'Travel Sense' Tip: Connect with local friends, or friends-of-friends, on your next trip

It's one thing to visit a city or country on your own, but quite refreshing to see it through the eyes of those who live there. That's why it's a great idea to find out in advance if folks you know have any local connections in the place you're heading. I always do this when traveling abroad, but also try to make it a habit here in the States, as well. I find this opens up your perspective--and gives you a local's view of life in your chosen vacation spot.

I recommend this whether you're traveling alone, with family or friends, or your significant other. For one thing, you also introduce your companions to another side of the place you're visiting and give them stories to share when they get back home. (And if those companions are starting to wear on you, a visit with someone new can help break up the monotony.) These "appointments" with other folks' friends add purpose and structure to your vacation days, which can sometimes overwhelm with endless museum and monument visits. And when arranging our meet-ups, I always ask these friends-once-removed to suggest a meeting place that's a favorite of THEIRS--not just one that's convenient to the hotel or apartment where I happen to be staying. You then get introduced to cool, where-the-locals-go eateries and bars in different parts of town--places that you wouldn't likely stumble upon on your own.

What I've ALSO found is that often these friends-of-friends end up becoming great pals of mine along the way. When heading to Italy several years ago, a former Chicago journalist friend told me about Kelly Carter, another female freelance journalist who was living there. We connected in Positano, where she then lived, and have become great friends since. (She's writing a memoir, Bellini for One, about her glorious two years living in bella Italia.) Kelly introduced me to her friend Stacie, a fashionista living in Florence--where I'd recently moved--and we developed a real friendship on our own. And the links in the chain keep growing.

During my trip to Rome last month, Kelly sent out some e-mails to friends of hers living in the Eternal City, who agreed as a group to meet me for drinks one night. What a wonderful treat!! Not only did I get together with an inspiring group of Rome-based American expats, but Kelly also hooked me up Arlene Gibbs, another friend-of-a-friend who turned out to be the screenplay writer for "Jumping the Broom," a comedy that hits U.S. theaters just in time for Mother's Day.

When I visited Mexico City last summer for work, a priest friend from my downtown Chicago church made sure to connect me to a wonderful young friend of his in this massive metropolis of nearly 20 million people. The super-friendly Renato (a passionate traveler himself) met me one Saturday morning, took me on a tour of the capital city, and shared his insights about life here--and even invited his sister to meet us for lunch. Talk about bringing a potentially overwhelming place down to human scale!

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Maureen Jenkins s a food/travel writer and communications professional who's visited more than 30 countries and territories, lived in Florence, Italy -- and is spending the year in Samois-sur-Seine, a charming village near Paris, France. The self-proclaimed “urban travel girl” talks travel, food and wine – abroad and in Chicago – in “TCW Travel Connection.” Read more of her thoughts on living globally at UrbanTravelGirl.com.