You’re single. You love to travel, and often you simply go alone because friends or family members cannot take the time off or cannot afford the trips you plan.
Still, it would be nice to share the experience with someone else, even if it’s with someone you’ve only just met.
Benefits of Traveling with a Buddy
There are some clear pros to buddy Traveling:
- There is greater safety. When you travel with someone else, there is someone to watch your stuff if you have to leave it alone for any reason (e.g., bathroom). And someone will have your back in sketchy situations. Unwanted advances, for example, are not as likely when there are two of you.
- Getting great photos. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting a picture of yourself in a specific scene. You have to grab strangers and ask.them and may not always get the shot you want. Your and your buddy can be one another’s personal photographers and be sure the photo is right before it’s saved.
- Medical emergencies. They do happen. A buddy and you will share emergency contact information and make certain you know how to get medical assistance wherever you may be in the world.
- Budget friendly. If you and a buddy can share expenses on some things, costs for both of you will be cut.
There are also some cons of buddy travel.
Drawbacks of Traveling with a Buddy
- Conflicts. There may be disagreements about what to visit when. This will require advance planning and compromise. You may have different priorities, eating and drinking habits and so forth. Iron as many of these out ahead of time, and agree to discuss as they come up during the trip.
- Privacy boundaries. Again, you may have varying degrees of the need for privacy. One or both of you may require alone time, and that must be respected.
- Catfishing. This is a danger. A “catfisher” pretends to be someone they are not, and all sorts of precautions must be taken. This is especially prevalent in the LGBTQ community, but if a reputable and fully secure queer dating app is used, chances are taken out of the mix. And everyone, no matter what, must use only reputable and credible sources to find travel buddies.
Whenever possible, you should meet up with your potential buddy in person, in a public place, in the daytime. This will give both of you the opportunity to check out your compatibility.
Finding Travel Buddies Safely
There are certainly sources that should be avoided. Social media platforms are not good, for example, unless a trusted friend of yours on a platform recommends someone they know and trust.
Likewise, forums and chat rooms are not appropriate sources. There are no identity verification processes in place.
Joining a local singles or travel group are good sources. You will have time to meet and get to know others in the group before you suggest a companion trip with someone who shares your interests and travel goals.
There are also websites dedicated to matching singles for travel and other purposes. A Google search will provide a number of them. Here is what you should look for as you consider using one or more of these sites:
- What is their identity verification process? If you go through the process yourself, you’ll know how rigorous it is. If it is highly rigorous, and you have to go through several hoops to be verified and accepted, others are going through that process too.
- Are you able to filter by age, gender, potential dates of travel, and destination? After all, you don’t want to be matched up with someone totally incompatible who wants to travel to the Seychelles in the winter, while you want to go to Denmark in the summer.
- Are you required to craft a profile that includes your interests, lifestyle, and the type of travel you enjoy? Without this, it would be pretty tough for you to be suitably matched.
Online dating services also are good sources for matching up with travel buddies, so long as they are reputable and have the same verification and matching processes that are listed above.
Other Ways to Travel with “Buddies”
There are a couple of other ways to have a satisfying travel experience rather than going solo.
A Buddy Already at Your Destination
There is a website called StrollBuddy. Volunteers in a destination are standing ready to accept travelers at their destinations and see that they experience them as if they were locals themselves. They really aren’t guides per se but rather a buddy with whom to share the trip. Be aware that you will be expected to share in the costs of everything that you and your buddy do.
Consider a Tour
As long as you are careful to filter tour options not just by destination but by age and gender too. It wouldn’t be fun for a 20-something to end up in a tour group of middle-aged travelers. Check to make sure the tour will provide the specific experiences you want as well. You may very well meet someone, connect well, and have a travel buddy for future trips.
How’s Your Sense of Adventure?
Embarking on a trip with someone you hardly know will take a sense of adventure, lots of precautions, and plenty of planning in advance. Check out the pros and cons listed above and see if you’re up for it. If not, take one of the safer avenues. Happy travels!