Hi. I am going on my first solo trip to Florida, and I am afraid I might be a little bored on the weekends. It is hard to meet other females in their 20s traveling alone. Does anyone have tips on how to befriend someone on the trip? How do you normally spend your time on the weekends when you travel somewhere alone?
From my observation one of the best ways is to book a local tour and meet people there. When I went to Europe a couple of times last year, I met a ton of solo travelers my age. I would say it is an easy thing to do in Europe, but I doubt it’s going to be the same way in Florida (I will make sure to try though and will let you know).
@anilopa Options from an early 30s male traveler who worked remotely & travelled for about 6 years + full-time house sit now.
- Restaurants with communal tables. It can be odd eating/talking with strangers but this was one of the easiest ways I found to meet people in new cities & find recommendations from locals. These types of places can be hard to find but hopefully at least one in your area.
- I’m an active person so I look for run clubs if I’ll be in an area for at least one full weekend. Yoga in the Park is another activity that I see advertised throughout runs/walks and I have joined groups before on Saturday/Sunday morning.
- Check for events at a community center. In my experience around the US, these are typically focused toward kids or certain demographics but you might be surprised what you could find.
- Lastly, and sort of piggybacking off of community centers, but always ALWAYS check for free local events whether that be art markets, a concert, movies in a park, etc. Roam a farmers market to get fresh produce for weekly meals and chat with the vendors who often know everything you might want to ask about a city.
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I’ve got a single friend who goes to MeetUp events, they are in many different countries, there’s loads of singles there, doing everything from meeting for coffee to clubbing.
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Try free tours by foot, they have a great website and facebook groups too. If its a bigger town, there is probably a facebook page for locals you could look at or join to connect with others. I have also followed instagrammers that post on certain areas, like when I went to DC I found MyDCBestie and joined a DC facebook group where they did meet ups. Dont limit yourself to just meeting 20 year old gals too…lots of every age solo travelers. Enjoy!
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Seconding Meetup. If I stay in an area for a while for pet sitting, I will also often look at Meetup for events to join
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Another vote for Meetup, also Internations if it is in your city. Some of my friends have daughters in their 20s who have met great friends in this group: Locations - November Project
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I’m a MeetUp Group organiser in my own City with over 8,000 members (history walks) some are huge others are small and you can join as many as you want in the location you’ll be staying in. Some MeetUp groups ask for a small admin donation(it costs organisers £20 a month to run a group) others are free. Some are social eg solos restaurant evenings, or walking, or sports events. Some are talks in various public venues, some are music gatherings … others are religious/political/philosophical based…. it’s good to join well ahead of time as popular group events get booked up weeks ahead… some have a maximum limit then you join a waiting list.
Good luck.
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I love option 2. I am fairly active, yoga on the beach sounds amazing!!
Not related to the topic per se but if the homeowner doesn’t have a yoga mat already, that is a cheap & easy suggestion to provide them in hopes that it might make their place more desirable for sitters in the future. Maybe they could buy one before your arrival if you aren’t travelling with one already.
Great suggestions on here! I’m a senior zumba addict so look for classes everywhere I go on a sit and have met some wonderful enthusiasts like myself. I don’t think anyone mentioned on here that you can post a meet up for the location and dates you are sitting in Florida to see if any other sitters are in the area to meet up with you. I responded to one about a year ago and met up with another sitter from Europe who was sitting near where I live and it was great meeting up!
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