Except people rarely ever do get a real insight into other people's lives and culture from just travelling, do they? You're not sharing your life with the locals, you're not friends, you're just walking around the city centre looking at sights and eating in restaurants. You're not going to work, commuting, having coffee with friends, going to house parties, etc
You can make friends. Sometimes it's easier, and sometimes it's harder, and there's a lot you can learn about yourself and the country you're visiting from that.
