Hey all I just left my job a few months ago, and wanting to solo travel for a bit before I join a new company. I'm looking for somewhere (or several places) to go in Nov, Dec. Haven't started doing much research yet but wondering if you'd have any recommendations on nomad communities? Or suggestions on how to make friends while solo traveling? Open to anything!
Nice to meet another solo female traveler! I recommend searching for Facebook groups for solo women travelers. Adventurous Kate is a solo female travel blogger who provides great tips on how to stay safe, how to meet people, etc: https://www.adventurouskate.com/
For making friends: I've used Bumble BFF, Meetup.com, joined local nomad WhatsApp groups. Other nomad resources:- A friend of mine traveled for a year with Remote Year (https://www.remoteyear.com/) and was very happy with his experience.- Selina (https://www.selina.com/) is a hostel chain that does a great job of fostering community amongst its guests – also hosts a lot of events for non-guests to join! I've lodged with them once and also have been to their events as a non-guest and met a lot of great people that way. - NomadList (https://nomads.com/) is also very useful for getting an overview of top nomad-friendly locations, cost of living, etc.If you happen to go to Buenos Aires, I'm happy to connect you with the nomad community there! From Nov-March it's super active, just be ready for the summer heat :DAlso, I'm from Argentina, but currently living in Tokyo - so if you happen to come to Japan, also happy to meet up!
Hi Jess, I know someone who helps people plan solo travel. If you'd like an introduction, let me know and I'll be delighted to connect you with her. Also, if you are open to staying with locals in the places you are visiting, I recommend you check out this organization: https://servas.org/ I don't have any personal experience with them, but I've heard good things about the organization. I also recommend doing some volunteer work. There are companies that charge a lot of money to arrange volunteer positions for you, but you can also just go to a country and find suggestions in travel guides like Lonely Planet or connect with expat communities and ask around about organizations that take volunteers. I think you can find expat communities anywhere via internet searches. Also, Internations, www.Internations.org, is a group for expats. Even if you aren't an expat, you can join the organization and attend events in whatever countries you are visiting to meet people. If you are young, you can meet people by staying in youth hostels (older people can stay in them as well, but it's harder for middle-aged and older people to meet others of the same age in them because fewer people in those age groups stay in them). I have to warn you that I took a career break to volunteer in Nepal for 2 months and do an internship at an English language magazine in China for 2 months - and I ended up "accidentally" staying in China for 10 years! Also, one thing I learned when I studied abroad in Europe in college is that the idea of traveling around to many places is exciting, but staying in one place with a purpose (studying, working, volunteering, internship) for a month or more is better. Travel can be done on weekends or during holidays and then you can come back to your "base". When I traveled around Europe during the summer, I found that moving around every few days and having to continually find new places to stay was fun, but also tiring and being a tourist isn't the same as living in a place, even for a period of time that isn't that long. Of course, I am only sharing how I felt and you may feel differently. I hope something in this long comment is helpful to you.
Check out Outsite.com, it’s digital nomad housing in various locations if you don’t want to do an established trip. It’s a good place to meet other people who are traveling solo. I’m doing remote year’s December trip to Cape Town. There are also other travel companies that focus on digital nomads like wifitribe and hacker paradise. I’ve only done remote year so can’t speak to those experiences.
I've done remote year twice. Buenos Aires and Mexico City. LOVED each experience. They were super different. I learned a lot each time. I've met lots of people who have done the 3 month program and the 1 year program. They've all raved about it. I love solo travel! HMU if you'd like to chat offline about it. I can share some tips.
Hey Jess, I have been going around in the world since August 2022.The way to make friends while solo travelling depends on where you want to stay.• hostel: you will have access to many people. The pro is that you don't need to proactively look for people to hang out with, you will be sharing your living space with many people and many will want to meet new people as well. The main downside is that there is often a high rotation of people, often people stay short term in hostels, for a few nights and it can be energy draining to start from zero every time.• coliving: I haven't explored much this option because colivings are often way pricier. However, next year I'm planning to stay for a while in Colombia and I saw there are very affordable colivings in Latin America, definitely worth checking it out because people in colivings stay longer so you can build deeper connections.• own apartment/room: you have more privacy and your own space but it can feel more lonely.The place where to stay is up to you and there is no right or wrong. You can always go out to meet people in different ways no matter where you are hosted.Some ideas for meeting people:• hobbies/activities: I have met people through activities like crossfit. It is an interesting way where you can meet locals. For example, while I was in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia I joined a crossfit box for some time and it was a nice way to get a vibe of locals. I also joined a box while I stayed in Pipa, Brazil which was very fun and people were very social there. To add transparency here, it is often the case that people have their own life as locals and might not be so proactive in hanging out with new people.• meetups/events: often people who go to meetups or similar events want to meet new people. It can be a nice way to connect with many people in one go. You can just go to a regular "international meetup" event where often there is a big group of people joining. You could also opt for more specific events like a book club to socialize around a specific interest. I have gone to writing events for example and I even organized one myself which was very fun. I love tech, so going to tech events energizes me while meeting new people in the field.• proactively approaching people: for example if you are eating alone at a restaurant, you could sit in the bar where the chefs are if that is an option and talk to the staff. You can also go to cafés to work or do some activity like journaling/drawing/writing and approach other people who are also sitting alone nearby asking them about their lives. It might sound scary but the worst that can happen is that the person is not friendly or isn't willing to talk much.Hope some of my words help and that you enjoy your solo travel experience! When travelling alone you might be surprised that sometimes people just approach you and ask you questions. It is an interesting experience. I love travelling and living abroad, it is very enriching! Would love to jump in a call and help you out more!Here is a blog post that might help you with some further tips: https://juliaalvarez.substack.com/p/getting-to-know-new-people-doesnt