Connect with Fellow Travellers on Your Adventures
Arguably, the biggest anxiety for the first-time traveller is the thought of being lonely—visions of cold evenings curled around a flickering bedside lamp while a soundtrack of general debauchery from the downstairs party reverberates through the walls. However, this fear is often unfounded. Travellers, after all, tend to be a social breed. Therefore, to guide you through the often intimidating ice-breaker stage, we’ve devised a list of simple ways to cultivate companionship on the road.
Join a Walking Tour
Not only is this a great (and often free) way to familiarize yourself with a new city, but the nature of walking tours lends itself to easy conversation. If the group isn’t too large, a good host will ask everyone to say their name and where they’re from, providing an easy ‘in’ for striking up conversations with other participants along the way. Stopping for a group meal or drink also presents a wonderful opportunity to socialize.
Connect Online
In recent years, there has been a surge in apps designed to help travellers connect on the road. Chief among them is Backpackr, which helps you meet people who will be travelling to the same destinations you are. While out on the road, EatWith allows you to attend dinner parties hosted by local chefs. Additionally, Sofar Sounds connects users with musicians hosting intimate gigs in informal venues. There are also numerous online travel networks that you can join, ranging from groups that empower solo female travellers to communities of full-time travelling professionals sharing advice.
Embrace Hostels
Hostels serve as an essential asset for sociable solo travellers (and not all are bland, boxy affairs!). Close-knit sleeping quarters often foster conversation—or, more frequently, comical arguments over air conditioner settings—while vibrant communal spaces provide an ideal platform to bond with fellow travellers over a drink.
Rent a Room
Whether through Couchsurfing or renting a room via platforms like Airbnb, staying at a location where you can engage with your host can be highly rewarding. Locals who are willing to share their homes are usually gregarious individuals keen to connect with their visitors and offer local insights that enhance your travel experience. The affability of your potential host can often be gauged from their advertisement as well as reviews from previous guests.
Take Your Meal at the Bar
Opting to eat at a restaurant’s bar allows you to bypass the potentially awkward ‘table for one’ dining scenario. Moreover, this setting gives you the unique opportunity to chat with diners seated next to you, staff, or other patrons ordering drinks; many staff members go the extra mile to engage with solo diners—there’s even a chance of scoring a complimentary cocktail!
Join a Local Meetup
From cooking courses to tango lessons, classes aimed at visitors offer an excellent opportunity to bond with other travellers over a shared interest, or, depending on the obscurity of the activity, a mutual acknowledgment of how incompetent you are at it. If you’re struggling to find something appealing, the Meetup community boasts nearly 30 million members across 184 countries, ensuring there’s likely to be an event during your time abroad that sparks your interest, whether you’re after photography tips or engaging discussions.
Offer to Take Photos
Asking, ‘Would you like me to take a photo for you?’ with the universally recognized ‘camera’ mime can be an unobtrusive way to initiate conversation with a stranger in a foreign country. Spotting another tourist struggling to capture a quality selfie? Offering your help is a natural prelude to general small talk, which may blossom into a picture-perfect friendship.
Embark on a Group Tour
Whether considering a road trip to a remote village or a multi-day hike through majestic mountains, intimate group tours offer unique travel experiences that may not be financially viable or possible to undertake alone. Small group sizes foster a sense of camaraderie, especially during challenging activities, while long car rides naturally encourage chit-chat, making your journey all the more enjoyable.
Volunteer Your Time
Volunteering provides travellers with the opportunity to not only help local communities but also to engage with both locals and fellow volunteers. It’s often an extremely rewarding experience. However, the pitfalls of the volunteering industry—sometimes dubbed as ‘voluntourism’—are worth navigating carefully. Therefore, ensure you research potential organisations thoroughly before signing up; this will help guarantee that your experience yields more benefits than drawbacks.
Just Say Hello
Travelling is uniquely the only situation where nearly everyone you meet will be actively looking to make friends. Other solo travellers are often detached from family and friends and likely also seeking companionship. The human species has thrived for 200,000 years because of our significant ability to communicate with each other. You’re in a foreign place where no one knows you; go grab a drink from the hostel bar, slide into that empty seat, and say hello to the lone figure lost in their smartphone. What do you have to lose?
This article was originally published in November 2017 and updated in July 2019.
