09 Aug How to make friends while travelling
Making friends as an adult can be awkward, uncomfortable and, daunting, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s easy to meet people and befriend them when travelling alone, even if you are an introvert and shy. When you travel alone you will never be lonely!
You are never too old to make new friends.
If you have some difficulties to meet and befriend with new people, these are a few tips that I’d suggest trying out.
How to meet people while travelling
1. Stay in hostels
This is the ideal environment to meet other travellers.
Share a room and simply ask questions as soon as you meet someone. If you don’t want to share a room, get a private room and use the social areas to connect with others.
Hostels are the places where strangers come together and leave as friends. Plus, they are super cheap compared to hotels and Airbnb’s.
SIGN UP FOR HOSTEL ACTIVITIES
Often hostels do events for their guests such as karaoke nights, bar crawls, game nights, and group dinners. This allows all their guests to meet and chat with each other and perhaps become good friends for life. Make sure you look for hostels that do these kinds of events when booking accommodation.
Use Hostelworld to find hostels around the world.
2. Go on walking tours
Walking tours are usually tip-based, and the best way to start your trip and introduce you to new places. Tours often offer opportunities to interact with other tourists that you are walking and exploring with. Tour guides often ask questions at the beginning of the trip like where you are from and throughout the tour and after a while you feel a bit more comfortable and can start a conversation with others. At the end of the tour, you can exchange contacts and suggest doing something together.
When I was in Madrid 2 lovely friends asked if I wanted to join them for lunch and we ended up having a great time.
3. Use an app
There are several apps and social platforms that connect other solo travellers to you, for instance the Tourlina travel app connects only women who like to travel. You can also check Hey!Vina, Bumble BFF, SoloTraveller and you might meet fellow travellers and local buddies who can show you their country, city or town.
USE MEETUP
Check out Meetup, which is a social media platform that joins people by organizing in-person and virtual activities, gatherings, and events over shared interests in a certain location.
USE FACEBOOK GROUPS
I’m part of various online groups on Facebook, where people share advice, photos, and their experiences, some ask for recommendations. If you are travelling to their city, they might message you or sometimes people post if anyone would like to meet up with them at a certain location.
Some of the groups I Like are Girls Love Travel, and Nomads.
4. Ask questions
You can simply start an entire conversation by asking for recommendations and advice from other travellers. You can do this anywhere, at your hostel, public transport, cafes. People are always keen to tell you about their adventures and where they have been.
I recently made a friend at a bus stop in Greece, she just asked me where I was headed and if I liked the village where we were at that time. We exchanged contacts and I ended up going to the hotel she was staying to have dinner with her and other travellers.
Don’t be afraid, the more questions you ask the more people will engage with you!
5. Invite someone to join you for an activity or ask if you can tag along with them.
Don’t be afraid to do it. I personally meet several people on walking tours by tagging along to them after the tour. Also, in Hostels I invite people to take breakfast to me or to join me for a certain activity.
On my last night in Barcelona, I asked a woman if she wanted to join me at a karaoke bar and guess what she said YES.
6. Be approachable
Don’t be shy to join a group and put yourself out there, ask as many questions as you want. Listen to the other travellers and try not to come across as a closed person.
Avoid using your electronics all the time and try to connect with others, otherwise, if you are stuck in your phone or with headphones on, most people will automatically stay away and move to someone who has a nice smile and seems to want to engage in a conversation.
7. Don’t worry too much
Try not to be so concerned, just be yourself and have fun. People are usually open-minded when they are travelling and they are happy to speak and meet new travellers, share their experiences and give advice.
Thanks for reading! I hope these tips help you to meet more people in your future travels.
If you have any more suggestions feel free to comment.
Also, check out other travel tips by clicking here.
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