The Best Ways to Meet Locals While Traveling
Plus: Colombia, Thai New Year, & Mediterranean Fjords
Hey there! Before we start, thank you for reading this newsletter. This newsletter now has 97 subscribers and 70 followers. Woohoo!! I’m so thankful. 🙏
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In case you missed it, last week we chatted about some easy travel packing tips. You can read about it here.
Let’s buckle up for this week’s post:
Traveling fills your bucket with life experiences.
In my opinion, it's one of the best investments you can make.
If you know locals, these experiences can become 10x better.
Why?
You visit places most tourists don’t go. You often try better food, learn more about the culture, and have an immersive experience.
You can also make lifelong friends!
I learned this in 2018 when I flew alone to Puebla, Mexico.
On the surface, going solo to a foreign country sounded scary (it was a little).
But I wasn’t solo.
I already knew one person – my friend Nayeli was from there. We’d been friends from Couchsurfing for years. I also recently met two additional kind folks through Couchsurfing: Fred and Caro.
Fred hosted me for a few days while I was in the city.
The kindness of locals helped me discover the magic village of Cholula, a salsa club with an LED dance show, and one of the best places to try pozole.
Of course, meeting locals must be a two-way street. You must be genuine and not abuse their kindness. In the end, it’s a cultural exchange. Both sides can learn and grow.
Making friends with locals sounds like a challenge.
There are tools to simplify the process:
Couchsurfing: Couchsurfing is my favorite travel resource. Couchsurfing is a paid site where travelers can connect with local people or other travelers. You can find free places to stay, travel partners, or someone to grab a coffee with. There also are group events. It does require some extra time to build a complete profile. Since the site involves meeting strangers, always use caution. CS uses a referral system. You can see who’s trustworthy by looking at their referrals.
Meetup: This platform is my second favorite. Meetup helps you discover social events with locals and travelers for the activities you love.
Facebook Groups: Facebook has many resources to meet locals in group settings. I often like to search for hiking groups, language exchanges, and sports activities.
Volunteering: Non-profits abroad and at home always need extra help. Food banks, churches, and events are excellent places to start. VolunteerMatch has a massive database of options. Google searches can often help. I usually search for “non-profits / NGOs in ________ looking for volunteers.”
Hostels: Hostels are typically spaces to meet travelers, but not always. Staff sometimes are locals. Many hostels organize social gatherings normally some locals participate. Not all hostels are created equal, so do your research. Hostelworld is my favorite resource.
Take classes: In 2012 I took Spanish lessons in Quito, Ecuador. I was at a language school called Simón Bolivar. My teacher Zulma showed me around the city and I met her family. You can do something similar. Take tango classes in Buenos Aires. Learn to make pad thai in Chiang Mai. Study German in Berlin. Try these ideas and you’re bound to make friends with a few locals!
⚓️ Travel quote of the week
“Drifting across the vast space, silent except for wind and footsteps, I felt uncluttered and unhurried for the first time in a while, already on desert time.”
― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
🧐 Did you know?
Colombia’s geography makes it different from anywhere on earth. Nowhere else can you find a country with a coastline in the Pacific Ocean (west coast) and the Caribbean Sea (to the north).
You could take a morning swim in the Pacific, hop on a plane, and then dip your feet in the Caribbean to watch the sunset.
Visit The Other Way Round for more fun Colombia facts.
⛩ Culture corner
The biggest water fight on Earth each April happens in Thailand. Thai New Year, also known as Songkran, started yesterday (April 13) and goes until April 15.
People have massive water fights in the streets to wash away bad luck for the new year. Parades and countless people racing in goggles with super soakers, buckets, and water cannons are common sites.
During this time of year, people share with family to start the year positively.
Buddha statues and the elders of the family are also recipients of water. As a sign of blessing and respect, it is common for people to pour water on them.
Sangkran was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2023. According to Booking, Chiang Mai is the best place to experience Songkran.
Information was collected from the Headout culture blog.
🌆 City Showcase
Kotor, Montenegro
Kotor is one of the top budget traveler destinations in Europe. This city captivates with its storybook beauty with many Instagram-worthy sites.
How to get to Kotor:
Rome2Rio says: Flights from San Francisco have a layover in Istanbul, then land at Tivat Airport located in nearby Mrčevac. It takes approximately 19 hours to arrive in Kotor.
Geography:
Kotor is a coastal city along Kotor Bay (Boka), which flows into the Adriatic Sea. The city was founded along part of a massive river canyon, surrounded by mountains, and belongs to the Gulf of Kotor. The mountains are considered the “fjords of the Mediterranean.” Croatia neighbors Kotor to the north, while Albania is in the south.
What to do in Kotor:
Wander around Old Town: You can explore the Old Town’s stone streets, fortress walls, and impressive gates. Many buildings in the area date back to the Renaissance.
Visit St. Tryphon Cathedral: This medieval cathedral dates back to 1166. A pre-Roman church was built on the same plot of land in 809 before the cathedral's construction. It’s Old Town’s crown jewel monument.
Visit neighboring Perast: Along Kotor Bay, you can visit a picturesque town at the base of St. Elija Hill. Idyllic with majestic views of mountains rising out of the bay, Perast is an excellent day trip.
Hike up to St. John’s Fortress: For the best views of Kotor and the bay, try hiking up to St. John’s Fortress also known as San Giovanni. It’s not an easy hike – You’ll hike up lots of steps with a steep incline. However, the views are breathtaking.
A boat tour of Our Lady of the Rocks: Perhaps the best postcard snapshot the whole Region. Our Lady of the Rocks is a small island off the coast of Perast. Rumors say it’s a manmade islet made from shipwrecks and rocks.
Inspiration came from the Wander-Lush travel website.
Substacks I’m ReadingThis week, I want to shout
. I learned about his publication a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t disappoint. He offers humorous stories (some travel-related) and dialogues that bring you to the front seat of many interesting posts.
Ok everyone, let’s pull over until next week.
Thanks for reading and for being you. 😎
Take care!
-Daniel
I used couchsurfing, I had a great time with it! There is also Trustroots that is Identical but it is free and there is not as many people as it was on couchsurfing. Volunteering is an amazing opportunity to meet a coomunity!
Couchsurfing is one of my favorite ways to meet people when traveling. Met so many great friends surfing and hosting over the years 😊