Whenever I'm planning a trip, I try to seek out people who live where I'm going or who are familiar with the place. Usually, they offer tips and suggestions, recommendations and warnings that you won't find in any guidebook.
That's why I started the "Wish you were here" feature on this blog -- so people planning a trip can stop here and search for their destination to see what others who have been there had to say.
Anyway, if you don't know anyone, the best way to find somebody is to start telling people where you're going.
Last year, before I went to Argentina, my sister told me one of her coworkers grew up there. When I told one of my coworkers I was going to Costa Rica at the end of this month, she gave me the e-mail address of a friend of hers whose husband was from Costa Rica. I'm taking their suggestions on lodging and a less touristy coffee farm tour.
I put a post on Facebook.com about my upcoming trip and one of my friends sent me contact information for a friend of hers who lives there. She's going to visit in June, so she asked me to let her know how my trip went when I get back.
And -- it's cheaper than buying a guidebook.
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