A guide to Sister Cities and why they're travel gems ⛵️
Thank you Viña del Mar for the cool elephants!
What do Los Angeles, Auckland, Jakarta, and Tehran have in common?
At first glance, you’d probably say “Not much!”
The capital of New Zealand (Auckland) surely isn't similar to the capital of Indonesia (Jakarta), right?
Besides being major urban hubs, these four cities have a special international relationship. They’re sister cities.
What are sister cities?
Sister cities aren’t long-lost family relatives…
According to the Sister Cities International (SCI) website, a sister city is a “broad-based, long-term relationship between two communities in two countries.”
Similar terms used in the past are “friendship towns” and “twin towns.” There are also “friendship cities” which are less formal.
According to the SCI website, there are over 2,000 municipals in 145 countries participating in the program. This data was from 2017, so there are more today.
The first sister city partnership in the US happened in 1931 between Toledo, Ohio, and Toledo, Spain just because of their names.
The communities’ elected officials must agree to this relationship. Their cooperation is socially driven regardless of political or religious alignment.
Once the two places agree to become sister cities, official volunteer organizations are instated to build a partnership. This process includes hiring local volunteers, founding non-profits, or the creation of civic organizations.
All of which have one purpose: to strengthen the ties with the other sister city.
There is no minimum or maximum number of sister cities a community can have. Sister cities aren’t limited to densely populated cities. Even small towns can be classified as a “sister city.”
Why sister cities are important
The sister city program globalizes communities, teaches empathy, promotes peace, and is a special way to share diverse cultures.
According to Mapsize, each sister city is bound together through different activities like education, tourism, or cultural exchanges.
Besides sparing positive international relations, they also can foster trade and business opportunities between the two cities. Their partnership might even create jobs, which is another reason why sister cities are important.
In some cases, creating legal bonds with other cities is more for publicity. For example, Dull, Scotland is partnered with Boring, Oregon and Bland, Australia.
Sisters cities improve international relationships, one community at a time.
My experience with sister cities
Ever since I was a child, the main Viña del Mar Park of my hometown in Sausalito, California has been the center of my life.
I’ve eaten ice cream there, enjoyed hamburgers there, watched tourists meander around, played with friends, and as an adult walked by there maybe a thousand times.
There’s a beautiful foundation with two massive elephant statues on both sides. The elephant statues are iconic for Sausalito. A small plaque says they were gifts from Viña del Mar, Chile in the 1970s.
One of Sausalito’s sister cities…
For years, I wondered about Viña del Mar and why this random place thousands of miles away would give Sausalito two elephant statues.
One day in 2013, my curiosity took me to Viña del Mar to get answers and see if there was any trace of my beloved Sausalito.
As I rolled into town, I half-hoped there’d be a line of people excited to see a guy from Sausalito visiting. I was greeted with the sound of normal traffic and a throng of other eager tourists.
There were no red carpets, but Viña del Mar was visually stunning. It reminded me of Sausalito on energy drinks: it was touristy and glitzy but maintained an artsy charm like Sausalito.
The biggest difference was that Viña del Mar was a massive beachside city, while my hometown at the time had roughly 6,000 residents.
In the end, the only hint of an international relationship was a soccer stadium named Sausalito.
Besides that, no one I chatted with in broken Spanish had heard of the sister city program.
How you can use sister cities to your advantage
Reach out to your home's volunteer organization before visiting a sister city. An official may put you in contact with locals, get you in the newspaper, or connect you to interesting events abroad.
In my case, this is something I thought about after seeing Viña del Mar.
Sausalito offers summer exchange programs for kids and teens with Viña del Mar and Cascais (another sister city in Portugal).
If you have kids (or happen to be one), then possibly there are similar sister city exchanges where you live. This can be a very rewarding experience.
You also may have the opportunity to host students from different sister cities. Consider it a way to give back and improve diplomacy between both countries.
Why sister cities are worth visiting
Visiting a sister city is like going to a party at someone’s house you don’t know, but you have a lot of mutual friends.
In other words, there’s a connection waiting to happen.
It will feel oddly familiar. Have you been there before? Maybe in a dream…
You might uncover some interesting history that you didn’t know existed.
You may wander upon random landmarks honoring where you’re from (really cool when that happens).
Also, traveling to a sister city is just an easy excuse to book a plane ticket! ✈️
Back to you: Have you been to a sister city, and what was interesting about it? ✨
Thanks for reading! That’s a wrap for this week. If you enjoyed this post, please share it. 😉
Have a fantastic week and see you again soon. My next post is going to be a fun interview with expert house sitter,
!Much love,
-Daniel
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Cool that you actually went to Viña del Mar, Daniel!
Very interesting! I know about sister cities but I didn’t really understand what their purpose was - other than to be listed on the sister city’s sign haha. And the Dull, Boring and Bland sister cities, that’s hilarious!!😂