How to find a hitchhiker on the Internet: 7 sites for those who do not like to travel alone
Together is not only more fun, but also cheaper and safer. We have selected the resources where you can easily find like-minded people for a trip to the sea, and for a crazy hitchhiking trip.
Lifehacker Special Projects Editor
Why look for a hitchhiker
The idea of traveling with strangers may look strange, but it has several advantages:
- It’s more cost-effective to vacation with a group than alone. Renting a double room and paying for it in half is usually cheaper than taking two singles. If you are traveling by car, you can split the cost of rental car, toll roads, and gasoline.
- With a traveling companion it’s more relaxing. If you go for a walk and get lost, you can write to a travel companion to help you find a hotel. Suddenly get sick – there is someone to run to the pharmacy.
- There will be no problems with the language barrier. If you are bad with foreign languages, look for a companion who speaks at least English. He will take care of negotiations with locals on the trip.
- It is more fun together. With a traveling companion you can share emotions and experiences and find new entertainment together. And yes, you won’t have to pester passersby to be photographed with the Eiffel Tower in the palm of your hand.
How to make an ad
“Going to Greece, who’s coming with me?” – is not a good idea. You’ll have to spend a lot of time explaining to everyone who is interested, where exactly, when and for how many days you are going to go. To quickly find suitable hitchhikers, make a clear and understandable ad.
What should be in the ad
- Itinerary. Explain where you’re coming from and where you’re going. If you are going by car and don’t know where you’ll end up, explain where you want to visit.
- Approximate dates of the trip. Do not write in your ad that you are going strictly from August 5 to 14. Perhaps the companion wants to join you, but is ready to do it a few days later or earlier. Specify a tentative time: the beginning, middle or end of the month.
- Budget. You dream of a fancy hotel and fancy restaurants, and your travel companion wants to make do with little money and live in a hostel. As a result, each of you rests on his own, and the meaning of the trip together is lost. Set a rough budget and explain if you are ready to go beyond that.
- Purpose of the trip. Maybe you are planning a good old road trip with overnight stays in roadside hotels, or even in a tent. Or maybe you want to spend the whole vacation lying on the beach, getting out only in souvenir stores. Everyone likes his own format of rest – that’s fine, but it’s better to talk about everything before the trip, so there are no surprises.
- Habits a fellow traveler should be aware of. For example, you can’t sleep when someone in the room snores, or can’t stand tobacco smoke. A convinced vegan will have a hard time getting along with a juicy steak lover, and an owl is unlikely to be comfortable with a lark. Don’t worry that this might discourage people from traveling with you: it makes it easier to find the right person.
- Your picture. Your avatar should feature you, not your favorite cat or a random portrait from photostock. People want to know who they’re going to spend a few days together, and anonymous postings discourage them.
Start looking for a traveling companion in advance. During the vacation season, many people have their own plans, which are difficult to change in an instant. If you post an ad a week before your trip, the chance of finding the perfect match is slim.
Make an appointment with a potential travel companion to meet before you travel. You will communicate in person and get to know each other better. During the trip there will not be the ugly awkwardness that occurs when you first meet.
Where to find a travel companion
Let’s hitch!
One of the largest sites to find travel companions, travel companions or people to talk to to get your foreign language up to speed. To post your ad you need to register and fill out a profile. Tell us where and when you’re going, what you expect from your trip and what languages you speak, add a photo and a link to your Instagram*.
You can find travel companions here. To do this, check the “Already vacationing” box in the search terms.
Interested options add to the “Bookmarks”, and then compare and choose the one that suits you best. If your listing isn’t catching, remove it from search results – so you can customize your search results.
When you need to find a hitchhiker as soon as possible, put your ad in first place in the general list. This service costs 49 rubles, your text rises in the results of 10 hours, and then returns to the position corresponding to the date of publication.
