Why strangers are the best Travel Buddies
Having a Good Travel Buddy is one of the key elements for a good trip.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find the right people to sharing your Adventures with, even among your dearest friends.
I love solo travelling, and I would barely trade it for anything else. I have had some fun HOLIDAYS with relatives or friends, but for me TRAVEL is all another story. And freedom comes above anything else. But in some cases it can be very useful, or even essential, having one or more buddies to share the trip with, and travelling with strangers can be a very fulfilling experience. Here I am going to explain you why
Why Strangers can be the best Travel Buddies
I know it might sounds odd, but for my experience having a trip with people you didn’t know before can be a way better results than with your dearest friend. For the following reasons:
1) Common interests and FOCUS ON THE TRIP
Imagine you are about to start your long dreamed travel to a beautiful destination. If you are planning to have an amazing experience, you probably want the focus on the trip itself and what you really want to do, rather than the people to do it with. But if you decide to start planning a trip with someone you know, you will likely end up try to sort out something that will fit everyone’s needs.
When instead everything is just up to you, you can start from the trip, and then find the people to share it with.
It will also help you to really turn your travels into reality: everyone has different schedules and availability, and it is often difficult to find a time when all of your friends are on vacation, and for the same amount of time. Making the planning even more difficult
2) more FREEDOM
if you are travelling with someone you care about, and sometimes have different ideas, it might be harder to do what you really want. Maybe you don’t want to hurt the other person, or make him unhappy. Even it it only means spending a day on your own. Having dinner in that local restaurant because you are sick of eating pizza, or starting that day trip earlier because the other person sleeps for too long. And also to take different ways along the trip, if possible. In case you both find out it will be a better solution.
Having a travel buddy without any particular relationship with, could free you from eventual emotional obstacles
3) Nothing to lose
it might sound a bit sad, but in those I’ve seen too many good friendships (and couples!) ending because of a trip together. People can be perfectly matching in every day life, but travelling is often a completely different story.
Travelling with someone you didn’t know before will surely help you to avoid this problem. And it will also makes easier to split up if things don’t work well
Some of the unique and crazy things my friends would have never done with me:
hiking to the top of Eagle Peak, in Yosemite NP
swimming across Lake Powell
wild camping for 21 days straight
heading to the Monument Valley at 5 am for the sunrise
shooting guns in Las Vegas
4) Lots to WIN!
on the other hand, travelling together get people to really know each other very well
If the trip goes well and you discover to really share common interests, it can be the start of a really good Friendship!
Also, sometimes you will have lots of free boring time. For example during a long drive or bus journey. I don’t know about you, but I am always craving for new discoveries and interesting conversations. And after a while it gets difficult to find new topics with someone you already know pretty well.
With new people, on the other hand, you will have a whole life to talk about, and lots of more things to learn! Allowing you to discover even more than the place you are travelling to.
It will also be more likely that new people will introduce you to new activities. For example if you end up travelling with a climber or a scuba diver!
How and Were to find the Right People
Now you are probably questioning HOW and WERE to find those perfect travel companions
There are several ways to find travel buddies, both before planning the trip or when you are already on the road:
Facebook Groups
I put it first because is the method I’ve found it most helpful. For a few times travelling around Australia, and also before starting the trip to the US wast coast.
Look for the backpacker groups focused on a precise area. The options are many, and can vary from the city of Rome to the whole Europe. You will usually have to answer a few simple questions before joining them.
Then you’ll be able to both posting a trip idea looking for buddies, or look for someone to join.
I like this option also because you have a way to get to know the people you are talking with, even if through the lens of a Facebook profile. I know you cannot really be sure about someone’s identity, but it is still better than nothing I guess. I usually look at old post and pictures, especially the ones uploaded from other people, and the interactions they got with them. Just to ensure the profile is real
My personal experiences
I’ve been travelling or taking short trips with strangers several times in the last years, most of them in Australia. I went on a Roadtrip to Tasmania with a couple of Finnish guys and two German girls. They got the car, and where looking for people to share the travel expenses with.
But the really big thing has been a 21 days long trip around the western part of the USA. I was about to go there with my little brother, but since the car rental is pretty expensive for drivers under 25 years old, I started to post our trip on the group. I initially got very few answers, maybe because I started planning to much ahead. After a while I got the first few responses, but we finally joined the trip posted by a guy from Poland: he had similar itinerary ideas and time schedule. And, most important, was willing to do wild camping and crazy stuff! A few weeks before the trip other two guys, from France and Germany, decided to join us. And we finally five crazy Europeans roadtripping around with a nice van. Also my brother, at his first real travel first seemed pretty happy.
Hostels and backpackers hot spots
Another way to find buddies, especially when you are already on the road, is to visit a place where you are more likely to find other travelers. Just ask around any hostel, or take a look at their board, if they have one. Among many useful papers on trips, jobs and stuff on sold, it is not unusual to find someone looking for a travel buddy. Also other places usually frequented by traveler and even libraries can feature something like that.
The good thing about this way to find you travel buddies is that you get to personally know the people before starting the trip. And it also makes more easy to plan it, if you have the time.
It often also happens that you meet the people first, and then randomly decide to plan a trip together
On the other hand, the limited number of people you will personally meet, compared to the one reachable trough internet, makes a bit more difficult to find someone with your similar ideas. And if you are already on the journey, you will probably have less time to dedicate to the planning.
Specific websites and apps
there are several services were you can both post your trip and wait for joiners, or look for someone with a program that fits with your ideas. It is definitely faster than FaceBook, as you have some research tools saving you from scrolling all the post in the group. But I guess less people are actually using them, and the profiles are usually less detailed. But you can read the reviews from other travelers, if they have some.
Some people suggested me gafl or Travello, to name some.
I haven’t experienced any of them so far, except for BlaBla Car. But it is more a way to find lifts than real travel buddies
Organised travel groups
A more reliable way to find travel buddies, and also having all sorted for you. I definitely like to have more freedom, but I took my fist travel with a group of 20 strangers. I know it is a way larger number than the couple of travel buddies we have talked before.
But Traveling with a Group, you will have an already fixed travel program, that every fellow has already read and approved.
So no one can ever complain because he got different ideas. And you will also have a tour leader, in charge of guiding and keeping the group together.
Mine was a pretty big group, and it was surprising that everything went perfect.
On the other side, having more people around makes easier to find the friendlier ones and avoid interacting with the grumpiest ones. But depending of the tour agency and the specific tour, the number of buddies can also be way smaller.
obviously no one can assure you a good experience with those people. But the good part is that yo can still split and take different ways without risking to waste years of friendship!
Final notes..
I have been postponing so many trips because my school friend weren’t available at my same time. And also had some not really enjoyable travel experiences with friends. Manly because I like early morning starts, looking for local stuff, all day long hikes.. and also having my lonely time. And they just like partying, chilling and doing stuff together. That’s why I decided to look somewhere else. Or doing solo travel as much as possible.
I still love spending time with them. But when it is about Travelling, my time and journeys are just too precious to be wasted.
But if you are lucky enough to already have one or more good friends you share common interest with, keep going! Just remember you have also more possibilities.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post!
Feel free to leave a comment below or share it with your friends, if you liked it. I would really appreciate it : )
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