Solo travel doesn’t mean that you really want/need to be alone.
Many people don’t realize how traveling alone could be an awesome opportunity to meet new friends. When you are alone, usually your plans are more flexible and you are more open to talking with “strangers”. Solo travel is the best and you should take it!
This episode is a quick guide with tips of how you can start making your hostel’s friends:
[ Personal Story ]
I never been a sociable type of person and that’s changed when I became a traveler. I love being by myself and go explore, that’s why I never had to be convenced to travel alone, it’s a desire I always had and I started doing it when I had money for it. Then, people start seeing me alone on the common area and starts interact with me and when I realized: I was talking and drinking with a group of people and that’s looks like another person was in my introvert body and I kinda liked it.
Shared Dorm Room
First of all, forget hotels, airbnbs or private rooms where everybody keeps to himself. If you want to open yourself for new people, you should look for hostels and book a shared dorm. Hostels are all about community.
Free Breakfast or Communal Dinner
Many hostels will offer free breakfast or a community dinner (for a cheap price) and you should definitely take advantage of it.
Once you will be spending time with other people who are sitting around the table, it’s easy to get a conversation going over food. You can then ask about their plans for the day and ended up exploring the city with them.
Talk to the Staff
Most of the staff are friendly travelers. They are living in the city you just arrived and would love to give you recommendations and point must to go places and activities. That person also could join you in his free time or introduce you to a guest he knows that just arrived and want a budy to explore the city.
Hang out in the Common Areas
It could be the hostel bar, the TV lounge, the kitchen…
Most of the time you don’t need to do the first move to talk. If you just spend some time at the common areas, people will start interacting naturally.
Sing together
If you are lucky, someone will appears with a guitar (or ukulele) and will start singing. That’s the time when small groups stop talking with themselfs and pay attention to the song.
Another option is always say “yes” when someone invites to karaoke. If you are not prepare to staring the stage alone, you should sing in group or give the support to the ones who are singing pretending they are killing it, even if they are bad singers.
Play all Games
Board games are alive and they use to live in hostels wardrobe. It’s also a good idea to keep a uno in your bag. Phone games are cool as well, we love to play that “What Am I?” charade.
Teach your Language
I’m always curious about languages. I love it when travelers teach me a word, a sentence, or a slang I would never know by myself. Cultural differences are also a great conversation topic.
Share a unique Travel Story
That tip is if you are feeling confident enought to start the conversation…
where are you from? / how long have you been traveling? / how long have you been here? those are too basic questions. Here are more interesting questions to make a first good impression:
- if you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where do you go?
- when was the last time you did something for the first time?
- what was the more unexpected thing that happens to you during a travel?
Last, but not least…
Don’t isolate yourself
I know that final type could be to obvius, but try do your part and people will naturally come to chat. And by doing your part I mean: avoid headphones and staring too much to your phone for example.
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