19f and I’m a little nervous to use this sub
Has anyone actually made travel partners? I wanna hear your stories
EverywhereJesus, that sounds like a nightmare
When I was hanging around him, YES! When I let him stay inside and watch Bob’s Burgers while I was out on my own, NO. Doing the trip solo was an incredible experience though.
Oh man, fair call. I definitely can relate haha- had a few travel plans go sour and ended up soloing them. No regret at all.
Not gonna lie, they had us in the first half
Damn not fun! But please don't put all men in the same basket :( As a men it is very difficult to find a travel partner, especially when you're not comfortable around cis men. I would rather travel with a female identifying person
Anyone that just went through a breakup tends to be like that. Glad you still had fun!
I (23m) met u/justgetmethere (22f) last month in Ecuador :) and one other guy but I dunno his username. We even shared a tent for a couple nights. It was awesome!
I also met people in Paris in 2017 and I ended up seeing one again when I returned a year later
Heyyyyy superstar! r/travelpartners Ecuador crew was absolutely fantastic. Still pretty surprised that I had so much fun with random people from the internet (and that they didn’t murder me)
Curious Redditor from the far future here, did you guys stay in touch?
We do! We even met up a few months ago in Scotland!
Are they still in Ecuador I was gonna post because I’m in Quito but didn’t see anyone in that area
Just go to the community hostel and you'll meet people no problem
I was there a couple times. Had an ex girlfriend there that I met online. Amazing place to travel. I’m actually going to start looking for other places and people on here to travel with.
I (29F) met up with a guy (27M) for a road trip through Europe in June. Was a great trip. We did use separate accommodations as I had already booked all of mine.
Over all - be comfortable setting your limits and ground rules before agreeing to a trip together. - exchange passport or ID or contact info before hand to share with family/friends - set conditions for cost sharing before starting the trip - discuss what you want out of the trip (what you are interested in doing etc) - be ready to follow your gut and bail on them early if you just don’t feel comfortable. Having separate lodging helps.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions
these are great ideas/safety habits. thanks for this post!
How did you meet ?
Reddit. He posted looking for a travel partner
Yes, I had a travel partner. We met for a cruise and it went so well, we took a second trip to Vegas and a third to Disney over the course of 2 years.
I recommend stating upfront what you want out of the experience and find out if it matches what they're looking for. Party? Cultural immersion? Active? Nature-focused?
Helps if you both have a similar level of experience traveling and a similar budget.
If you have any deal-breakers, make them clear. I state upfront that I don't want to travel with people who complain excessively or smoke.
How exactly would you ask the budget question? Never even thought of that? Do u say "no rich/poor people allowed"?
Good question.
Once I know what activities I want to do, what type of place I want to stay and if I need transportation, I share my estimated budget with my potential travel partner. If they aren't comfortable with it, they generally exclude themselves or we compromise.
I can travel with someone "poor" who has saved up for the trip or someone "rich" who wants a good deal. It's just easier to be upfront about how much I want to spend so people can decide for themselves if they want to share costs.
You don't want to be surprised about money and expectations on the trip. Best to discuss upfront.
I'd recommend always having a conversation with the other travel partners, either face to face or via video calls etc. Use that as a gauge to determine whether they'd make an ideal travel partner.
Gotcha!
- from me sitting in the office struggling with jetleg
(I swear I'm not a stalker. I got this post recommended too.( But does this mean I cannot talk shit behind you cuz you may get that recommended as well??? hahaha
+rep for /u/Spideypool_ as a good travel partner 🙂
Yep! A few years ago I posted here on r/travelpartners to find travel buddies interested in an 10-day Iceland ring road trip, had a few responses and managed to find one taker. We exchanged Skype IDs and discussed our travel plans and made the necessary travel arrangements. Met for the first time at the Reykjavik airport, managed to have a pretty good trip without killing each other and we remain Facebook friends now. It helps to find like-minded people within the same age group too, and be honest with your intentions / travel style (eg nightlife, drinking, museum-junkie etc) on your posts; don't try to compromise just for the sake of sounding cool/hip.
This thread just made me want to stick to solo travel like I've been doing.
Good job asking a question I was afraid to ask at 29.
