There's a moment every solo traveler knows. You're sitting at a café in a city you've never been to, watching groups of friends laugh at the table next to yours, and you think: this would be better if I had someone to share it with. Not because you're lonely — you chose to travel solo, after all — but because some moments are just meant to be shared.
I've felt that exact thing more times than I can count. As the founder of Trippii, I've spent years thinking about the problem of connection on the road. How do you find people who travel like you do? People you can actually trust? People who won't bail, won't ruin the trip, and won't make you wish you'd stayed solo?
This guide is everything I've learned — from building a travel app, from interviewing thousands of solo travelers, and from my own years on the road. Whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned backpacker, here's every method, tip, and red flag you need to know.
Why traveling with a buddy changes everything
Let's start with the obvious. Solo travel is freedom. You go where you want, eat what you want, wake up when you want. Nobody's dragging you to a museum you don't care about or complaining about the hostel you picked.
But traveling with the right person? That's when the magic happens. Costs get split. Inside jokes get born. Someone watches your bag while you swim. You have a person to debrief the day with over cheap wine. And when things go wrong — missed flights, bad weather, sketchy neighborhoods — you have someone in your corner.
Research backs this up. Shared experiences create stronger memories. The emotional high of discovering a hidden beach or surviving a chaotic market is amplified when someone else is right there with you. And studies on travel satisfaction consistently show that social connection is the single biggest predictor of trip enjoyment — bigger than destination, budget, or weather.
The key word, though, is right. The wrong travel buddy can ruin everything. We've all heard the horror stories — and if you haven't, check out our piece on how a bad travel buddy can ruin your trip. Finding the right person takes intention. That's what this guide is about.
7 proven ways to find travel buddies
There's no single "best" way to find a travel companion. The right method depends on your travel style, your comfort level, and how much time you have. Here are seven approaches that actually work, ranked from most to least structured.
Travel companion apps
Purpose-built apps like Trippii match you with verified travelers heading to the same destination. You create a profile, set your travel dates and style, and the app connects you with compatible people. The advantage: everyone is there for the same reason, and good apps include ID verification, so you know who you're meeting.
Hostels and social accommodations
The original travel buddy finder. Social hostels are designed for connection — communal kitchens, rooftop bars, pub crawls, group tours. Show up, be open, and you'll meet people organically. The downside: it's hit or miss. You might click with someone on night one or spend three days making small talk that goes nowhere.
Online travel communities
Reddit's r/solotravel and r/travelpartners, Facebook groups like "Solo Female Travelers" or "Backpacking Europe," and forums on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree. Post your itinerary, your dates, and what you're looking for. People respond. You chat. If there's a fit, you meet up. The volume is high, but so is the noise — and verification is nonexistent.
Group tours and experiences
Companies like G Adventures, Intrepid, and Contiki run small-group trips where you travel with 10 to 20 strangers. It's structured, safe, and nearly guarantees you'll bond with at least a few people. The trade-off: less flexibility, higher cost, and the group dynamic may not suit independent travelers.
Coworking spaces and nomad hubs
If you're a digital nomad or remote worker, coworking spaces are gold. Places like Hubud (Bali), Outsite (Lisbon), or any WeWork in a major city attract location-independent people who travel constantly. The friendships happen naturally — over coffee, lunch breaks, or after-work drinks. These tend to be deeper connections because you share a lifestyle, not just a destination.
Social media and Instagram
Follow travel hashtags, engage with creators going where you're headed, and don't be afraid to DM. It sounds awkward, but plenty of travel friendships start this way — especially in the solo travel community where people are open and used to connecting with strangers. Instagram stories with location tags are basically a real-time "who's here" feed.
Friends of friends
The oldest method in the book. Tell people you're traveling. Post about it. You'd be surprised how often someone says, "Oh, my friend is going there too — let me connect you." These warm introductions tend to produce the most reliable companions because there's built-in social accountability.
How to verify someone before you travel together
This is the part most guides skip. Meeting strangers on the internet is normal in 2026, but traveling with them — sharing accommodations, splitting costs, being in unfamiliar places together — requires a higher bar of trust. Here's how to build it.
Video call before you commit
A 15-minute video call tells you more than a hundred messages. You'll immediately sense whether the energy is right. If someone refuses to video call, that's a red flag.
Check their digital footprint
Look at their social media profiles. Do they have a history? Do their photos match what they've told you? A real person will have a consistent online presence going back months or years. A scammer or catfish usually won't.
Use platforms with ID verification
Apps like Trippii require government ID and liveness checks before you can match with anyone. This single feature eliminates the vast majority of fake profiles, bots, and bad actors. It's the closest thing to a background check you'll get in the travel space.
Meet in public first
If you're in the same city, meet for coffee before the trip. If you're meeting at the destination, choose a public place — a café, a hostel lobby, a landmark. Never go directly to private accommodation with someone you've only talked to online.
Share your plans with someone at home
Tell a friend or family member who you're meeting, where, and when. Share your live location. This isn't paranoia — it's basic safety that every experienced traveler practices.
