What I love most about my travel experiences are the friendships I developed and the interactions I have with people. Sometimes my friends laugh at me because I tend to make buddies in the most random places. But fear not, you do not need to be a social butterfly to meet people. Whether you are traveling solo or just interested in making friends while you travel abroad, here are 5 of my most prized tips that I guarantee will lead you to making a new friend or two.
1) Stay in a Hostel
I know some of you may be totally against hostels. A few years ago, when I was planning my first trip to Europe with my friend Jessica, she cringed at the suggestion of staying in a hostel. She was not having it! However, hostels are not all bad. The biggest benefit of staying in a hostel is the many opportunities to connect with people. Also, you don’t have to stay in a dorm-style room, they usually have private rooms available too. You can stay in a private room and still experience a social stay. One of my best hostel experiences was at the Living Lounge in Lisbon. I liked how the guests were a mature crowd and the hostel was very clean. Living Lounge served breakfast and dinner, which offered a great opportunity to talk and meet others staying in the hostel.
Living Lounge's dining area.
2) Go on a Free Walking Tour
Ok, so you still aren’t convinced staying in a hostel is for you. There are tons of other ways to make friends! There are plenty of free walking tours in Europe. Sandemans is one of the popular walking tour groups that operates in a variety of cities. Walking tours attract a lot of backpackers and solo travelers, aka. people who will love to make friends. During my trip to Lisbon my friends and I went on a walking tour and met Laura, who was traveling solo, but became our travel companion throughout our stay.
My travel crew and I in Lisbon. You would never guess that half of us just met an hour before this picture was taken!
3) Give a Helping Hand
I embrace opportunities to help people, because I’ve been on the receiving end many times during my travels. If you see that person or group of friends struggling to take a selfie, go over and offer to take the picture. EVERYONE has been there and appreciates the help. When I’m traveling on a plane, I usually offer some of my snacks to the person next to me and use that as an opportunity to begin a conversation. Also, wake them up when the snack cart arrives. You know that dreadful moment, where you wake up from a nap and realize the snack cart went by and left you hanging… yea you can save someone the despair! I received all sorts of insightful travel tips from just being kind to people. These are just a few examples of ways to help people while you’re traveling, but the opportunities are endless.
4) Attend a Meet up and/or Couch Surfing Event
There are a plethora of online groups and events that could connect you with other travelers and help you make friends while traveling. Meetup and Couchsurfing are some of the more popular online platforms for connecting people. These platforms are a great way to meet people who love what you love!
Meetup's Explore section allows you to find events by your interests!
5) Ask Friends for Connections
Simply creating a Facebook status letting people know the destination of your next trip can lead to a lot of recommendations of things to do, but also connections to people. When I was planning my trip to Thailand, I updated my status asking for recommendations and my friend connected me to her Thai friend in Bangkok. We met up while we were there and she took my friends and I to an amazing local restaurant and tea bar we wouldn’t have found on our own.
If you are a more private person use the Facebook search feature to search for your destination of interest. Facebook will show you which of your friends have visited. Go head and slide in their DMs and ask if they have friends in the area.
Beyond these 5 tips, the keys to making friends while traveling are to:
Keep an OPEN MIND.
Remember most PEOPLE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES and give suggestions.
Remember you are AWESOME and have an UNIQUE story to share.
Be YOURSELF & HAVE FUN.
What are your tips for meeting people while traveling alone? Do you have an interesting story about a random stranger that made your trip special? Let’s talk about it in the comment box below!
This Post Has 31 Comments
I don’t stay in hotels these days but I made many friends back in the day just by sharing a dorm, even though I’m not very outgoing. So I agree with you on that one. But nowadays the number one way I meet people is via Meetup events. It’s perfect because if you choose the right event you are guaranteed to meet people who you have at least one thing in common with. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Yes, Meetups are great especially for people who aren’t outgoing. It’s always nice to know you have at least one thing to talk about!
These are great tips! I’m one of those "no hostel" people but mostly because I can get a private vacation rental for the same price as a private room. However, the point is the connections I could make. I may have to try the Lisbon Hostel you mentioned on my solo trip there in a few months. Oh yeah, I love free walking tours. Great place to meet people from all over the world.
Definitely check out the Living Lounge hostel! I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. Glad to hear you’ve been on walking tours before!