The thing is I wanna travel to other parts of the US but I think that would be hard considering I’m not of the drinking age, so I couldn’t socialize at bars. That’s why I’m hesitant to solo travel in the states until I turn 21
I think the problem is that many people just are afraid to travel alone and want to have someone to travel with... rather than being selective any only picking people to meet up with if they match a fixed criteria. I was guilty of the first, I didn't want to spend crazy money renting a car alone in Iceland - in retrospect I would have rather done it alone, or been better at drawing a line (for starters the dude was like 2.5 hours late... and then we just didn't match very well, nothing like driving around and camping in iceland with someone you would rather not talk to lol... it was fine and it was cheap and I saw some stuff, but meh...). Nowdays I'm open to meeting people, i always like to meet people, but usually not for multi-day-travel-together type of things, but meet for lunch and see if you hit it off and then explore the city (or not).
That sounds like a good idea.
I have an upcoming solo travel, I didn't consider this while planning. Thanks!
I have and it was good but he got annoying and complained to much on the trip
Lol
Yea lying to all the females about what he does , complained it was to hot , scared to do shit, getting drunk so fast he had to go back to telly so quickly ,
Your trip was kinda ruined then?
Not really still had fun but he was annoying
Good to hear
I’ll say this much get your own room like I did so if they’re annoying you still have that space
Ideal for an introvert like me
I think a bit more caution is needed meeting people from reddit compared to e.g. CouchSurfing, but I have met one Australian while visiting Iceland via this subreddit (different account though long ago) we drove around and camped together. My suggestions would be to make sure your travel goals align very well first, then have a video chat to feel each other out a bit. Then meet at a public place, starting your travel off with a coffee or whatever. The real trick is being assertive enough and not being 'guilted' or whatever into going if you feel a reason it wouldnt' be that fun (or otherwise). It is important to be fair and clear to the other people how you want to organize it, so that they are not banking on everything from the start and then you bailing out after you meet because you realize you don't match.
It was mostly fine, though I think we both failed to consider how well our personalities and travel goals lined up, nothing bad at all, saw some stuff, had fun, but I almost would have rather done it alone looking back. I would be open to it again but be more selective. My main reason for finding someone to go around Iceland with, was the crazy prices there, and not wanting to rent a car for just myself. I think I never talked to him again, and don't even remember his name. I do remember him driving on the wrong side of the road for a moment though haha.
I am currently in the middle of a 6 month road trip to a bunch of lesser-travelled countries with someone that posted on this sub.
Earlier this year I also spent a month with someone I met here - we met for a drink and ended up taking the same path through South East Asia.
Before that, I met a few people for day trips, and I've had nothing but positive experiences.
Did you finish that 6 month trip or is almost done?
Nope, we're still on the trip, everything is still going well
Which path in Sout East Asia did you take? And the road trip where has that gotten you? 😊
The SEA trip was Singapore Malaysia Thailand Laos Cambodia and Vietnam - I met a redditor in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and we were sharing beers in Hanoi 1 month later.
I'm writing this from Uzbekistan. We'll be going to Turkmenistan next week, which is notoriously difficult to enter, but we managed to get visas :)
Reading through this I'm wondering if it would be better to introduce a minimum account age or comment karma limit for posting.
The lack of followup on quite a few posts seems to equate to people using throwaway accounts that they may not check again. Likewise having a bit of account history on both sides would allow you better get to know your potential travel partners. Any thoughts on minimum limits would be good, or if you just prefer meeting people who are a blank slate?
Met up with 3 guys last year, one from the sub and the 2 others were from a different website. We had a group chat and met up in Vietnam last year. Im M21 (at the time) the others were 19. We traveled together for about a month and a half. Had the time of my life we went to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Wouldn’t have changed a thing about it
Sounds amazing! Out of interest, what site did you use?
Currently on an Ireland trip with 3 other people! Here's a post one of us posted about the experience so far.
Actually met a cool guy in Madrid two years ago, ended up hanging out with him and his friends the whole trip. We still keep in touch :)
Haven’t met anyone from this sub but I did stay with someone that commented on a post of mine over in r/solotravel. It was great. She let me crash at her apartment in NYC. We hungout for one of the nights and met up for lunch everyday I was there and otherwise I did my own thing and she did her normal day to day.
It’s not exactly the same thing but I think it relates to this question.
Unexpected circumstances led me to traveling alone to Barcelona last year. This was my first time traveling such a long distance alone (25/F at the time) and I was pretty nervous. Posted on this site and met up with another person who was also traveling alone.
