Are There Travel Meet-Ups

Inept

Inept

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Do people meet up abroad with others who they’ve only met on discussion forums? Male or female. Singles or couples. Straight or gay. Black or white …. or even green. Nationality irrelevant. Politically in agreement or opposed. Do such people exist? :unsure:

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I don't know if that exact thing exists but, certainly there are forums attached to travel companies. I have known people who belong to travel forums who have met up with other people booked on the same holiday, before their travel date so, they knew each other beforehand, either online or in person.

If this is the sort of thing you have in mind, Google something like "travel forums".
 
Trish said:
I don't know if that exact thing exists but, certainly there are forums attached to travel companies. I have known people who belong to travel forums who have met up with other people booked on the same holiday, before their travel date so, they knew each other beforehand, either online or in person.

If this is the sort of thing you have in mind, Google something like "travel forums".
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I've never done it before but it is worth considering, thanks.
 

Inept said:
I've never done it before but it is worth considering, thanks.
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It's also a good idea if you are considering travelling to join a travel forum and ask about other people's experience and advice before you book. Frequent travellers also tend to know where to get the best deals too (y)

I know someone who was going to book an expensive long haul holiday but decided against it after he found out that previous travellers had run into quite a few problems with the organisation and, in some cases, had got a lot less than they paid for.
 
I belong to a couple motorcycle forums, and a few of us got together in May of 2000, since then this group has grown into an extended family that stretched from Onterio to Florida west to Illinois and even one that has traveled in from Arizona a couple times. We get together several times a year, and camping this weekend, around a dozen + from 6 states....
 
Trish said:
It's also a good idea if you are considering travelling to join a travel forum and ask about other people's experience and advice before you book. Frequent travellers also tend to know where to get the best deals too (y)

I know someone who was going to book an expensive long haul holiday but decided against it after he found out that previous travellers had run into quite a few problems with the organisation and, in some cases, had got a lot less than they paid for.
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Thanks. I have travelled a lot around the world on my own steam. But I'm older now and I just would rather not be somewhere alone. My marriage broke down and well, you know.
 
old medic said:
I belong to a couple motorcycle forums, and a few of us got together in May of 2000, since then this group has grown into an extended family that stretched from Onterio to Florida west to Illinois and even one that has traveled in from Arizona a couple times. We get together several times a year, and camping this weekend, around a dozen + from 6 states....
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That sounds really good!
 
I have no experiences of that nature so I asked my online friend perplexity.ai and it scraped the internet to answer your question. I hope it helps.

While it's not extremely common, some people do indeed meet up with others they've initially connected with through online forums or discussion boards while traveling abroad. This practice exists across various demographics, including different genders, relationship statuses, sexual orientations, ethnicities, nationalities, and political views.Here are some insights on this topic:
  1. Online communities often serve as a starting point for real-life connections. Platforms like Couchsurfing, Meetup.com, and Facebook expat groups frequently facilitate in-person meetups for travelers and expatriates
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  2. Travel forums, such as those on Rick Steves' website, sometimes lead to meetups between forum members who are visiting the same destination
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  3. Expat forums can be a valuable resource for people looking to connect with others in their new country. These forums often host events or encourage members to organize gatherings
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    .
  4. Language exchange groups and international student organizations frequently use online platforms to coordinate in-person meetings, allowing people to practice languages and make friends from different backgrounds
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  5. Some travelers actively seek out connections through specialized websites or apps designed for meeting people abroad, such as PenPal World
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It's important to note that while these meetups do occur, safety should always be a primary concern when meeting strangers from the internet. Many people prefer to meet in public places or as part of larger group activities when first connecting with online acquaintances in person.The success of these meetups often depends on shared interests, mutual respect, and open-mindedness. People who engage in these activities are typically looking to expand their social circles, learn about different cultures, or simply find companionship while traveling or living abroad.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I have no experiences of that nature so I asked my online friend perplexity.ai and it scraped the internet to answer your question. I hope it helps.

