You fell hard for Sicily, so now you want to see Crete.

Dublin was magical, but you wish you had gotten to Edinburgh as well.

You’ll never forget the sun setting over the savannah in Botswana… and now you’re dreaming of the desert in Namibia.

Does your travel bucket list keep getting longer, no matter how many places you check off? It might be time to change your approach. Instead of always searching for the next wonderful place, try going back to destinations you’ve already seen. Why? Well…

On the second visit, you can skip all the popular tourist attractions.

When you visit London for the first time, you have to see the sights: the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park. On your second trip to London, you’re not obligated to do any of that! Instead of looking up the most popular things to do on TripAdvisor, seek out lesser-known attractions on Atlas Obscura. In London, for instance, you can visit Leadenhall Market (a Victorian structure that stood in for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies); the 300-year-old Twinings Tea Shop; and God’s Own Junkyard, a warehouse-gallery crammed with neon signs.

Or, you can take a deep dive into your favorite sites.

When you’re freed from the pressure to see All The Things, you can follow your heart instead. Let everyone else dash into the Louvre, snap a photo of the Mona Lisa, and leave. You know better: You’re going to take your time exploring the galleries and lingering by your favorite works. See a 5,000-year-old golden dog, or the Code of Hammurabi, a carved black stele from Mesopotamia that’s one of the world’s oldest legal texts. You can even take the Beyoncé and Jay-Z tour, which includes the works shown in one of their music videos.

When you return to the same hotel, you’ll get their best hospitality.

Did you find the perfect little guesthouse on your last trip to Cape Town? If you loved it, book it again! The staff at boutique hotels, luxury hotels, and small inns tend to remember past guests and reward repeat visits. There are a few dos and don’ts to keep in mind, though:

• Do book directly with the hotel, as their system may not recognize your name if you book through a travel aggregator or other site.
• Do mention that you’re a returning guest when you’re booking the stay and/or checking in.
• Don’t get upset if staff fail to recognize you or remember your preferences! Not every hotel has a system for tracking repeat guests.
• Do tip generously and behave politely. Gracious guests may get free drinks, extra amenities, and better rooms… while abrasive visitors may find themselves in the alley-view room next to the elevator.

Visiting a destination in a different season is a new experience.

Croatia is delightful in the summer. You can sail the Adriatic, sunbathe on the beaches of Losinj Island, and explore Dubrovnik’s medieval streets. But wherever you go, you’ll be jostling with other tourists. Consider planning your second visit to Croatia in winter. You can see icy waterfalls in Plitvice Lakes National Park, taste white truffles in Istria, or go skiing near Zagreb. Best of all, prices fall!

It’s almost always worth revisiting your favorite place in the off-season or the shoulder season. Once you’ve been to Kyoto in April to see the cherry blossoms, return in the fall to see the Japanese maples ablaze. Bar Harbor, Maine is lovely in September, but the air is crisp and the scenery just as gorgeous in May.

On your second visit to a city, you start to feel more like a local.

You know the best place to watch the sun set. You have a favorite coffee shop. You learned the hard way that on Sundays, the buses stop running at 9 p.m. Every time you visit a place, you learn more about how it works, including the local culture and customs. When you feel comfortable, you can enjoy the experience more.

As a bonus, invite a friend or family member to come along with you! They’ll love having an experienced guide, and you get the pleasure of seeing everything afresh through their eyes.

Visiting a destination twice can create a transformational travel experience.

Transformational travel means journeying mindfully, connecting with people along the way, and contributing to positive change in the places you visit. You’ve probably had transformational travel experiences without labeling them as such. Maybe you once helped a group of Costa Rican surfers change a flat tire, and you earned a standing invitation to their Saturday night beach bonfire party. Maybe the proprietor of a café in Lombok recognized you from your last visit, and she welcomed you into the kitchen and taught you how to make her signature curry. When you revisit a place, you’re more likely to have a meaningful experience like these.

If your trip went wrong the first time, you can give a place a second chance.

Your first-ever trip to New York City was a disaster. It rained every day. You dropped your phone on the subway tracks. Roaches scampered all over the hotel bathroom. You swore you’d never go back.

But then… you did. You spent a dreamy afternoon in Central Park. You found an incredible jacket at a vintage shop on Broome Street. You ate the best dim sum of your life. Now, you can’t wait to go back.

Some destinations just deserve more than one visit—especially if the first one wasn’t everything you wanted it to be. And every trip deserves the protection of travel insurance. Having the right plan can save the day, save your finances, and even save your life. Planning to go somewhere soon? Get a quote.

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