Make new friends while travelling alone

Travelling alone can be the most fulfilling and enriching experience especially if you are enthusiastic about making new friends, visiting new places and learning different languages. Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean if you are a reserved person, solo travelling will not suit you. There are so many tourists and locals who are friendly and want to meet new people and make useful connections.

1. Meet like-minded people at hotel bars

There are many people out there who will be travelling solo just like you, and will probably come to a bar to have a drink and strike a conversation with a stranger. Bar is a commonplace for travelers to feel light by having few shots and talking to people they have never met before, share experiences and opinions without any judgements. Sometimes, it might take more than an effort to break the ice even if you are an extrovert otherwise. Talk to your next room neighbour at the hotel, meet people at train station and ask them directions to go to a place, meet locals at bus station or park and ask them the best places to visit. Once the initial shyness is gone, you can take the conversation up to any point you want to.

2. Be surrounded by more people in a hostel

Staying in a hostel can give you access to meet more people than you would get to meet in a hotel. In a hostel, you would find people literally everywhere. Hostelworld recommends solo travelers to stay in a hostel. You will never feel lonely with all the buzz that happens daily in a hostel. If you don’t want to believe us, just ask the solo travelers and you will get to hear the same thing from them too!

If you are worried about staying in a dorm, you can choose to take a private room and still have a social stay as there will be movement of people across corridors, mess, bar – practically everywhere. You may have heard that the hostel bar is the most happening place for people to meet, but if you are not the fun-at-bar types, you will have other places like the canteen where you can meet people while having your morning coffee or breakfast or the adult ball pit where you can get a cool person to hang around with.

3. Spend some time on online platforms

Dating apps like Tinder and so many others are a great tool for men and women travelling alone to find a suitable person to spend time. With a few clicks, one can virtually know about the locals and interact with them. It is for you to be careful about the amount of sensitive information you share as there may be stalkers too, so follow a few safety norms and use your instinct. Meet people only at public places till you get to know them better, do not give too many details about your stay or next destination to every other person.

For the convenience of users, Facebook even features groups like ‘ Solo Women Travelers’ and ‘ Girls vs. Globe’ which have more than a 1000 members whom you can connect to and get information or meet. Alternatively, you can search for relevant groups, events and opportunities on Facebook based on the location of interest to know about the current events or experiences of people who have been to the place.

4. Register for events

Search for events, seminars and conferences happening in and around the place of your travel. Select the ones that interest you and sign up for them. This will give a great opportunity to shake hands with people having same interests and have more fun together, strike a conversation that starts at breakfast time but probably goes on until evening. The conversation can be anything from history to arts to yoga to blogging to dance and so on. Some events may require a fee to attend or for stay, but believe me, it will be worth giving a shot considering the potential connections you will build over time.