“Where’s the place you feel most at home in nature?”

This is the question we posed to our network of local travel experts all around the world. They came back with responses about incredible landscapes that make their corners of the earth special. We’ve compiled their thoughts about some of the best landscapes from around the world.

In the best-selling book and motion picture ‘Eat Pray Love,’ Elizabeth Gilbert spends an entire year on the road. She visits three different countries for four months each. How did she do it? Apart from having a book deal already in place to fund her journey, she also travelled smart and travelled slow, especially in her choice of lodging. From Italy to India and Indonesia, she chose longer-term apartment and lodge rental.

We’ve asked our global network of local tourism professionals about the ‘length of stay’ factor in their destinations. Answers varied, but they all agree on one thing: the average tourist isn’t a slow traveller and just doesn’t stay long enough to really appreciate a place. Here are their thoughts on how long is long enough and what the average fast traveller is missing.

We believe that the different forms of local transport are unique qualities of a place that, when experienced, are a vital part of a local travel experience. To know a place is to get around it the way local people do: cramming yourself into a chicken bus in South America, throwing caution to the wind in a tuk-tuk in Southeast Asia or boarding a ferry in Africa. We’re sure you will find these rides to be a brilliant bonding experience with locals.

In Malawi, getting engaged is quite different from the one-kneed question-popping and ring-exchanging of many Western cultures. Here, two people are considered officially engaged only after completing a traditional engagement ceremony, known as Chinkhoswe in the central and southern regions of the country and Malowolo in the northern region.

As a developing country in Africa, Malawi faces a lot of challenges, especially when it comes to the development of its rural communities. One of many effective ways to tackle some of the challenges, though, is through volunteer assistance, channelled through the tourism industry. In support of this, The Responsible Safari Company, the whl.travel local connection in Malawi, has partnered with local community-development organisations to create an exciting range of voluntourism opportunities.

When it comes to life’s simple pleasures, food definitely ranks near (if not at) the top of the list for most people. It’s probably fair to say that the way to a whole nation’s heart is through its stomach, so finding out what makes a country tick is often as simple as checking out what dishes regularly make it onto the dinner table. Thanks to the efforts of our local partners around the globe, we’ve assembled an extensive selection of typical local appetisers, soups and stews, main dishes, vegetarian dishes, desserts, drinks and snacks and street foods.