I want to tell you a story about talking to locals. Disclaimer, I'm chatty. It's opened doors for me I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Also, people tell me their secrets.
Once, after a casual conversation in a boutique in Zagreb, the shopkeeper booked not one but TWO homestays for us, one in Hvar and one in Korčula. We met up with her a few days later at the most gorgeous rooftop in Hvar and had a perspective-shifting conversation about growing up during a civil war. And when I tell you that our homestay in Korčula was a dream, I want you to envision a small stone house on the edge of a peninsula shaded by olive trees and crawling with roses. A long dock struck out into the bay from which you could see the dome of stars and the twinkling lights of the walled city a short walk away.
My advice for your next trip: leave room in the itinerary to ask for local recommendations. You'll be surprised, and it will be wonderful. Or you could read one of our stories written by a local, and have the trip of a lifetime. Start with Sarah Etinas' recommendations for your next visit to Hawaii.
