Easy methods to Use Fb Teams to Meet Different Vacationers

Bear 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 regardless of the place you had been on the earth. It was the most effective methods to satisfy locals and vacationers on the highway. It was one in all my favourite websites.

Just about everybody on the group right here used it lots over time. 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 beloved 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 for the reason that website began charging round 2013, after which instituted a paywall throughout the pandemic, fewer and fewer individuals have used it. Lately, it’s a shell of its former self.

Whereas researching the most recent version of my e book on price range 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 throughout 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 throughout the final month. That’s a giant, large distinction!

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

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

Reply: Fb — which is actually the final place I’d have thought, as a result of, properly, it’s Fb, and most youthful vacationers don’t use it as a lot as TikTok or Instagram. In spite of everything, 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 preserve seeing posts from all kinds of teams in my feed, with individuals searching for journey buddies: backpacking Europe, backpacking Australia, digital nomads in (insert vacation spot), discover a journey buddy…the checklist 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 ladies and AI-generated lady accounts designed entice somebody. “Hello I’m Anna from US trying to journey dm me” doesn’t strike me as one thing an precise individual would say.

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

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

Are these teams actually a great way to satisfy 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 lot of responses and direct messages, which was fairly overwhelming.

Lots of 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. (Aspect word: if I get these sorts of responses, I can solely think about what it’s like for girls, who I usually 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 finally discovered actual individuals to satisfy 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 night time out in Freiburg, Germany, with a gaggle of parents, and one other with an Italian lady and her mates in Amsterdam. Every time, they took me round to locations I wouldn’t have seen in any other case, and I received to satisfy locals. It was a great way to make new mates and discover individuals to speak to.

Although it’s important to wade by way of a number of rubbish, I feel 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 satisfy individuals as I traveled.

In case you’re wanting to make use of them, listed here are some recommendations 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 searching for (age, type of journey accomplice, gender, and so on.)

My present favourite teams are:

From there, for security, I’d extremely suggest wanting on the profiles of respondents to verify they’re actual and solely meet in public locations. Past that, have enjoyable! These teams may not be as straightforward to make use of as Couchsurfing was, however at the very least there’s something nowadays 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.