Use Fb Teams to Meet Different Vacationers

Keep in mind Couchsurfing? It was a web site that allowed you to stick with locals (at no cost) and all the time had a plethora of occasions and meetups you might attend irrespective of the place you had been on this planet. It was among the finest methods to satisfy locals and vacationers on the highway. It was certainly one of my favourite websites.

Just about everybody on the group right here used it loads 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 folks 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 folks have used it. Lately, it’s a shell of its former self.

Whereas researching the most recent version of my e-book on funds journey (popping out in March 2025!), I rejoined Couchsurfing to see how energetic it was, and even within the largest metropolitan facilities, there have been barely a number of dozen energetic profiles throughout the earlier month. For instance, London confirmed 229,457 complete hosts however solely 896 energetic hosts within the final six months — and solely 496 energetic throughout the final month. That’s a giant, large distinction!

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

So, with Couchsurfing (and related web sites) fairly lifeless, the place does one go to satisfy folks now?

Reply: Fb — which is truthfully the final place I’d have thought, as a result of, nicely, 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 popularity 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 folks on the lookout 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 once 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 lady 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 respectable method to meet folks for a very long time (Ladies Love Journey being one 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 regarded into them extra rigorously to see in the event that they actually had been spammy. Whereas there have been many pretend 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 serious about assembly others, nonetheless few and much between they had been.

Are these teams actually a great way to satisfy folks? There was just one method to discover out.

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

Quite a lot of it was spam: folks telling me to come back go to them in India (I’m posting about Europe), folks sending me hellos, a number of marriage proposals, and a few actually inappropriate feedback. (Aspect notice: 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 folks to cease approaching to them. Fairly unhappy.)

However I waded via all of the junk and ultimately discovered actual folks to satisfy up with. In the long run, I solely met a number 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 gaggle of oldsters, and one other with an Italian lady and her pals in Amsterdam. Every time, they took me round to locations I wouldn’t have seen in any other case, and I obtained to satisfy locals. It was a great way to make new pals and discover folks to speak to.

Although it’s important to wade via a variety of rubbish, I feel these teams are nice, particularly if you’re 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 folks as I traveled.

When you’re trying to make use of them, listed here are some strategies to attenuate (however not remove) the rubbish replies:

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

My present favourite teams are:

From there, for security, I’d 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 at the very least there’s something lately that will help 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.