locals. On my recent tour of Norway researching a guidebook, I spoke to as many locals as possible to let them tell me about their town, and stayed with them where possible. Yet this book made me realise that I don't do the same in foreign lands. On a recent trip to the Baltic states, I stayed in a major chain hotel in each of the capitals, which has helped to mix up my memories of the three cities. Kontis is writing about the trends of the sharing economy and experiential travel but he's not doing so to cash in, he's doing so because he's lived those trends around the world, for years. A great motivating read. A++
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MyReview
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and practical guide for transformational travel
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2017
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Far too much travel writing these days is done from arms length, but it's clear from this book's beginning that Nicholas Kontis knows his subject and believes wholeheartedly in the concept of going local, in getting involved with the people and places among which you travel and in the joy of coming back from the experience wholly transformed. I went into the book a believer in the subject and came out of it with a host of resources for planning my next transformational trip.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Donna Janke
5.0 out of 5 stars Great descriptions and resources for going local.
Reviewed in Canada on January 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book is about the immersive travel experience, going beyond typical tourist sites and into the culture of a place, what Nicholas calls "going local." It provides an excellent and broad overview into what this means, from where to stay to eating and learning to cook like locals to finding tours to meeting up with locals to volunteering and responsible travel. His personal experiences and interviews with well-known figures in the travel industry are interesting. They are likely to spur your own wanderlust. One of the strongest parts of this book is the resource information Nicholas provides in each category - sites you can use to plan your own "going local" experience. I know this book will become a standard reference for me when planning travel.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
Current and highly relevant to the modern traveller. Even "old hands" may pick up a tip or two.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Sollte jeder in seinem Regal haben
Reviewed in Germany on May 24, 2017
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Nicholas Kontis eröffnet mit seinem flüssig geschriebenem Buch den Blick auf eine neue Welt des Reisens für all jene, die nicht so vertraut damit sind oder bisher vorallem mit Angeboten aus dem Massentourismus gereist sind. Für Vielreisende wie für uns ist es eine wunderbare Zusammenfassung all der tollen Erfahrungen, die wir gesammelt haben und immer wieder wiederholen werden.
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Matt James
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2016
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A great little book. Well done Nick!
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WorldWideWriter
4.0 out of 5 stars Getting more from the travel experience
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2017
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Going Local is the antidote to our increasingly fragmented society, in which trust and tolerance seem to be in short supply. Nick Kontis encourages his readers to break down barriers as they travel, to find ways of "getting under the skin" of the places they visit and the people they meet. The book is part inspiration, with interviews with prolific travellers and travel writers, and part practical information. It is full of suggestions for how to meet local people, whether by staying in private homes, sharing meals or just making the most of chance encounters. Recommended for anyone who wants to get more out of their travel experience.
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