No matter where you travel – the saying goes – there’s still no place like home. Luckily, for many travellers, it’s now possible to forgo run-of-the mill hotel stays in favour of a night (or more) spent with a local family. Commonly known as ‘homestays,’ such local travel opportunities offers win-win outcomes for both travellers and their hosts. Considering a sustainable alternative to staying in a hotel? Here are five of our favourite cultural homestays that offer enriching travel experiences while also improving local livelihoods.

There are lessons to be learned from time-lapse photography about the beauty of slow travel. Park yourself somewhere and stay awhile. Be still. Go for long exposure. Reconsider time, stretch it, condense it and watch its flow. Leave a place with a long time-lapse memory of it rather than a handful of sporadic snapshot seconds. Here, we’ve asked our local partners from all over the world for time-lapse footage that moves them.

UNESCO recognition through its World Heritage List and time in the subsequent travel spotlight can be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, a new site gets a big status boost and some protection. On the other hand, an influx of tourists adds pressures and more need for protection. One way to curb this effect is for travellers to visit alternative heritage destinations where high tourism congestion isn’t causing problems.

With the UN-backed trial of three senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders finally underway in Phnom Penh, the world is reminded of Cambodia’s sad history. One memorial of its darkest times is S-21, a school-turned-detention centre (and now a genocide museum), where, after the Khmer Rouge fled, a startling photonegative archive were discovered. Today, hundreds of stark black-and-white portraits line the museum walls. It is a moving, eye-opening display.

Imagine if you could tell about actually getting to drive a rickshaw. Yes, today it is possible to get your hands on the steering bar of this ever-popular mode of transport. In which case it’s game over: Your tale would triumph, hands down. Get ready to tell the best stories about your time as a rickshaw pilot, because we’ve found the top five rickshaws that you are actually allowed to drive.