We couldn't find Claire's secret beach while walking along the sulfur yellow dirt road. For the last 15 minutes, we have walked only with a stray goat and swallows dancing above our heads. I take a sip of my water. It's late afternoon, but the April sun is strongly felt on our skin. We reach a dead end. Nature's force will compel me to look at my phone. According to Google Maps, this road or beach doesn't exist. We are in a place where no one lives. I look into the distance, my eyes lost in the beautiful deep blue tones of the Mediterranean. Sabrina reminds us that we need to turn right, as our new friend Claire from Gozo mentioned. We turn back on the dusty yellow road.
I notice that the wild fennel clusters are growing among the poppy flowers. We find our way back, a neglected path covered in wildflowers of every color. I stop to take pictures of them, so someone can identify them for me later. Alongside the happy dance of the swallows, there is also the sweet meditative sound of bees buzzing among the flowers. I close my eyes. Sometimes travel offers almost perfect moments. I hear a joyful scream from Sabrina. When I open my eyes, I see her entering the dense mist of wildflowers through a winding path.
She has found the path to the legendary secret beach. In the distance, there is a dreamlike view of turquoise blue waters. We sat there in perfect silence for about half an hour, until a couple arrived. A look of surprise appeared on their faces, followed by a big smile.
‘So you know about this beach too.’
We nod to reassure them and raise our hands in a half-apology… the secret will remain hidden. We head back down the road. The goat is gone. When we look up as we ascend the path and glance back down again, there was no visible sign of our secret beach on the horizon, just swallows dancing in the sky.
There seems to be nothing secret about traveling anymore.
It used to be better. We had to use our imagination, and we didn't rely on Instagram to envision a place. Maybe it's an aging thing, but the tendency of people in my age group to romanticize the past is quite bad. Travel was more fun, more authentic. There were fewer crowds at the most popular travel spots. You didn't have to wake up at 5 AM to see the Trevi Fountain. It was possible to fly in Europe for €2 with Ryanair. Plus, there were no hassles with carrying liquids or dealing with carry-on restrictions. Hostels were super cheap. I remember traveling with my reliable Lonely Planet guide, and the three listed hostels had space for everyone.
Then came the internet age. Social media. Suddenly, a vast amount of information was at our fingertips. Theoretically, we were better equipped to travel better and more. We could find restaurant opening hours without calling on the phone. Thanks to the explosion of blogs, we could instantly find a list of the top ten things to do in Berlin. There was no need to enter a tourist information office or talk to travel agents. Human interaction was unnecessary. Everything you wanted to know about a city or place was just a Google search away. Now we have AI tools that help us plan our travel routes. Nothing is left to chance. We create an endless list of places we must see before we die. Instagram excessively feeds our desire and dream to travel. When there are so many places to see and so little time, travel becomes another task, another list to complete. When we get home, we feel unhappy and unsatisfied.
‘If I were to tell a tourist what to do in Gozo, I would suggest they swim at our wonderful beaches where the locals spend time during the spring and summer months. I would also recommend taking a cooking class. Immerse yourself in the daily life of the island. Visit any café or bar.’
Claire, Mojo.
I am back in Malta after 8 years. Looking at old photos, I feel like a different person in a different era. One of the highlights of my trip was visiting the small, traditional fishing village of Marsaxlokk in the southeast of Malta. On a sleepy September evening, I was alone along the coast, with a local Cisk beer in hand. I also remember wandering through the narrow streets of Mdina, the silent city, feeling as if I were walking back in time. I am excited but also a bit anxious about returning to Malta after 10 years. I wonder if reconnecting with old friends will be as wonderful as it was before.
The island's past popularity has increased due to the influence of shows like Game of Thrones. We visited Mdina again, and it no longer seems so quiet. The crowds have increased. Fortunately, I had received a tip from some locals that we should avoid Mdina and visit the neighboring village of Rabat instead. Rabat is as timeless and enchanting as Mdina, but when we visited, it was almost empty, with only a few locals around. Thanks to Mark for this tip, from Kings Crown pub.
Time to confess. Our meeting with Mark was purely by chance. Philip told us about Stephen. Stephen mentioned Mark. I met Philip through a card game we invented. Let me explain.
We decided to do something different for this trip to Malta. Instead of planning our trip by endlessly researching blog posts, Pinterest boards, and Instagram galleries, and chewing through the guidebook, we opted for a different type of travel. The entire trip would be a game of chance created by randomly talking to locals. No guidebook was allowed. No smartphone either, as long as we didn’t get lost. Asking random locals for travel tips can sometimes feel awkward, so I needed to come up with a device. Why not create a deck of cards with the most common questions you would want to know while on vacation? The cards would help break the ice. A local would draw a card and then give us a tip based on the question on the card. Afterwards, we would follow that tip and ask them to suggest someone else we should meet from the locals.
Travel
So, how did it go? Our experience began in Gozo when we met our wonderful friend Philip Spiteri at the popular Ta Philip restaurant. He introduced us to the entire island. When we asked him about his favorite lunch spot, he suggested we meet the lovely Claire, who runs the Mojo restaurant in Victoria, Gozo. Claire helped us reach the secret beach I mentioned earlier. When we asked about his favorite pub, he recommended we visit the Gleneagles pub in Mgarr Harbour, run by a friendly guy named Tony, a treasure trove for tips and full of stories about the island. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a time machine, but you connect with some people you meet on your travels, feeling as if you are there while they share stories of the people they have met in their bars over the last 40 years, along with all the magic and sadness of the past. Tony was such a person. A connection to Gozo's past.
We completed three unforgettable days with a bag full of new memories and friends. We discovered new places and returned to Malta with a very different perspective. It takes a day to tell all the magic, but let me end with the conclusion of our trip. Imagine the most magnificent sunset. We were at the Dingli Cliffs. We had received this tip from countless locals. It seemed everyone had received the same tip. The parking lot was packed, and the viewpoint was filled with visitors competing to take the perfect photo of the sunset. Led by our driver Alex, we walked away from the crowds along the cliffs until we were embraced by the empty silence of the vast open sea. Alex, a retired police officer who had caught local smugglers, knew every street and every dirt road like the back of his hand. He wasn’t much of a talker, but sometimes I could see a glimmer of emotion in his eyes as he showed us the island. At the point we reached, his eyes were wide open. We were millions of miles away from everything, and there was only this open sea bathed in golden light, as that fire-red sun slowly melted into the horizon. Africa was in the distance. Then I took out the Twistees from my bag.
This was a tip from local chef Stephen La Rosa.
'Don’t leave the island without eating this!'
Sorry, we didn’t have any Cisk, but those Twistees were really delicious. We ate to our heart's content, in perfect silence, until we swallowed the dark sun and our shadows. Then I gave Alex the biggest hug, and I think there was a tear in both our eyes.
What makes such moments and travel so perfect?
No matter how much we perfect technology and artificial intelligence, some things in life cannot be manufactured. After all, it’s about timing. Also, it’s about being in the right place. Coincidence. In this sense, Malta was perfect.
The beauty of our adventure was that it wasn’t dependent on luck but was about being brave and taking a chance. Therefore, my message is simple. If you visit Malta, leave your guidebook and phone in your room. Go to a bar. Order the local drink. Have a random conversation with a local. Let them share their home with you. You don’t need a card game. I’ll tell you what to discover, and you’ll be surprised.
After all, everything is very simple. Travel revolves around people. It becomes much more meaningful and exciting when we connect with locals, learn their stories, and perhaps discover something new that changes our perspective.
It seems there are still secrets in travel. You just need to ask the right people.
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