How one can Use Fb Teams to Meet Different Vacationers!

Keep in mind Couchsurfing? It was a web site that allowed you to stick with locals (without cost) and all the time had a plethora of occasions and meetups you might attend irrespective of the place you had been on the planet. It was top-of-the-line methods to fulfill locals and vacationers on the highway. It was one in all my favourite websites.

Just about everybody on the group right here used it rather a lot through the years. My Director of Content material, for instance, was not solely an avid traveler who went on a number of multi-day journeys with strangers due to Couchsurfing, however he was additionally a number, and he was even featured in a calendar they made one 12 months!

I used it to remain in locations like Copenhagen, London, Oxford, Munich, Broome, Paris, Osaka, Athens, and so forth and so forth. I imply, I liked it. I met individuals in cities like Lyon simply to hang around, did meet-ups in NYC, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and so many different locations.

However ever because the web site began charging round 2013, after which instituted a paywall in the course of the pandemic, fewer and fewer individuals have used it. Lately, it’s a shell of its former self.

Whereas researching the newest version of my e book on finances journey (popping out in March 2025!), I rejoined Couchsurfing to see how lively it was, and even within the largest metropolitan facilities, there have been barely a couple of dozen lively profiles inside the earlier month. For instance, London confirmed 229,457 complete hosts however solely 896 lively hosts within the final six months — and solely 496 lively inside the final month. That’s an enormous, huge distinction!

It’s an actual disgrace as Couchsurfing actually modified the best way individuals traveled. It was as ubiquitous as Lonely Planet!

So, with Couchsurfing (and related web sites) fairly useless, the place does one go to fulfill individuals now?

Reply: Fb — which is truthfully the final place I might have thought, as a result of, effectively, it’s Fb, and most youthful vacationers don’t use it as a lot as TikTok or Instagram. In any case, Fb additionally has a well-deserved status because the place your aunt posts memes or your loopy cousin rants about racist stuff.

However, every time I signal into Fb, I maintain seeing posts from all types of teams in my feed, with individuals on the lookout for journey buddies: backpacking Europe, backpacking Australia, digital nomads in (insert vacation spot), discover a journey buddy…the listing of teams goes on and on.

I used to be skeptical of them at first, as a result of after I took a deeper have a look at the posts, it all the time felt like they had been simply sleazy guys hitting on younger women and AI-generated woman accounts designed lure somebody. “Hello I’m Anna from US seeking to journey dm me” doesn’t strike me as one thing an precise individual would say.

Whereas female-only teams have been a reliable solution to meet individuals for a very long time (Ladies Love Journey being some of the well-known), the mixed-gender ones all the time felt a bit of sketchy. However they stored popping up in my feed.

So I appeared into them extra rigorously to see in the event that they actually had been spammy. Whereas there have been many faux profiles and creepy dudes (sorry, guys, nevertheless it’s the web, and there are tons of these), typically I did come throughout actual individuals who appeared usually all in favour of assembly others, nevertheless few and much between they had been.

Are these teams actually a great way to fulfill individuals? There was just one solution to discover out.

I used the group Discover a Journey Buddy whereas in Europe and posted a few of my tentative plans. I received a whole bunch of responses and direct messages, which was fairly overwhelming.

Numerous it was spam: individuals telling me to come back go to them in India (I’m posting about Europe), individuals sending me hellos, a couple of marriage proposals, and a few actually inappropriate feedback. (Facet observe: if I get these sorts of responses, I can solely think about what it’s like for girls, who I typically see edit their posts to ask individuals to cease approaching to them. Fairly unhappy.)

However I waded by way of all of the junk and ultimately discovered actual individuals to fulfill up with. In the long run, I solely met a couple of of them, as both my plans shifted or theirs did. However the interactions I had had been actually nice.

I had an superior evening out in Freiburg, Germany, with a bunch of parents, and one other with an Italian woman and her buddies in Amsterdam. Every time, they took me round to locations I wouldn’t have seen in any other case, and I received to fulfill locals. It was a great way to make new buddies and discover individuals to speak to.

Although it’s important to wade by way of a number of rubbish, I believe these teams are nice, particularly in case you are touring alone. Whereas I don’t have the character to go on a multi-day journey with a stranger, I did love the flexibility to fulfill individuals as I traveled.

When you’re trying to make use of them, listed here are some ideas to reduce (however not get rid of) the rubbish replies:

1. Be particular about the place you’re going and when (in any other case, individuals will spam ya with “come go to X!”).
2. Ask individuals who reply to be particular about themselves.
3. Be clear about what you might be on the lookout for (age, form of journey companion, gender, and many others.)

My present favourite teams are:

• Fina A Journey Buddy
• Ladies LOVE Journey
• Backpacking South America
• Digital Nomads
• Solo Journeys & Vacationers

From there, for security, I might extremely advocate trying on the profiles of respondents to ensure they’re actual and solely meet in public locations. Past that, have enjoyable! These teams may not be as simple to make use of as Couchsurfing was, however not less than there’s something today that can assist you meet locals and different vacationers. I’m now a believer in and fan of those teams and will certainly be utilizing them extra on future journeys.

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