8 ms·

Not going to lie, when I travel I specifically try to stay away from other travelers and meet locals. It's fun to hang out and party with other travelers, but

• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• Emma_Goldman 5y ago
  I think this over-states the case. There's a lot of reasons to meet up with other travellers. Unlike locals, they are free in the weekdays and often don't have any fixed plans, and want to - yep - travel. Travelling with other people is usually more fun than by yourself or just with one or two others. Also, depending on where you visit, travellers are often very internationally diverse. It can be a great opportunity to meet a highly cosmopolitan cross-section of people. The fact you're with other people doesn't mean you can't meet and interact with the local people and culture. It's also possible to spend time with travellers one day, and locals the next day. The point is they're not mutually exclusive.
  • thehappypm 5y ago
    Yeah, it’s fun to talk to a local, but they’re not gonna want to take the subway across town for that pizza you saw on Instagram.
    • notahacker 5y ago
      To be fair, they might have a better recommendation for food somewhere that puts more emphasis on cooking than their social media game. And be prepared to travel a long way for the novelty of foreign company sometimes. Then again, they might also take you somewhere they haven't been to before either because they're convinced it'll impress you more than the dive bar or McDonald's they usually meet their friends at, and sometimes the cheesy backpacker bar is more fun than both. Sometimes the cheesy backpacker bar has more local people in it than the reputable local restaurant too!
  • sbilstein 5y ago
    yea especially when locals do the same shit all over the world: wake up get dressed do a job / raise kids / relax eat maybe do a hobby go to bed it's not like you get to Mongolia and are like "wow instead of jobs Mongolians just play golf all day"
    • tough 5y ago
      You could go experience a couple nights on a nomadic tribe in mongolia though, you picked a bad place which still has some stuff. Also hawk training for Eagle Hunting must be fun to watch...
  • Mikeb85 5y ago
    This is true. Honestly I didn't put much thought into my comment. Meeting up with other travelers is a thing and can be fun. I've done it. I'm older now and usually stay somewhere for a few months at a time when I travel now. Also, to me, traveling is different than touring/being a tourist. My permanent home now is a tourist town and there's a marked difference between tourists coming for a weekend and travelers who come for a yearlong work holiday visa. The 'traveler' scene is a thing, not my thing though. They have a good time of sorts. Living somewhere is different though.
• dominotw 5y ago
  > meet locals. why would locals want to meet you? Locals stay the hell away from tourists hoards at most destinations.
  • gkop 5y ago
    And, what website would they meet on?
    • rootsudo 5y ago
      Facebook, Facebook groups, Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Badoo, Cowork Cafes, Wework, Wework Socal media page for local office, startup incubators, much more...
  • randomopining 5y ago
    Yeah so you're not part of the tourist hoards. You're doing your thing and meeting people organically, just like making a new friend back home.
  • Mikeb85 5y ago
    > why would locals want to meet you? Why does anyone want to meet anyone? Does every girl at the bar want to meet you? Does every co-worker want to hang out after work? The answer is obviously mostly no, but sometimes yes. So you go out, talk to people, maybe it goes somewhere, maybe it doesn't. > Locals stay the hell away from tourists hoards at most destinations So don't act like the tourist hordes? Act like a normal person? And go somewhere that the tourist hordes don't?
    • nicky0 5y ago
      "I'm not like the other tourists"
      • nicoburns 5y ago
        There are definitely obnoxious tourists and respectful tourists.
• randomopining 5y ago
  Same. Once you've done the hostel -> new friends -> party thing many times... it's like the same thing. Best thing (impossible to do if you're just traveling quick) is to learn the language to like B2 level and then go around and socialize, etc. Can really get a true vibe of the people and usually everybody is so amazed that you put solid effort in to learn their language that they introduce you to friends and invite to parties etc. Way more rewarding than doing a pub crawl with a bunch of Germans and Brits and stuff.
• iamben 5y ago
  Not going to lie, but in the year I spent backpacking around the world I spent an awful lot of time with other travellers. Turns out most people travelling don't live in the same city as you - and when you happen to end up in place they come from, or the places their relatives and friends live - it's them, or their friends, or their families that put you up for the night, wash your clothes, take you for dinner, show you around, etc etc. That aside, talking to other travellers usually means you have a much better idea about places to stay (because most locals don't have a clue about where to stay in their own town/city), how to get about, and all the rest - especially if they're following the same sort of travel path that you are. I get your point, I just think don't think you're necessarily right for the market this site seems aimed towards.
