Learn how to Use Fb Teams to Meet Different Vacationers

Bear in mind Couchsurfing? It was an internet site that allowed you to stick with locals (totally free) and at all times had a plethora of occasions and meetups you might attend irrespective of the place you had been on the planet. It was among the best methods to fulfill locals and vacationers on the highway. It was one among my favourite websites.

Just about everybody on the staff right here used it so much 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 because of Couchsurfing, however he was additionally a bunch, and he was even featured in a calendar they made one yr!

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 throughout the pandemic, fewer and fewer individuals have used it. Nowadays, it’s a shell of its former self.

Whereas researching the most recent version of my ebook 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 number of dozen lively profiles throughout the earlier month. For instance, London confirmed 229,457 whole hosts however solely 896 lively hosts within the final six months — and solely 496 lively throughout the final month. That’s an enormous, large 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 comparable web sites) fairly useless, the place does one go to fulfill individuals now?

Reply: Fb — which is actually the final place I’d 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 spite of everything, Fb additionally has a well-deserved popularity because the place your aunt posts memes or your loopy cousin rants about racist stuff.

However, at any time when I signal into Fb, I maintain seeing posts from all types 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 record 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 at all times felt like they had been simply sleazy guys hitting on younger women and AI-generated woman accounts designed entice somebody. “Hello I’m Anna from US seeking to journey dm me” doesn’t strike me as one thing an precise particular person would say.

Whereas female-only teams have been a authentic solution to meet individuals for a very long time (Women Love Journey being probably the most well-known), the mixed-gender ones at all times felt somewhat 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, but it surely’s the web, and there are tons of these), typically I did come throughout actual individuals who appeared typically interested by assembly others, nonetheless 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 obtained lots of of responses and direct messages, which was fairly overwhelming.

A number 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 number 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 all of the junk and finally discovered actual individuals to fulfill 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 night time out in Freiburg, Germany, with a gaggle of oldsters, and one other with an Italian woman and her mates in Amsterdam. Every time, they took me round to locations I wouldn’t have seen in any other case, and I obtained to fulfill locals. It was a great way to make new mates and discover individuals to speak to.

Despite the fact that you need to wade by a whole lot of rubbish, I feel these teams are nice, particularly if you’re touring alone. Whereas I don’t have the persona to go on a multi-day journey with a stranger, I did love the flexibility to fulfill individuals as I traveled.

In case you’re wanting to make use of them, listed here are some options to reduce (however not remove) 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’re searching for (age, form of journey companion, gender, and many others.)

My present favourite teams are:

From there, for security, I’d extremely suggest wanting 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.