It ended up being a great experience because there wasn't pressure to spend time with them all the time (hello family trips), but when we did hang out we could talk about our experiences and try new things together and share tips.
I also stayed in a hostel and made new friends that way. Either way there are ways to travel alone without being completely alone.
Mee too! But actually wanted to try because my friends just wouldn’t come with me 😣
Go anyway! Do your research and start somewhere easy, but I’m a 27 F solo backpacker who has been doing this for years. I want everyone to travel solo. Feel free to message me if you need some encouragement or advice :)
I’ve tried to travel solo in japan. What i haven’t tried is getting a travel partner from this sub hehe
I’m 46f and really want to travel international. I’m in the US. I need tips on solo travel. I really want to go away this year, anytime in Dec. I’m open to suggestions. I’m very active and live mountain biking, hiking, seeing the touristy stuff. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks
I can help plenty with tips and encouragement :) I would definitely recommend a “starter” place, so somewhere similar to your home country (or in your home country) alone to start. You’ll learn the independence and strength of taking care of yourself and meeting friends even when you’re unfamiliar with your surroundings.
I always always always recommend hostels, but for someone in their 40’s I would recommend doing some research and making sure you find somewhere clean & quiet, so you don’t book a rowdy party hostel with a bunch of drunk 18 YOs, unless that’s what you’re looking for :)
Feel free to message me! Happy to help
Yeah good point, I definitely don’t want to stay in a hostel with a bunch of young party goers. I like to get my sleep and get out early to explore. I’d really like to go to another country. My goal is to hit 4 a year but I need to start somewhere. I was thinking maybe Thailand??
Exactly. But don’t be afraid of hostels all together. It’s just a term to say there are some shares dorms in addition to private rooms. Hotels can be dirty and hostels can be very very clean and luxurious. You just have to research and find them.
I bet Thailand is great! because it’s such a tourist spot and millions of people go even if they don’t speak Thai. Although I’ve never been, myself .
But it depends on where you’re from. If you’re from the US and you’ve never seen a third world country before, it could feel scary to start with one. Seeing stark differences in how people live can be a shock that you might not want to deal with at the same time as of figuring out how to travel solo.
I, myself, find ways to travel for a longer term rather than short stints. Unless money is not an issue, 4 countries per year is a hard goal...that is if you’re still working and living in the US.
For ex, flights from the US to Thailand are very expensive, but it’s very cheap one you’re there, and given it’s as opposite a timezone you’ll have to take a day or two to adjust to, it’s much more worth it to go once for at least a few weeks, instead of multiple times for 1 week each.
Yeah I’m in the US and I really only get 4 weeks vaca, I try to use holidays to extend my vacation time. Maybe I’ll only get to see 3, if I can do it on a budget. Where are you?
To previous posts about Thailand being super touristy, a less known and really easy to travel place is Taiwan.
Fairly modern, think Japan, but set in a “a Chinese setting”, most younger people would speak English, very easy and convenient public transport system, busses, subways, trains and even a high speed rail. Also, restaurants will always have an English menu on hand to assist you, i spoke to a few English speaking travellers and that was their main gripe, not knowing what to eat.
The country is cheap to live in, once again, you can order something on the menu for a couple of bucks and leave it if its too weird for you but i found it all different and interesting. You gotta go in with an open mind.
The people are friendly and helpful, if you are more adventurous, you can venture out of Taipei, although you could easily fill 6 days in Taipei alone. The country side is surprisingly beautiful, not what you would think, Hualien especially, although I wouldn’t recommend you go there on your first go, its still a very small town and if you don’t speak the language, it might be a little too hard.
Hostels there are amazing and great way to meet other traveller, although i find that the private rooms cost just about the same or sometimes slightly more expensive that a hotel room, probably for the social side of things. It would be OK if you book early, I rocked up there with only the next 2 days accomodation planned so i have flexibility to move onto the next place as required.
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I'm planning to go there end of February and early march. There's a new Andaz Dubai opening up that's where I will be staying. Any suggestions near there?
How's the rest of the month looking ?
Met up with 3 different couples 3 yrs ago for a road trip. Met in advance and are still great friends to this day. There is no secret formula for finding "safe" people in life. Let your prospects know like I did that you would like to exchange ID's, passports in person and maybe that will weed out the shady ones. Good luck.
I met this guy from Utah, we shared a airbnb together in Paris.
