When living at home for the summer, the opportunity to act as a tourist in your own hometown or city presents itself in a unique fashion. For one, you may be so bored with home life that you take advantage of pretending to be a tourist in your homeland. Also, friends from different cities may pay you a visit, and you’re encouraged to play tourist along with them, something that most recently occurred for me. There are many perks to being a tourist in your home city, and here are a few of my favorites.

1. You get to see the city through a new set of eyes.

This is especially true when you’re touring your city with someone who’s visiting for the first time. You’re able to experience the magic of the city through someone who has never before been there, and it adds to the tourist experience, even if you’re a native.

2. You can go on actual guided tours through your city.

If your home city offers guided walking, bus, or (if you're a city on the water) boat tours, take advantage of them. It’s a great way to act as a tourist in your city, and if it’s a bus or boat tour, it’ll save your feet from walking miles upon miles throughout the city.

3. You learn new facts and information about a place you thought you knew so well.

To go along with the previous perk, these guided tours offer very informative tour guides who’ll teach you a thing or two about your city that you had yet to learn. By being a tourist in the place you call home, you’ll accumulate a newfound knowledge of home.

4. You can take the pictures and Snapchats that you’d normally be too embarrassed to take.

Have no shame! Post Snapchats to your story, use your city’s geotags, and snap pictures to post to Facebook and Instagram – all while tagging your location, of course. Embrace the tourist lifestyle. Even take photos with your iPad to get the full tourist experience!

5. You gain a new appreciation for where you’re from.

Most importantly, living the tourist life in your home city fills you with a newfound pride and appreciation for the place that made you who you are today. You’ll take this appreciation with you out into the world, when you’re far from home, and keep the hometown pride with you no matter where you are.

Even though tourists sometimes get a bad rap, it’s completely acceptable to embrace the tourist life, even in your own city. Embrace the tourist life – make it a hobby, learn about your city, take a tour, see it through new eyes, appreciate it. There’s no better way to drum up hometown pride.