Tourists Should Buy This Overlooked Item To Connect With Locals During Trips Abroad

How do you really get to know a location you've never visited before? How do you get under its skin, beyond the paeans of guidebooks and tourism websites? If only there was a place where you could read about a community's innermost thoughts — its concerns, its controversies, its points of pride. If only you could quickly absorb its latest developments, learn about major public figures and notable private citizens, and quickly catch up on their latest preoccupations. While you're at it, maybe you could see what local real estate looks like or find out who recently passed away. A crossword puzzle would make a great bonus. If only such a resource existed!

It does exist, of course, and it's called a newspaper. All around the world, news organizations report about current events, often with hyper-local focus. Aruba Today covers important events on the Caribbean island nation. The Jakarta Post still fills newsstands across Indonesia. Readers in Delhi pick up the Hindustan Times to scan headlines about India. All of these periodicals are printed in English, and they all have websites, which can be accessed just about anywhere. Before you touch down in Taiwan, you can read a few dozen articles online in the Taipei Times, then pick up a physical copy on the street. International news stories are more accessible than ever, researched by journalists who actually live in the community you plan to visit.

As traveler-extraordinaire Rick Steves has noted, researching a destination before every trip will get you the most out of local culture. Newspapers offer a feisty, ungilded, up-to-the-minute perspective on local life; among these pages, you'll find profiles on businesses, analysis pieces about major political debates, and breaking news stories about crime and disasters.

Yes, the term "newspaper" sounds more antiquated every day, and plenty of people gripe about the state of journalism. Two decades ago, every small town in the U.S. seemed to have its local newspaper, available for purchase from a dispenser on the street; experts estimate that more than 3,000 local newspapers have ceased publication since 2004, which is a tragic turn of events for such an important institution. This trend has spread to many other countries as well, and subscribers and advertising revenue have dwindled everywhere, withering the once-powerful print-news industry.

At the same time, the internet has made global news outlets more accessible than ever. Not long ago, a curious reader would have to visit a library to try and track down a copy of, say, China Daily, the official English-language newspaper of the People's Republic of China, and by the time it was delivered, all its stories might be hopelessly out of date. No longer: You can just pull up China Daily's website and read its latest articles, which are constantly updated. Not all news outlets are created equal; you may have to contend with government censorship or sensationalist front pages. But each line of every news brief will help inform you about a given populace — their hopes, their fears, and what they do for fun.

English-language newspapers are also valuable in nations where most residents speak another language. This is your chance to read translated quotes, learn about foreign systems of law and government, and explore regional issues — cultural facets that would require years of immersion to learn from local people. For solo travelers, keeping up on current affairs can be a great icebreaker for meeting people.

There's no reason to stop at newspapers, or even news sites. Journalism is reported in so many different forms, from television to radio to podcasts to multimedia explainers, and much of this is streamed for free (or at least affordably) across the web. While most travelers stick to travel sites and social media to get their logistical information, news reports are a great way to learn the nuances of a contemporary culture. Many of these media programs are put together in other languages, of course, and most English speakers would be hard-pressed to watch Tagesschau, Germany's most popular news program, or listen to Spain's Cadena SER news radio service, and expect to have any idea what's going on.

In some cases, major institutions in English-speaking countries specialize in less-populous nations: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Al Jazeera, and The Guardian — among countless others — run news desks around the world, and each puts its particular spin on the events of the day. You won't become an expert on Pakistan's Parliament or South Korea's education system overnight, but you will quickly spot the stories that most concern locals. Reading up is a great way to pass time on your flight, and it's one of the best remedies for coping with culture shock abroad.