Experience travel with the quality and depth you deserve

Why you should choose Greether to have quality travel experiences

"So, how many countries have you been to?" A fellow traveler asked me over glasses of tangy, burgundy-red sangria. We were in Málaga, one of the southernmost cities in Spain, and the year was 2019. She and I were lounging around a dining table in a charming, colorful hostel that provided housing for both travelers and students taking classes at la Universidad de Málaga nearby.

*Beautiful view of la Universidad de Málaga, el Parque de Málaga, and El Puerto de Málaga | Photo credit: Malia*

"Hmm. You know, I'm not sure. I've never counted." I told her, rubbing my cheek with my index finger thoughtfully. I started counting in my head the countries I had been to while unfurling each finger on both hands, one at a time. "Hmm, should I count Belgium, too?

Actually, nah. I've technically been to Belgium, but it was just a layover in Brussels Airport, so it doesn't count."

"Yes, it does. You were IN Belgium." She narrowed her eyes.

"Well, you can't get to know a country if you don't leave its airport. Did I eat any food? See any architecture? Nope."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, well, how many countries then?" returning to her original question.

I went down the list of countries I had been to again in my head, sans Belgium. She leaned in slightly as I told her with a shrug that I had been to 15 countries thus far (a number that has grown since early 2019).

With the emergence of social media, a fixation on the number of countries to which people have traveled abroad has helped quantify their adventures. That number can then be shared and even boasted about as an accomplishment.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with counting the number of countries you’ve been to, there's so much more to a country than checking it off on a checklist.

In each country you visited, did you talk to locals and learn from them? Did you try their native dishes? For example, since that conversation in early 2019, I've been to Belgium twice (outside the airport) and tried the Belgian fries, accompanied by the ever-available assortment of sauces (the curry ketchup is divine!).

*Trying Belgian fries in Zeebrugge, Belgium | Photo credit: Malia*

The quality and depth of your travel experiences matter more than the number of countries you've visited. Luckily, Greether has helped me and many others have the quality travel experiences that we crave.

When I discovered Greether in 2021 while working with the organization Nomads Giving Back, I wished I had found them four years earlier in 2017. Going to Iceland in the summer of 2017 opened my eyes about wanting to travel, though the idea had been growing in my mind for years. I traveled on and off for months at a time in 2018 and 2019, before heading to Morocco in January 2020, just before the pandemic lockdown started.
Though I sometimes traveled with friends I had met while trotting around the globe, for most of my time abroad, I had traveled alone. When I was alone in a new city, I would explore on my own, and it would sometimes feel intimidating. I often wasn't fluent in the native language, and for a few months in 2018, I didn't have a local SIM card. Some days, I had to summon the courage just to step outside.

So when I started following Greether’s work in 2021 and won their Halloween “Travel Horror Stories” competition in 2022, I was excited to try Greether for the first time and connect with my first Greeter. In an unfamiliar city, I could make a friend and be free of the burden of planning an itinerary by myself.

In 2023, when I walked around Tallinn, Estonia, with my Greeter, Yumna, we saw amazing sights within Tallinn’s Old Town, including the copper-and-white, ornately trimmed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Raekoja Plats, Tallinn’s spacious Town Hall Square lined with Estonian restaurants and, to my astonishment, a Baskin Robbins.

*In front of the magnificent Alexander Nevsky Cathedral | Photo credit: Yumna*

The famous Estonian landmarks were a wonder to see, but we stepped into local places as well. A well-stocked bookshop full with sand-colored wooden shelves, Raamatukoi, close to the Town Hall Square, is one such place we stopped at. It was deeply fascinating to open one of their books to soak in some words from the Estonian language.

Yumna, my Greeter, didn't just reveal some amazing local places but also shared insights about Estonia.

She was establishing a small business and took me to her local tech incubator, where people could rent computers and rooms to build their companies. She detailed the welcoming startup culture in Estonia and how people are encouraged to start businesses there. You certainly can't learn that from the inside of an airport.

Because who knows a city better than a local or someone who has lived there for a considerable amount of time?

While traveling, Google can provide you with a good list of places and monuments to visit. However, with Greether, you will truly experience a city. While exploring and learning from your Greeter (your new friend), each city will feel fully embodied with layers of history, art, food, and local events. A Greether tour will show you that a country is so much more than a single box to be checked off on your checklist.