• aflag 5y ago
  How do you meet locals?
  • andrewzah 5y ago
    Language exchanges, live music, hobby meetups (via fb/insta/meetup.com), etc.
  • nicoburns 5y ago
    Couchsurfing (RIP) used to be one of the best ways.
    • selestify 5y ago
      What are the new alternatives?
    • listic 5y ago
      Is it really dead? I know they've instituted a paywall and haven't looked beyond it (can't travel right now due to family issues + COVID) but I always thought that there should be a place for the sites/apps that straight up charge you for their service, instead of milking you with ads or selling your data. Has the good old paid model invalidated the site so much in the eyes of its users?
  • Mikeb85 5y ago
    Same way you meet people at home. You go out and talk to people.
    • aflag 5y ago
      I met all my friends at university or work.
• subpixel 5y ago
  Your last point is what meeting other travelers is about. It’s fun! But once that box has been checked in life, there are swiftly diminishing returns to gain from meeting other transient, internet-connected, first-world people like yourself. Especially when the alternative is to get exposure to new things.
• dougmwne 5y ago
  This sounds like a bit of a travel novel fantasy to me. Always the same obsession with meeting the “real” people of the place and making an “authentic “ connection. Fact is, most people have no interest in hanging with or babysitting a tourist for free. They have their own lives, routines, friends and hobbies to focus on. They have no need for your naïve perspective on their hometown. They have no interest in being a prop for your instagram or character in your stories. Other travelers are the perfect people to connect with. They are sharing your same moment and need to experience or consume a place. You have a shared interest in travel and specifically travel to this place. They are much more likely to be open to a new an temporary connection to spend the day with and will be open to trading the information that tourists need to navigate and experience a place.
  • koonsolo 5y ago
    Sorry, but that is not my experience at all. There are a lot of people who are proud of where they live, and want to help you out in finding the best (non-touristic) spots.
    • spookthesunset 5y ago
      > and want to help you out in finding the best (non-touristic) spots. Not attacking you but what does "non-touristic" even mean though? If you wanna not be a tourist and "live like the locals" get a job and an apartment there and stay a while. If you are only there for a week you'll always be a tourist living like a tourist--you are a transient visitor and nothing more. In my book, to not be a tourist and "live like a local" you'll need to immerse yourself in all the mundane, routine things people in that area do like: - Get a drivers license & register your car (if you have one) - Get a haircut - Go to the doctors office and the dentist - Purchase a new pair of shoes - Take your pet to the dentist - Have a meaningful opinion on some local political issue (I'd say vote, but that isn't always possible without actually being a citizen) - Go grocery shopping and purchase household sundries like toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning spray, brooms, etc. - Get mail and packages delivered to your residence - Speak to people in the native language. Be able to read it too. I dunno. I've traveled more than the average person and I kinda think trying to "experience things like a local" just isn't possible or even desirable. You are a visitor. Embrace it. Only by moving there and living the mundane parts of life can you truly "live like a local". That being said, I do understand the desire to escape the "tourist traps" and go somewhere that isn't just trinket shops and tacky shirts. I don't know if you need to know locals to find that stuff, I think you need to have an understanding of the kinds of things you like to see.
• toss1 5y ago
  If you want to do that, then travel with a purpose. I've found that just being a tourist, I was kind of an inconvenience to everyone. But when I was there for a purpose, as when I did most of my traveling for ski racing or training, it was natural to make connections. Much less so when traveling to conventions, and least as a tourist. It was also cool that the schedule of the purpose would take me to places I'd otherwise never go. So, perhaps take up an activity, whether sports, academic, hobby, whatever, that often has events or meetings around the country or world, and follow that... Kind of becomes a double benefit...
• bnralt 5y ago
  > It's fun to hang out and party with other travelers, but you don't really learn anything about the country when you do that. The country you're traveling in gets reduced to an amusement park for you and your fellow travelers. Meeting locals and getting a feel for life in the country is IMO slightly deeper. I actually think interacting with other travelers is one of the best ways to connect with other cultures. It's one of the few situations where people from all over the world end up in a similar situation, at a similar level, doing similar things. With locals, there's invariably going to be a large disconnect, even when you can speak the language (and in most countries, few tourists do). You're always going to be a tourist visiting their home, whereas with a fellow traveler, you're a peer. It's not unlikely that someone would have a more productive cultural exchange hanging out with a Japanese traveler in Peru and a Peruvian traveler in Japan then trying to meet these people in their respective countries.