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4.7y
It was just us. The host hid the keys and gave us instructions on how to find it.
How was AirBnB in Paris? I was used hotels when I visit. Any problems getting good accommodations and safe neighborhoods?
It worked out for us. We got a studio with 2 beds in a semi busy neighborhood. Since we're backpackers, the price was definitely in our favor. Only con is the Airbnb is 5 flights up. You should definitely do your research based on your preference for airbnb. I hope it works out for you!
Thanks
Highly recommend... if you’re more than one person it’s cheaper than most hostels even. I’ve done it 3 times in Paris and it’s been a good experience for me.
Thanks
I (24F) used this for a weeklong trip last year to Kyrgyzstan. We ended up getting a group of 5 people who said that they were going to go but 2 of them bailed out a week before the trip which was a little stressful. But me and the two guys who ended up going had a blast. They were completely normal and we all got along super well, and it was really nice having some guys to trek/travel with. We even ended up modifying our trip plans while on the ground to have a trip that was even cooler and more active than I was originally planning for!
I definitely recommend chatting through facebook or some other means to verify that the person you are talking too seems normal and everyone booking plane tickets around the same time so that you can confirm you aren't going to end up in the middle of nowhere solo when you were not planning on it. Also making sure that you all enjoy doing the same things helps, I am a big outdoorsy person and love trekking and the guys I went with had just summited Kilimanjaro so it was pretty apparent we liked doing the same things.
Tried but never hear from anyone or if so it's very flakey
Yep! I traveled with my wife to a few different places in Europe. We found someone that would be in Amsterdam the same time as us so we just arranged to meet up in public there. It ended up being super fun and we just walked around to different places and got dinner together :)
Went alone to Tokyo last year 19m and met up With two guys from this sub. I had a Great time and one guy showed me all the big sites and went shopping. Later that week we went on a cool sorta tag game which led to me meeting a whole lotta more fun People.
I've met a dude who I've bicycled with from DC to Kentucy once here. Then we decided to drift apart and I eventually made it to Utah solo.
nice little ride
Have not made plans with anyone here, but I normally meet people at destination that I am at and generally can gauge if I would enjoy hanging out with them for the day or week. Made lots of great traveling friends this way. Most of them were through walking tours or people at my hostel.
Met someone while in Tanzania for Kili and Safari. Super cool dude. Tried to teach me to shuffle cards. I kinda got it
I (32m) met someone online and traveled together (this was pre-reddit) and we are still great friends today. We were both solo and nervous about it. We are the same age but were only around 23-24 at the time. I would say just exchange a few emails and Skype a few times before meeting to be safe. I know as a guy I have less to worry about, but the right person will be understanding of the need to be careful while solo traveling with a stranger.
May I ask how you met that person online? And other than through this subreddit, how else can I find travel partners? Thanks
Back in the day I used to work my way around using helpx.net
The site is old but it's pay subscription so the scams and weirdos are pretty filtered out. the girl who I was traveling with didn't want to just show up at a host family without knowing someone else in the area so we met up before everything.
we actually met up to travel to a couple different cities in Italy but never ended up doing one of the work programs so we just ended up traveling together for a little bit.
but before anything we exchanged a bunch of emails and messages on the site and you have like a little profile with picture and stuff about you and all that and then we Skyped before a couple times just to make sure that we are who we say we are and all that
Okay thanks
Also, where you are going I'm sure they're are expat groups. But like Reddit or any social media there are plenty of weirdos out there.
Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) for an interrailing trip next summer. Sorry, what’s an expat group?
I lived in Lyon for a while and made friends through a facebook group called "Expats In Lyon". People pos stuff they're doing and you can show up and make friends if you want. I found a social football group that ended up being great friends :)
But literally just a Facebook group
Thank you. I’ll do my own research
I guess im the only person who's had a bad experience.
I was robbed off a $150 speaker that was very special to me. And the person turned out to be a drug addict. What a nightmare. Honestly, I don't know if its 100% worth it.
I have met up with ppl off reddit when on vacation in a specific city and ill just post onto that city's sub, and I actually met two cool ppl in Paris who Im still friends with on snapchat and want to hang out with again. So there are good ppl off reddit for sure. Those two were more closer to me and my life. So my advice is don't settle because you're desperate to make friends.
