Find out how to Use Fb Teams to Meet Different Vacationers

Keep in mind Couchsurfing? It was a web site that allowed you to stick with locals (without cost) and at all times had a plethora of occasions and meetups you would attend irrespective of the place you had been on the earth. It was probably the greatest methods to satisfy locals and vacationers on the highway. It was one in every of my favourite websites.

Just about everybody on the staff right here used it rather a lot 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 bunch, 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 individuals 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 web site began charging round 2013, after which instituted a paywall through 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 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 just a few dozen energetic profiles inside the earlier month. For instance, London confirmed 229,457 whole hosts however solely 896 energetic hosts within the final six months — and solely 496 energetic inside the final month. That’s a giant, huge distinction!

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

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

Reply: Fb — which is truthfully the final place I’d have thought, as a result of, properly, 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 status because the place your aunt posts memes or your loopy cousin rants about racist stuff.

However, every time I signal into Fb, I hold seeing posts from all kinds of teams in my feed, with individuals in search of 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 after 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 lure 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 professional method to meet individuals for a very long time (Ladies Love Journey being one of the 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 fastidiously to see in the event that they actually had been spammy. Whereas there have been many faux profiles and creepy dudes (sorry, guys, nevertheless it’s the web, and there are tons of these), generally I did come throughout actual individuals who appeared typically curious about assembly others, nonetheless few and much between they had been.

Are these teams actually a great way to satisfy individuals? 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 received lots of of responses and direct messages, which was fairly overwhelming.

Numerous it was spam: individuals telling me to come back go to them in India (I’m posting about Europe), individuals sending me hellos, just a few marriage proposals, and a few actually inappropriate feedback. (Facet notice: 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 via all of the junk and finally discovered actual individuals to satisfy up with. In the long run, I solely met just a few 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 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 received to satisfy locals. It was a great way to make new buddies and discover individuals to speak to.

Regardless that it’s a must to wade via loads of rubbish, I feel 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 power to satisfy individuals as I traveled.

In the event you’re trying to make use of them, listed below are some solutions 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 might be in search of (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 verify 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 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.