Observe Daily Life Around You

If you really want to get a feel for the pulse of a place, one of my favorite travel tips is to spend a few hours sitting in a park or on a busy street corner by yourself just watching day-to-day life happen in front of you.
Slow down your train of thought and pay close attention to the details around you. The smells, the colors, human interactions, and sounds. It’s a kind of meditation — and you’ll see stuff you never noticed before.