The best way to Use Fb Teams to Meet Different Vacationers

Keep in mind Couchsurfing? It was an internet site that allowed you to stick with locals (without cost) and all the time had a plethora of occasions and meetups you possibly can attend irrespective of the place you had been on this planet. It was among the best methods to fulfill locals and vacationers on the street. It was one in all my favourite websites.

Just about everybody on the staff right here used it so much through the years. 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 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 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. Today, it’s a shell of its former self.

Whereas researching the most recent version of my ebook on finances 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 inside 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 inside the final month. That’s a giant, massive 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 comparable web sites) fairly lifeless, the place does one go to fulfill folks now?

Reply: Fb — which is truthfully 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 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, each time I signal into Fb, I maintain seeing posts from all kinds of teams in my feed, with folks searching for journey buddies: backpacking Europe, backpacking Australia, digital nomads in (insert vacation spot), discover a journey buddy…the listing 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 women and AI-generated woman 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 folks for a very long time (Ladies Love Journey being probably the most well-known), the mixed-gender ones all the time felt just a little sketchy. However they saved 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, however it’s the web, and there are tons of these), generally I did come throughout actual individuals who appeared usually all for assembly others, nevertheless few and much between they had been.

Are these teams actually a great way to fulfill folks? 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 acquired tons of of responses and direct messages, which was fairly overwhelming.

A number of it was spam: folks telling me to return 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. (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 folks to cease approaching to them. Fairly unhappy.)

However I waded by means of all of the junk and finally discovered actual folks to fulfill up with. Ultimately, 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 bunch of oldsters, and one other with an Italian woman and her buddies in Amsterdam. Every time, they took me round to locations I wouldn’t have seen in any other case, and I acquired to fulfill locals. It was a great way to make new buddies and discover folks to speak to.

Though it’s important to wade by means of a number of rubbish, I believe these teams are nice, particularly in case you are 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 folks as I traveled.

In the event 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 might be searching for (age, sort of journey accomplice, gender, and so forth.)

My present favourite teams are:

From there, for security, I’d extremely suggest trying on the profiles of respondents to ensure they’re actual and solely meet in public locations. Past that, have enjoyable! These teams won’t be as simple to make use of as Couchsurfing was, however a minimum of there’s something today 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.