Travel bragging has shifted from discovering hidden gems to flaunting IYKYK spots. In an age where TikTok and Instagram expose almost every destination, the real flex is insider knowledge: the right stretch of a crowded beach, the locals’ restaurant in a touristy lane, or the perfect hour for a known viewpoint. It’s less about finding places and more about truly knowing them.
For a long time, finding a “hidden gem” was part of the fun of travelling. We wanted the little beach that nobody knew about, the restaurant tucked away down a side street, the quiet village that tourists had somehow missed. The appeal was in finding one, if at all. You wouldn’t be alone if you’ve treated travel like a hunt. There was something satisfying about coming across a place that felt like it had escaped the attention of the rest of the world.
Lately, though, an off-beat place or a hidden-gem recommendation doesn’t quite bring the same twinkle to your eyes.
A scroll through TikTok and Instagram is filled with hidden-gem reels and posts that don’t really qualify as hidden. Montenegro is a hidden gem, the Dolomites are a hidden gem, a restaurant with 50,000 reviews is a hidden gem, even Uzbekistan is an off-beat destination. At some point, when everywhere is underrated, nowhere really is, isn't it? Also, isn’t it a little too last-season to call places underrated, hidden gems and off-beat?
A familiar internet phrase, “if you know, you know”, has quietly found its way into the language of travel.
IYKYK isn't quite a synonym for hidden gem, although it has rather conveniently taken over its territory. It suggests that there is still some insider knowledge to be had, even when the destination itself is hardly a secret.
Unlike a hidden gem, an IYKYK spot doesn't necessarily have to be unknown. It can be sitting right in the middle of a popular destination, have a Google Maps listing, a stack of reviews and a healthy following on Instagram. It can, technically, be known by everyone. The difference is what you know about it.
A hidden gem describes a place. IYKYK describes your relationship with it. It might be the restaurant in a touristy neighbourhood that locals actually go to. The beach that everyone knows, but not the particular stretch where you can escape the crowds. The bakery that doesn't appear on the first page of every travel guide. The viewpoint that isn't exactly secret, but is best seen at a particular hour. None of these places necessarily qualify as hidden. What makes them IYKYK is the little bit of knowledge attached to them.
There was a time when travel was partly about being able to say that you had found somewhere. Now it is increasingly about being able to say that you know somewhere. The distinction is subtle, but it changes the nature of the brag. To put simply, the hidden gem belonged to the traveller as discoverer. IYKYK belongs to the traveller as insider.
This feels more appropriate to an age in which discovery has become almost impossible to separate from the internet. You can search a beach before you arrive, see the restaurant before you've eaten there, read reviews from people who went last Tuesday and watch a stranger's 30-second itinerary of the neighbourhood you're about to visit. There is very little left to discover in the traditional sense.
What there is, however, is plenty left to know.You can know that the restaurant everyone photographs isn't the one locals recommend. You can know which table to ask for, which road to take, when to arrive, what to order. You can know that the place everyone has on their itinerary has another version of itself hiding in plain sight.