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Lesson Info

Finding Travel Companions

So our next section, we're going talk about making friends while traveling alone because if you're traveling alone and maybe you're a little nervous about that traveling in a group, you know, there's, candace mentioned safety in numbers, so you talked about a bunch of you're going to be traveling alone? Uh, a lot of people worry about if they're going to travel alone, that means they're going to be alone. There's a complete difference that I am alone versus I am alone. Um, solo travel does not mean I will only travel and doesn't mean that you are going to end up just sitting around on facebook complain to your friends and your family that you wished, um, there are other people there because there are a lot of other people there are tons of other solo travelers out there, and some of my closest friends have come from being alone and, you know, I was very much an injury person, you know? I don't really like speaking crowds. Um, ironically, um, I don't like talking to strangers, you know,...

it was very tough for me in the beginning to be like, all right, I'm just gonna be like, hey, hey, hey, I'm matt and you think, like, this is gonna be great, I'm gonna go overseas only by myself I'm gonna discover new things I want to be like columbus you know it's going to be great I'm gonna meet friends on be sitting at that cafe and people I call where you from coming to our dinner party and it's going to be like the movies except I won't end up with him in the hostel in bratislava it's gonna be magical and then you get there you like this is awesome and it by a couple of days you're like have really talked to anyone in a couple of days, you know, it becomes sort of a thinkers, ma'am kind of thing because those other people there, they're feeling the exact same way you are because they went out with this idea and all of a sudden they're like, talk to anybody and then you get on facebook and people are like, oh, how is and you like, are really met anybody other people want to meet you, they are exactly in the same situation and just somebody has to take that leap and sometimes it's really great because you'll be out and you're hostile or somewhere and people go, yeah, come join us and we'll kind of take that for a step for you, um but there are a couple ways you can sort of quick in it, so um that's very important to say that sometimes we are wary at me when we're tracking him or does this person want from me but really all they maybe wanted to chat yeah you know when they know that I'm british they asked me questions about the royal family so what I don't mind charlie about then you know I didn't know them all I'll create then when that you know when they know of american they say what about the great pumpkin I mean there's all these things that they asked me and then when it is sometimes it's just ice break and we shouldn't we shouldn't be wary yeah well actually I was going to say that I actually comforted a man in chicago that was selling their story I know it was going through a really hard time and had a break up and he was on the bench that I was sitting on and actually he needed by conversation more than anything he didn't want anything for me other than come from thanks sorry oh yeah yeah I remember the day and I came home I've come from many times but the day I was like hey, this is the end I'm going I have an apartment in new york city it's all like I'm now semi nomadic it was a very emotional day watching movie about traveling and it's like this is because it I've said it before but this is really happening help me put him out when you chatted about it it's kind of uplifting but you there's all these people if you don't want to take the first step luckily there's always so many to take the first step if you're in situations that allow that to happen so we go back to couch surfing event we're going to get into a combination part of couch surfing but again this is another great way to meet other people you're by yourself in a city well, you know absolutely nothing about what to do you want to go to a random club that turns out to be like some biker bar where they're going to rob you or where they're going toe roof eu or something like that right coach you're thinking about going to the local culture thing of that meet locals you know there will be friendly oh you haven't come here before who are you a madam from the states I'm just business oh really well they're excited because they're all people who join couch surfing to be host want to share their destination with you so they're going to take you in they're going to help you they're going to be friendly this is a great way to sort of get to know people when I lived in sweden I stopped home for a couple of months I didn't really know people I went to a couple of local count surfing events you know, and I think you don't get to know people and develop local friends. This is sort of like a fast tracked in to the locals stay in hostels, they are a gregarious, uh, place possible airfield with other solo travelers there a great place to meet people they host events, they host meet ups, there's common areas when you're in a dorm room with a bunch of people, um, you're like, hey, who are you? You're sleeping on the bunk above may let's get to know each other and, you know, hostiles might not be the right part. Uh, right space for every traveler, you know, if you're older and you're in a couple a couple of you have kids, this tip is an applied to you, but if you're a solo traveler misses you great, and they're hostels for all agents, and we'll get into that tomorrow when we