7 Ways to Travel the World More Socially

October 11, 2017|Lena Scheidler

No matter if you are a solo-traveler, travel with your partner or in a small group of friends, it is even more fun to travel and meet other people on the way.

There are basically 3 types of people you can meet on the road:

People from your own country
People from the destination country
People from other countries

All of them have different things to offer you, but they will all make you grow through learning from their experiences, broadening your horizon. This is definitely a part of travel you should aim for.

I can’t stress it enough: Be a social traveler, it will enrich you in so many ways.

Here is our list of ways to travel the world more socially.

Post Contents

Book a Tour
Take a Class
Stay in an Airbnb
Use Couchsurfing
Go to Where the Local Hang Out
Find People to Travel with on Social Media
Stay in a Hostel
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Book a Tour

Tours are one of the ways where you can meet any kind of people belonging to the three groups explained above, depending on what kind of tour you book.

You can either book a complete tour from home, that way you will meet new people from your own country.

But you also have the option to book short tours at your destination, and you will meet people from all over the world who will do the same tour with you.

There are also private tours, just you and a local tour guide, giving you the chance to get to know a local and the recommendations that they have. Just make sure to be clear what you want. Namely not just to experience the touristy things.

Take a Class

Similar to tours there are other activities you can participate in to meet people. Cooking classes or yoga lessons come to mind. They have the added benefit of teaching you about local culture and customs while being social and meeting people from all over the world while sharing experiences.

Stay in an Airbnb

Make sure to book a private room or a shared room on Airbnb if you want to meet people. Doing this you will be able to meet the local host, but might even meet other travelers who stay at the same accommodation.

Do you want to know how to find the local hosts on Airbnb? Read our instructions here.

Use Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing has two ways for you to meet other people.

You stay with a local host in their home (it’s free, so make sure to bring a thank you gift, and also maybe invite them to dinner or something to show you are thankful)
Just hang out with other couchsurfers at your destination. There are official meetups everywhere in the world. But you can also tell the world that you want to hang out and might find someone new to meet at your destination.

If you want more info about Couchsurfing check out our blog post on being a Couchsurfing host.

Go to Where the Local Hang Out

This might be pubs, bars, restaurants, community centers. Of course to connect with locals in places like that you will have to be an extrovert, able to go up to people and start a conversation.

Find People to Travel with on Social Media

I have seen this in some Facebook groups lately. Solo-travelers who say where they plan to go and when they plan to go there. They are looking for other people to travel with them because they find traveling alone is too scary for the destination they have in mind, or they just want someone to share the experience with.

Join a couple of travel Facebook groups if you are interested in this form of social travel.

Stay in a Hostel

This one is probably the most obvious. Backpackers stay in hostels to meet other backpackers in the common areas of the hostels. To share stories of their travels and to make new friends from all over the world. Some even continue traveling together.

Do you know any other way to connect with people while traveling? Let us know. And please also tell us about your experiences with the ones I mentioned above.

Being social also means leaving your comfort zone sometimes. Don’t be afraid.

If you need help communicating with the people you meet on your travels read our tips on ways to connect with people who don’t speak English.

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Lena

By the way, if I managed to awaken your interest in Couchsurfing and you are thinking about signing up, I have something for you. A FREE Couchsurfing Check-List with the most important things you should do when signing up, when hosting, and when surfing.

Sign-up to my mailing list using the sign-up form below and you will have it delivered to your mailbox right away, along with other valuable free content created by me.

Lena Scheidler

Lena is the creator of the Social Travel Experiment. Planning her trip around the world took a lot of effort. To make it easier for future world travelers she has made it her mission to teach others how to have an unforgettable trip around the world, through short stays with locals, without wasting valuable time or money.

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