Stop Googling “Best Kept Secrets” (Find Your Own Instead)

Have you ever googled “best kept secrets in New Orleans”? I have. I do it almost every trip. But if you think about it, a secret that’s on the first page of Google isn’t much of a secret. Everyone else going to New Orleans is reading the same list you are. You’re all going to show up at the same “hidden gem” together.

So your best bet is to find your own secret places. And I think you can, without a lot of work. Here’s how I do it.

Start with the obvious research

First, do the most obvious search there is: “top 10 things to do in New Orleans.” I know, I just told you to stop googling. But this is different. You’re not looking for secrets here, you’re figuring out what the place is known for. The famous things are usually famous for a reason.

Read some blog posts. Watch some videos. And pay attention to the trends. Is everything about awesome restaurants? Or cool churches? That tells you something about what this place does best.

Pick 1-3 things you’d regret missing

Now, you’re not going to schedule all of it. This is the part I had to learn.

I plan as if I might go back three or four times. (Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. But planning that way takes so much pressure off.) Out of everything on those lists, I pick the one to three things where I think: if I never came back, I had to have seen this.

Like the Eiffel Tower. You might not see it every time you go to Paris. But if you say you’ve been to Paris, people are going to assume you’ve seen it. You are going to assume you’ve seen it! A trip to Paris without the Eiffel Tower would just feel like a miss.

So that’s the question I ask. Usually only one or two things pass.

Add one thing that intrigues you

While you’re doing all that reading, keep an eye out for anything that sounds interesting to you, even if it’s not on anybody’s top ten list.

When we went to Paris, my son wanted to see the catacombs. I’d never even heard of them. Miles of tunnels under the city, lined with bones… not something I would have picked. They were amazing. One of the most memorable things we did on that trip, and it wasn’t my idea at all.

So now you have your agenda: one or two iconic things, plus one thing that just sounds cool to you. That’s it. That’s the whole plan.

Save everything else, but don’t schedule it

All the other stuff that sounded interesting? Don’t throw it away. I put mine in a Google Maps list, so wherever I am, I can open the map and see if anything I saved is nearby. But none of it goes on the calendar.

Leave the rest open

So now your calendar has one to three things on it, and the rest of your time is free.

That free time is where you find your actual secrets. Look around. Take a walk. Stop at an interesting cafe. Walk into a shop. Or open up Google Maps and see what’s nearby. This is how you find the tiny courtyard, or the street musician, or the little museum nobody wrote a blog post about. And when you get home, those are the stories you tell.

I know the worries, because I’ve had them both.

What if I miss something? You won’t. You already covered the things you’d regret, and you can always come back. Remember, you planned like you might.

What if I waste an afternoon on something bad? Well, your phone works in this direction too. If you see an interesting museum (what about a bone museum?), you can google it right there on the sidewalk and check the reviews before you walk in. Googling a place that’s in front of you is really useful. Googling for “secrets” from your couch, not so much.

You can do the same thing with food

Pick the top three restaurants or street vendors you’d be sad to miss and plan those. Leave every other meal open. Some of my favorite meals have come from just being hungry on an interesting street.

Plan the top 3, leave the rest open

That’s really it. Plan your top one to three things, save the rest of your list for later, and leave the rest of the trip open to have your own adventure.

Have you ever wandered into a place that turned out to be wonderful? I’d love to hear about it, so leave a comment. I’m always looking for the next thing that intrigues me.