Travel companions bring the fun in traveling, having a travel buddy, you can always get to hangout, share ideas and experiences, this can make the journey quite fun and memorable.
However many others prefer solo travels, owing to the need to have the freedom to explore intricate areas without considering the affairs of a partner.
If you would like a travel companion and would like to meet fellow travelers, there are quite some ways to go about that.
In this article, we will be looking at different ways you can find a travel companion, these also include tips to meeting other travelers
Here are some ideas to kick start you towards finding a travel buddy.
How to Find a Travel Companion
1. Go on a Backpacker Travel
It could be sometimes tempting to go on a trip by flight or at least hire a car for some cruise round the place.
There are times you don’t have the budget to foot this, so use the backpacker means for tours. It is by far a cheaper and even more socially friendly means of transport.
It is principally the bus service, this means of transport is very friendly for backpackers.
An instance is Kiwi Experience, they are a company based in New Zealand and specialize in giving travelers quality hop-on-hop off packages. I tip them for safe and reliable service.
Second is the Greyhound, they are a company based in Australia and they ply through the East Coast. You can get around easily with this company and they are super cheap.
One thing about Kiwi Experience is the tour-like service they render. Here, the buses are assigned a guide who points out some amazing places to passengers as they ply the route. Additionally, they can help fix your accommodation too!
So, depending on where you chose for your travel, try checking transportation options that offer similar services around you.
2. Draw up a Definite Plan and Share With Others.
One may dismiss this particular suggestion. Friends from home can be unexpectedly the first set of persons to discourage you from your plans of taking a trip.
But be upbeat, it can work out if you do not play around with this tool.
It is very much possible you won’t be receiving a positive response or interest from friends after suggesting to them, but don’t ever give up.
Continue to focus on the proposed route of the journey (and places you want to visit). So, feel free, present this travel package to them, and check out those who would be interested in the holiday with you.
You would not blame people anyways, sometimes it’s difficult for individuals to visualize this concept of planning such a trip (including the flights, the budget, and even the guide) till its end.
However, if you explain the refined package, with all benefits and fun activities to the latter, they might suddenly pick up keen interest.
3. Take a Local Tour
Now, you are in a new location, a different environment from your previous one. This is something of certainty that you would find a whole lot to do locally. Yea, I assure you that!
All you need to is take a local tour. It could be a walk tour around your immediate environment and nearby suburbs or a boat trip on the beautiful lakes (any other water body) or any other form of day trip.
There are high chances, you’ll meet other people taking the same trip with you.
To say the least, you will encounter those you can share life experiences with, who knows, they may not just end up as travel mates.
You find out that there are one or two persons you are relaxed with, you can even arrange for a meet up again, even after your trip.
4. Choose a Hostel Over a Hotel
The easiest way to meet travelers is to stay in a hostel. These hands you the privilege to come in contact with a massive number of persons at a seamless rate.
In a hostel, you encounter diverse people in all fragments, from the common room to the dorm room to the bar or kitchen. This is characteristically the experience in hostels.
You can ask the receptionist or simply check the notice boards for relevant details for the lineup of activities. There could be stuffs like local walking tours, quizzes, movie nights or even pub crawls.
Here is a guide, walk to any of the common areas and sit down. Secondly, join the ongoing conversation (definitely there would be one).
You would meet repeating lines of questions like, ‘what is your name’, ‘where do you come from’, ‘how long do you intend staying here’ and some others. Thirdly, you can meet the receptionist for a platform for proper introduction and I tell you, everything falls in placer.
Hey, for real, you can get yourself surrounded by amazing personalities from across the globe. Even at the pub, friends and travel buddies could also be found, You can create a lasting bond which can lead to good business.
5. Network Using Social Media
Social media is a great tool for not only communication but also socialization, hence, use Facebook to my advantage.
On Facebook, there are numerous traveling and backpacker groups and pages open for access. These groups were created to meet the needs of like minds. So, join the group and network!
On the search button, type in the name of the country you intend to visit and attach the term “backpackers”. Check out the results and you’ll be happy.
On these groups, answers are provided to those who lack ground on itinerary suggestions, cars, places, and countries and for those in search of travel buddies.
What are you waiting for? Quickly send a request to some of the backpacker groups on Facebook. They would accept you, so you can start building a relationship even before you arrive at your target location.
Some favorites are @AustraliaBackpackers, @SEABackpackerCommunity, @SoloTravelSociety
6. Use Apps and Websites
Aside the use of social media, there are a massive number of apps built to help people who need travel friends. They are very much available and accessible by you.
Often, you are required to upload a brief description yourself, this short bio may include your age, nationality, and a preliminary of your proposed place of travel.
On these platforms, you create a bond with travelers of like minds, choose to meet them and also travel together. All these are made possible through the app.
You might be a bit doubtful about the safety of such apps, but they conduct verification through the social media handles of the users in other to ascertain their authenticity.
Some recommended apps and websites are Women Welcome Women WorldWide, Travello, Travel sisters, Tourlina, GAFFL, Trip together, Trip Giraffe and Global Greeter Network
The first four are websites and apps specifically designed for women ( I guess you observed) but they all serve the general purpose of linking up travelers.
So, sign up and have a great trip!
7. Join Group Tours
This is a highly recommended method. If you have limited time and means of traveling to a particular country, you could join a tour group.
Most times, they are small groups organized by someone else with the plans, itinerary, and transport all in place.
Through this means, you meet awesome personalities en route the same location. Different categories of people, ranging from solo travelers to small groups of friends with diversity in nationality and age.
Kick start these ideas into motion today as you go on a journey towards meeting new travel companions to bring the fun in your explorations.