I wake up in the morning to the sound of birds chirping. No mechanical alarm to startle me here. A hot cup of tea, and we set off for a stroll towards the village bakery. In these small countryside towns, the early bird gets the worm. Literally. The bakery opens at 6am and usually sells out by 8:30am. Hot pretzels slathered with butter, and an apple filled flaky pastry if you’re lucky. We take one each and take the scenic route back home.

Home. The word can either tether you, or set you free. Some people prefer the comforting hug of home such that they don’t like to venture far. But to me, home can be a fluid concept. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your home. Home is merely a warm, lived in space that you can call your own, even if for a little bit. So, here I am, in a tiny village on the edge of Germany’s Black Forest called Sennfeld, in one of the most tech-savvy homes I have ever seen in my life. Everything is tech-enabled. The fountain over the pool automatically turns on at 8am, and the robo vacuum is hard at work as I type. This home belongs to a local German family, who started out as strangers but now are familiar friends. While we enjoy their home, they do the same in Copenhagen, enjoying the Danish way of life in someone else’s home.

This is a close-knit community who open their homes and hearts to folks from all over the world, aptly called People Like Us. They leave their pantry stocked, the house clean, and are only a quick message away if you want any local tips. There is no money exchanged. No payment. Only goodwill amongst like-minded people. What could possibly be a better way to travel? No more impersonal hotel rooms. Live the way the locals do.

And what if you take it a step further? And like me, choose the smaller villages and towns, rather than the busy cities heaving with tourists? Wake up to church bells and discover local cafes and farm shops. A farmer who hand-churns the most delectable ice-cream in the world and puts them in a hut open 24/7. All you have to do is go pick what you want and leave the money on the counter. No person to check. Yet, you have a tendency to over-pay, not cheat.

Trust. That I believe is the key here. I have found that if you go into the hinterland of any country, and build a rapport with the locals, they will trust you too. This is a sacred bond. It presupposes that you are not out to scam them.

A cafe in a nearby village, run by a local farmer, did not accept cards, we discovered yesterday after enjoying their coffee. But when we said we said we didn’t have any Euros in cash, the lady merely smiled and said, ‘ohho’. No theatrics, no drama. She was even kind enough to let us pay in whatever currency we had on hand, in this case Swiss Francs. She trusted that we were telling the truth, and that this was the best possible solution we could offer.

As we head back to Singapore today after three weeks in Europe, I don’t feel travel fatigue at all. It’s been a very different experience, this new way of travelling. Immersive travel at its best. Living the local life, while enjoying all that the region has to offer. Restaurants that locals flock to, a tiny shop that sells the best weißwurst or white sausage that you can never find in larger supermarkets, a castle that didn’t make it to guidebooks but is an absolute treat to discover, and a hidden mountain stream that makes the perfect spot for a picnic on a hot day. This is the slow life, and I am loving it.