I love how your post just radiates positivity! These are some fab tips for how to make friends while traveling, and you’re right – I wouldn’t have guessed that you 4 girls just met less than an hour ago!
Thank you!!! 🙂
nice tips… I have to admit I’m really bad at making friends on vacation! but I can appreciate your upscale hostel tip. I’m usually turned off by hostels because I feel like I am at a stage in my life where I shouldn’t be staying in hostels anymore, but I do miss out on the social aspect!
I agree with you! I’m definitely approaching the "no hostel" stage in my life. But there are a lot of upscale mature hostels out there that are worth checking out.
Loved reading this! I’ve only ever been on one solo trip before, and it was just last year to Rio de Janeiro. Totally agree with the hostel point though – I had originally booked my stay at a B&B but changed my mind last minute and boy was I ever glad! This was also my first time staying at a hostel and was a bit nervous like your friend Jessica too, but I made friends with everyone there and still continue to keep in touch with them even after all this time!
Aww I loved reading this! Thanks for sharing! It’s so cool how you still keep in touch with them after such a long time. Travel is magical 🙂
all my friends I’ve met while traveling have been at hostels…..except one. I met this AMAZING friend who was on a 18 month RTW journey. we met while climbing Mt. FUJI!!!! how cool is that>?
That’s extremely cool! Travel brings awesome people in our lives. 🙂
awesome tips! I would just add two more: 1) ask people for directions (sometimes it turns into a conversation) 2) use apps to couchsurfing, tinder, party with a local
I agree!! I’ve met a lot of cool people and had a lot of great conversations that were started from asking for directions. I’ve never heard of the party with a local app… I’ll check it out.
These are great tips for solo travelers. I personally love staying in hostels now and then! It’s such a great way to meet people, and some of them are really quite nice! (That one you mentioned in Lisbon — the Living Lounge — looks amazing!) Also, you sound like you’d be really fun to travel with! 🙂
Aww thanks Stefanie!! I definitely love to enjoy myself while traveling! I agree with you, hostels are great in moderation 🙂
These are such good tips! I usually travel with the hubs but this could work for couples traveling or anyone moving to a new city!
Thank you!! 🙂
I’ll admit I’m one of those fake extroverts. So everyone thinks I make friends really easily, but in reality, I enjoy keeping to myself. So, these tips are great! I LOVE staying in boutique hostels in a private room, it ensures that I stay social, but can retreat back to my own space. I love the positive tips at the end 🙂
Haha I feel you. I’m definitely more of an ambivert! Love talking to people/ being social, but also love my alone time. Glad you enjoyed the article 🙂
All awesome ways to meet people and make friends when travelling solo! I’ve stayed in my fair share of hostels and have met so many incredible people. I recently went on a free walking tour, and was surprised how easy it is to make friends there!
Hostels sure do bring together interesting crowds of people. Glad that you made some great friends there!
I love staying in hostels (although I think I’ve grown out of dorm rooms!) and I agree that they are one of the best places to meet new travel buddies. Number 5 never occurred to me though. I post in Facebook groups asking for recommendations on what to do, where to stay, and where to eat/drink but never thought about asking for connections. It’s a great idea though 🙂
Yes, try out #5! When I was living in NYC I’ve had a few friends ask if they can connect me to their friends so we can hang out. I always said yes and showed them around and then we became friends. 🙂
I’m pretty antisocial so these are great tips for me! I loved the one about a walking tour, especially since it gives you something to talk about, Great post!
Thank you! I’m glad these tips are helpful 🙂
I actually think I have made more friends traveling solo that when I travel with others. I am forced to talk to strangers or I will have no one to talk to. I think bars are a great place to meet people.
I agree with you. When we travel with groups we are comfortable and don’t really have a need to talk to strangers as much. I love bars to meet people and people watch lol!
I actually think I have made more friends traveling solo that when I travel with others. I am forced to talk to strangers or I will have no one to talk to. I think bars are a great place to meet people.
Never thought of using Meetups despite me knowing about it already! Such a good idea! And thanks for mentioning Sandelmans…I can see I’ll use them all over Europe. You had me at FREE! Might even sample their London one!
Yayy! I hope you enjoy your Sandemans tour!! I’m all about free experiences!