Do you find it hard to find people who have the same eagerness to travel as you? Even if you do have a few friends interested in travel, it’s usually difficult to get them to commit to a trip with you in the first place. And when you are finally able to organize a trip, you’re left wondering if your friends will back out of it on you at the last minute. Most people either don’t share the same fervor for traveling, are not interested in going to the destinations you want, or just don’t have the resources. A lot of these people complain about not having money to take the vacation they want, but are then found spending frivolously on what you view to be unnecessary. They’ll spend $200 on a round of drinks or $2000 on new car rims, all while wishing they had enough money to take that dream vacation. This becomes frustrating for those looking to share new adventures in foreign environments.
Thankfully, with the rapid growth of travel social networking sites, it is easier than ever to find people to travel and make friends with who share the same interests as you. The following sites will help you meet the type of people who are more in-line with wanting to have the same experiences as yourself:
1. WAYN.com – WAYN (Where Are You Now?) is the world’s largest travel and lifestyle focused social networking community website. The site is present in 251 countries and membership has grown from 45,000 users in March 2005 to over 15 million today. WAYN helps you to keep track of all your contacts from around the world and make new friends based on where you are now, where you have been and where you are going. If you have a lot of friends who travel the world, or if you want to make a lot of friends who travel world, WAYN has the type of community you need.
2. TravBuddy.com – Touts itself as “the fun way to share travel advice and meet other travelers”. If you’re looking for a travel partner or buddy, search the 1.5 million profiles on the site to find other travelers who are interested in going to the same places. You can filter by age, gender and travel preferences to find those with the most similar interests to yourself. Create a free account and share your future travel plans to start finding other people to travel with. TravBuddy will automatically tell you if other people are planning to travel to the same places as you at the same times.
3. TripAdvisor Forums – Over 15 million travelers use these forums every week to plan their trips. The forums are predominantly used by people looking for only travel advice, but many people also use them to find like-minded people to travel with. Get involved in the forums and post a message in the forum of your choice destination to find those potentially interested in traveling with you.
4. CouchSurfing – CouchSurfing helps travelers find hosts who will let them stay at their place for free. It is the largest hospitality exchange network with over 1 million members (35% of them are offering a place to stay for travelers) in 232 countries. This large and active community is one of the best portals to making new friends, experiencing local cultures, and traveling cheaply.
5. The Hospitality Club – Similar to CouchSurfing, The Hospitality Club (300,000+ members) is a volunteer-run organization mainly used to exchange accommodation by local hosts around the world. Some hosts may also offer tours and food. Guests and hosts do not pay each other.
Tags: Networking, Resources