For more detailed safety advice, read our safety tips for meeting travel buddies.
Red flags to watch for
Most people you'll meet are genuine. But in years of building Trippii and talking to thousands of travelers, I've seen patterns. These are the warning signs that someone might not be who they say they are — or might just be a terrible travel companion.
The compatibility question
Finding someone to travel with is one thing. Finding someone you're compatible with is another. Travel compatibility isn't about having the same personality — it's about having compatible expectations.
Before you commit to traveling with someone, have an honest conversation about these five things:
- Budget. This is the biggest source of conflict. If one person wants street food and hostels while the other wants restaurants and boutique hotels, you'll fight about money every single day. Agree on a rough daily budget before you book anything.
- Pace. Are you a sunrise-to-midnight explorer, or do you need slow mornings and downtime? Neither is wrong, but if your rhythms are opposite, resentment builds fast.
- Alone time. Even the best travel buddies need space. Talk about this upfront. It's perfectly healthy to split up for a few hours or even a full day during a trip.
- Interests. You don't need to love all the same things, but you need enough overlap to enjoy shared activities. If one person lives for museums and the other only wants beaches, you'll spend the trip apart anyway.
- Communication style. How do you handle conflict? Do you speak up immediately or let things build? The road amplifies small irritations. Knowing how each of you processes frustration can prevent blowups.
Tips for your first trip with a new buddy
You've found someone, verified them, and agreed on a destination. Here's how to make the first trip together actually work.
Start short. Don't plan a three-week trip with someone you've never traveled with. A long weekend or a 4-to-5-day trip is the sweet spot. Long enough to get a real feel for the dynamic, short enough that it won't be a disaster if things don't click.
Book refundable accommodations. Things might change. One of you might get sick, the vibe might not work, or you might want to extend. Flexibility is your friend on a first trip together.
Split logistics, don't centralize them. One person handles accommodation research, the other handles transport. This avoids the "I'm planning everything and you're just along for the ride" resentment that kills so many travel friendships.
Have a bail-out plan. This sounds pessimistic, but it's actually liberating. If you both know that it's okay to split up mid-trip with no hard feelings, you'll both be more relaxed. The best travel friendships are the ones where neither person feels trapped.
Debrief each evening. A quick "what did you love today, what should we change tomorrow?" keeps small issues from becoming big ones. The couples who travel best together are the ones who communicate openly — and that applies equally to travel buddies.
When to travel solo vs. with a buddy
Not every trip needs a companion. Part of being a smart traveler is knowing when to go alone and when to bring someone along.
Travel solo when: you need to recharge, you want complete flexibility, you're going somewhere deeply personal, or you want the challenge and growth that comes from navigating the unknown alone. Solo travel builds confidence like nothing else.
Travel with a buddy when: you're going somewhere that's more fun shared (festivals, road trips, multi-day hikes), you want to split costs on accommodation or car rentals, you're visiting a region where safety is a concern, or you simply want company. There's no shame in wanting to share the experience.
The best travelers I know do both. They have trips where they disappear into a new city alone for a week, and trips where they explore with a group of friends or someone they met on the road. The goal isn't to always have a buddy — it's to have the option.
How Trippii makes it easier
I built Trippii because I was tired of the friction. Tired of scrolling Reddit threads hoping someone's itinerary matched mine. Tired of showing up at hostels and hoping I'd click with someone. Tired of the anxiety of meeting strangers with zero verification.
Trippii solves this with three things that didn't exist together before:
- Destination matching. Set where you're going and when. See who else is heading there. No swiping, no guessing — just travelers with overlapping plans.
- Verified profiles. Every user goes through ID verification and a liveness check before they can connect with anyone. You know the person you're talking to is real.
- On-platform communication. Encrypted messaging that stays on Trippii so our safety team can step in if something goes wrong. No rushing to WhatsApp with a stranger.
It's free right now. We're in beta on iOS, and Android is coming soon. If you're planning a trip and want to find people to share it with, this is the easiest way I know.
Find your travel tribe
Download Trippii and connect with verified solo travelers heading where you're going.
The right people are out there
Finding travel buddies in 2026 is easier than it's ever been. The tools exist. The communities exist. The desire to connect is universal — most solo travelers you meet are hoping for exactly the same thing you are.
The real secret isn't the method you use. It's the mindset you bring. Be open but not naive. Be selective but not closed off. Verify before you trust, but trust once you've verified. Start with short trips and let friendships grow naturally.
Some of the best friendships in my life started on the road. A stranger in a hostel in Lisbon. A DM on Instagram before a trip to Bali. A match on an app in Barcelona. These people aren't strangers anymore — they're the ones I call when I'm planning my next trip.
Your travel tribe is out there. Go find them.
Daniel Silva
Founder of Trippii. Building the social layer for solo travelers. Has visited 40+ countries, most of them solo, and believes the best trips are the ones where you meet someone who changes how you see the world.