I’ve met up with several people on here over the years. One I met about 6 years ago and we still randomly hang out when I’m in his country. I’ve met some fun people to get a dinner or wander around for a day or two with. I have not had any luck meeting up with girls, it’s been mostly guys, which always keeps me on my toes a bit because I’m in a relationship and I don’t want to put myself in any questionable situations.
Oh, I take back that thing about meeting up with girls! I connected with someone looking to fly a cat over to Slovenia and I’ll be accompanying her in September.
Just use your intuition, add each other on social media, chat with them a bit, don’t feel afraid to duck out early if you’re not vibing, don’t overcommit with someone, and go with your gut feeling. I’ve also been in the process of meeting with other people but they ended up flaking or getting too drunk or something. I don’t take it personally.
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I've been posting 3 months about Travel in Thailand in Jan 15 - Feb. 15+ 2020. I've had a couple replies but no fixed arrangements as yet. But then spontaneously occuring events are always better anyway. Safe Journeys everyone.
I'm most likely in Thailand from the 1st Feb, if you interested to meet up, just hit me up :)
I will be in Chiang Mai Jan. 27-Feb 11
What are your plans for Chiang Mai and afterwards? I already booked a hostel for Bangkok (2 weeks) because I got a great deal but I can get a full refund. If you are interested to explore ChiangMai and probably other cities together we can discuss via pm maybe?
This thread is all over the place but PM me about Chiang Mai
Got a pretty girl from Chiang Mai showing me the sights. But I will also have my free time so don't be afraid to ask. I'm an older gent with a young heart and a smile for Thailand. Safe journey friend....sawadee
Look me up when you're in Chiang Mai. The flower festival is at that time and a beautiful event to be part of.
I used it a few years ago now when I met someone in Australia for a week.
For what it's worth, I think it was a good experience, although we did have slightly different travel styles.
I've actually had good experiences finding travel partners here. The people I met on both trips I've done were great and I still keep in contact with one of them. Just make sure to video call them before meeting in person and I tend to like to move things from Reddit to facebook or another social media platform as soon as possible.. This makes it much easier to plan things and will weed out people who aren't really that interested.
i have asked around but lots of people don't follow through (and one time i couldn't because of a job). echoing what someone else said, i would see how 'on top of it' they are with answering and planning the trip, and communicative about what they want out of it. then it's no problem. i've taken trips with old friends and still had to go through that process, otherwise it was hell
It was more of meeting up and making new friends than having travel partners the whole time. It was pretty great for me, didn't meet any unpleasant people at all, and I met like 10 people lol
I met up with a 20M from Singapore for 1 week in New Zealand. He was fairly quite but we had a decent time. There also was a 30 something who had just had his fiance of 6 years leave him for the dude she cheated on him with. He complained quite a bit, but it was just a 1 day hike.
I have made and then cancelled plans with a few people however. Mostly because of schedule conflicts but a coffee times the prospective travel partner showed some narcissistic personality traits that I wouldn't want to deal with.
My basic rule is to spend about twice as long as I will spend travelling with someone to get to know them before hand. I was also traveling solo in hostels so I always had a few people to socialize with.
Hey! I posted on here a year ago and ended up meeting a lovely solo traveler female, we didn't end up travelling together but we met in Seoul for a full evening walked around,went to a museum and had dinner together.. It was awesome! I also met a few other girls and we went to a concert together, explored another city and met again a few days later to explore another.. it was great and we're all still in touch!
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I used it 2 years ago when I was looking to go to YellowKnife, Canada. After a month of waiting, someone finally answered. It was this guy from Cali (who had broken up with his girl) who wanted to get out into some cold and do some snow/ice related activities and exploration. So me, a guy who had also just recently had become single, figured he would be a good partner because we could just focus on fun and not women or drama.
Holy shit was I dead wrong.
He ONLY talked about how he misses his ex and how “painfully” cold it was here and how he’s so depressed and how he doesn’t wanna go out to do activities with me because “the last time I was doing outdoor activities I was with HER.” He watched Bob’s Burgers, Adventure Time and The Office the entire 5 days we were there. I did everything on my own (it was actually super fun btw) and after the trip, I never spoke to him again
Next time I travel I want to go with a girl or just go solo and maybe meet people already at the destination.
What I am trying to say, if I’m saying anything at all, is to try and get to know the person before you certify plans with them. I spoke with the guy I went with through text a few times a week a handful of times and that was it. Big mistake.