VKontakte
Search for a community about the country or city you are going to. For example, there are topics in groups about Turkey, Paris and vacations in Goa.
If you are going camping, look for groups of independent hikers. One of the most numerous and popular is “Dharma Wanderers. Here you can find companions and accommodation.
Finally, you can write to specialized communities. The “Vacation and Travel companions” group has separate topics for countries and regions: choose an appropriate one, and tell when you’re going on a trip and who you’re looking for.
Before you post, make sure you allow not only your friends but all registered “VKontakte” users to write to you. Open your profile so you can get to know yourself better.
Vinsky’s Forum
This is a popular resource for independent travel. The forum has a special section to find travel companions. Topics are divided by destinations: Europe, Asia, America, Russia and CIS. Before you create your ad, look who is already looking for people here. If you find a match, you can reply directly in the thread.
The forum has a calendar for finding travel companions for certain dates. You can choose a country and time of travel, and the calendar will show who else is going to go there at the same time. If you don’t find any interesting suggestions, leave your ad.
Companion
Pretty famous forum to find travel companions. Here you can find not only travel companions but also people to have fun with, for example, if you want to go with someone to a festival or ride a bike.
Even unregistered users can create a new topic, but you still need to register to edit or delete it. In the title of the thread, specify the town you are departing from, and your destination.
Tourbar
Dating site to find friends for your trip. Enter the dates and direction of your trip and choose your destination: gastronomy, beach vacation or sightseeing. You can close the financial question right away and mark the appropriate option: everyone pays for himself or one of the participants sponsors the trip.
When you fill out your profile, verify it. To do this, you need to upload a photo of you holding a sheet with the name of the service, take a picture of your passport or driver’s license and confirm your mobile number. To get access to all the features of the site and communicate without restrictions, you need to buy a VIP-subscription. The trial version is valid for seven days and costs 299 rubles.
Couchsurfing.com.
One of the world’s most famous travel communities. It is used by those looking for free accommodation, but here you can also find new friends for a trip.
Sign up, choose where and when you’re going, and in the search results go to “Travelers. For more accurate results, you can adjust filters: select a companion’s gender and choose which languages he or she should speak. You can write to appropriate people to discuss travel details.
To be more responsive, make sure you include detailed information in your profile and verify it. This is done to verify your identity. Many users do not take the risk of contacting people who are not verified.
VipGeo
A service to find tours, tickets and travel companions. You can search for companions by destination country, travel time, city they are going to leave from, gender and age.
To submit your ad, registration is not required. You fill in a short form and leave your email address where all those interested can write. *Meta Platforms Inc. and its affiliated social networks Facebook and Instagram are prohibited in Russia.
Start your companion search now
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Companion Activities (Leisure)
Journey to Saint-Petersburg
Russia, Saint-Petersburg, 9 Pushkinskaya str.
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On my car on September 11
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I will take hitchhikers from Gelendzhik to Sochi.
InterSharm for Professionals – One of the most important.
Sheremetyevo Terminal c
To see the sights or to sit n.
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Departure for four days on the lakes under the old toropa.
Accompanying persons to the Party, Bar, Disco, Dance, etc.
Find or apply now!
Accompanying persons to the Party, Bar, Disco, Dance, etc.
Find or apply now!
Accompanying persons to the Party, Bar, Disco, Dance, etc.
Find or apply now!
Accompanying persons to the Party, Bar, Disco, Dance, etc.
Find or apply now!
Accompanying persons to the Party, Bar, Disco, Dance, etc.
Find or apply now!
Accompanying persons to the Party, Bar, Disco, Dance, etc.
Find or apply now!
CREATE PROMOTIONAL BANNER
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Organizations for travel companions
Travel agency traveling companions.ru
Travel Sales. SALES OFFICE
Moscow, 1-st Nagatinsky proezd 11 k.3
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Why should I post my ad to the TOP?
Listing on TOP will allow you to be POPULAR. All portal users will see you!
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