talk about a combination that hospital of all ages, I've been in hospital families and school groups, and you meet all sorts of crazy, um well, crazy people to buy, like I was in a hospital and crack on there was a seventy year old guy there, and he was the life of the hospital because he was just retailing everybody with all his stories of, like, doing like the silk road and in the pakistan like the sixties and the seventies and you just these great war stories and we tell us more, tell us more what you mean there was a time without facebook the hostiles great place to meet people and they always host no events no, you're seeing around you don't have any thanks to you and boom hostiles hosting a pub crawl moving night a barbecue and you're sitting at a table and people people going like oh hey, who are you meetup dot com we started meetup dot com yeah, so meetup dot com is a all I website that's been around for about ten years now maybe that allows you to find people with similar interests. Actually, when I graduated college, I ran a boston sushi club meetup dot com a great time pleasure to meet a lot of local people and you know, if you really loved jazz music and you're in, um paris and you really want to find a great jazz club that's probably a local group on meetup dot com for jazz enthusiasts that can help you. You know, if you're in um I don't know so many destinations london right? And you want to meet the royal family or royal family enthusiasts like john, you can go on and share hobbies with it, you know yeah, but this is not really underrated website for finding people, especially if you want to like, if you have, like, a deep seated passion for you music or dancing or something that you're like, oh, I'm going to travel and certainly I'm not able to tangle on you more oh, there's probably tell you group that you can find through this website what I've actually found through social media, which is which is a fantastic tool is they create things to do, you know that the locals might not necessarily know about and if you win, then involved the locals while you're there, they're having just as much fun discovering something about their city that you know that you are a swell so, you know, here's, another great way of meeting people saying, you know, I was told to do this on meetup dot com a great we'll join you. Oh, exactly, I love put playing tour guide to my local friends. I've taken friends around cities like, oh, I had no idea this existed it's, you know, not in a part of the city have gone and that's always fun dining with locals thanks to the sharing economy it's to good websites uh, together gourmet is a web site that were local hosted free dinner parties it's not, um very widespread it's sort of a lot in europe in a lot of states and australia new zealand I've seen a little bit in south america, but it just free dinner parties my papa like kitchens and such on the second one is eat with that's a new site that cost money basically just is like I would have, you know, for twenty bucks you all can come to my house and I will cook you a great, um, steak dinner, right? Or, you know, top us or wherever the local clarence oh, I mean, this is really good web site as a way to meet locals who can tell you what to do, um and dine with them and, you know, hang out with them for a couple hours, you know, there is a fee for the service as well as the food, but no, don't make some friends and you go after or maybe they're a little weird, but in their food wasn't so good, but that's, why everyone has rating systems get the best chef, you know, take the leap when you're by yourself. It really think her swim and you can either give in to the fact that you're alone and you're sad and you haven't talked to anybody and go home, um, or say how they were stranger and, um I was on the bus and believes and there was this couple in front of me and they had a guide book and I didn't so I use that as a pretense to talk to them I was like hey can I borrow your guidebook cool where you guys going in oh you're going to stay in place I am and we became friends and hung on to that destination for a week I was sort of my pretense of breaking the ice um in where was thailand to interest earnings from thailand? One wass was on a boat to this island that my friend told me was great so I went there look I was playing guitar and was like hey do you know this song like no but then we started talking and hand his girlfriend and these two other guys on our boat we have to stay on this island for a month and it wasn't cold ebay like we were just like be tracked it was a really tiny island you got to know the locals there christmas together and to this day that month is my probably favorite month went in all my years of travel I still talk to those folks all the time it's only because I was like hey, you know you play a song no but then I didn't make that the end of the conversation I was like what about this one? What about that one I know that was on the beach. I was walking, and this girl has, like, an american bikini on. I was like, hey, are you american it's, like, no, I'm english, but the guys he's playing with, like, yeah, from boston, right? I'm from boston, all those guys over there from boston, so I was talking to them, went to their wedding, uh, like, it was a great time and all because I just made some random smart comment and so that, you know, really important to make the first move. Sometimes sometimes you just have to suck it up, and a lot of this came through experience and getting used to it, but definitely advise. Just make the move. Worst case scenarios are boring, and you're back to being alone. But at least you tried.