While it's not extremely common, some people do indeed meet up with others they've initially connected with through online forums or discussion boards while traveling abroad. This practice exists across various demographics, including different genders, relationship statuses, sexual orientations, ethnicities, nationalities, and political views.Here are some insights on this topic:
  1. Online communities often serve as a starting point for real-life connections. Platforms like Couchsurfing, Meetup.com, and Facebook expat groups frequently facilitate in-person meetups for travelers and expatriates
    2
    3
    .
  2. Travel forums, such as those on Rick Steves' website, sometimes lead to meetups between forum members who are visiting the same destination
    7
    .
  3. Expat forums can be a valuable resource for people looking to connect with others in their new country. These forums often host events or encourage members to organize gatherings
    6
    .
  4. Language exchange groups and international student organizations frequently use online platforms to coordinate in-person meetings, allowing people to practice languages and make friends from different backgrounds
    3
    .
  5. Some travelers actively seek out connections through specialized websites or apps designed for meeting people abroad, such as PenPal World
    4
    .
It's important to note that while these meetups do occur, safety should always be a primary concern when meeting strangers from the internet. Many people prefer to meet in public places or as part of larger group activities when first connecting with online acquaintances in person.The success of these meetups often depends on shared interests, mutual respect, and open-mindedness. People who engage in these activities are typically looking to expand their social circles, learn about different cultures, or simply find companionship while traveling or living abroad.
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Thank you very much. I'll take a closer look at them.
 
Am a well-known member of probably the largest world-wide snow skiing web community where members that ski same resorts tend to eventually meet and get to know others that ski at same resorts. There is also a logistically complex annual national meet up that I attended last March because it was at Tahoe where I have a season pass at 3 resorts.

Am also a member of a backpacking forum that has annual summer group meetups out in wilderness. And of course the same thing is true with other enthusiasts in a range of outdoor sports like mountain biking, climbing, hiking, running, bicycle racing, motorcycle runs, and others. The key point being, it is easier to get unknown other strangers together that have common interests. Just bringing A to Z folks together at A to Z ages and lifestyles is more likely to have incompatibility issues. There are also many Meetup dot com groups that have a range of group events. Those just interested in general tourist travel usually get involved in commercial for group pay trips where travel and accommodations are set up like on ocean cruises.

The above noted, I could provide how to do so cheaply advice for those interested in traveling here to the SFBA and would be fine meeting others in our Northern California region that wanted to loosely get together given common purpose like attending outdoor street art/food/music fairs or visiting some coastal park, etc.
 
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David777 said:
Am a well-known member of probably the largest world-wide snow skiing web community where members that ski same resorts tend to eventually meet and get to know others that ski at same resorts. There is also a logistically complex annual national meet up that I attended last March because it was at Tahoe where I have a season pass at 3 resorts.

Am also a member of a backpacking forum that has annual summer group meetups out in wilderness. And of course the same thing is true with other enthusiasts in a range of outdoor sports like mountain biking, climbing, hiking, running, bicycle racing, motorcycle runs, and others. The key point being, it is easier to get unknown other strangers together that have common interests. Just bringing A to Z folks together at A to Z ages and lifestyles is more likely to have incompatibility issues. There are also many Meetup dot com groups that have a range to group events. Those just interested in general tourist travel usually get involved in commercial for group pay trips where travel and accommodations are set up like on ocean cruises.
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Interesting.
David777 said:
The above noted, I could provide how to do so cheaply advice for those interested in traveling here to the SFBA and would be fine meeting others in our Northern California region that wanted to loosely get together given common purpose like attending outdoor street art/food/music fairs or visiting some coastal park, etc.
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I am nowhere near your area.
 
When I was a member of a brain injury group, we had a chance to meet other members. After I was widowed, I joined a grief recovery group.
We had occasional "gatherings" where we would get together.
Also, many people that cruised were active on the Cruise Critic message board. There was a section for meetups on board for particular cruises, and we attended many of them. Also, there was an opportunity to arrange small private tours instead of the group gropes that the ship's excursions were.
 
bowmore said:
When I was a member of a brain injury group, we had a chance to meet other members. After I was widowed, I joined a grief recovery group.
We had occasional "gatherings" where we would get together.
Also, many people that cruised were active on the Cruise Critic message board. There was a section for meetups on board for particular cruises, and we attended many of them. Also, there was an opportunity to arrange small private tours instead of the group gropes that the ship's excursions were.
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That must have been really nice. :love:
 
Inept said:
Thanks. I have travelled a lot around the world on my own steam. But I'm older now and I just would rather not be somewhere alone. My marriage broke down and well, you know.
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this is the position I'm in as well. Always been a big traveller...even on my own, on occasion.. but now i'm older like you, and going through a divorce, I still want to travel, but don't wanna necessarily end up on my own at the destination...well not for all of the time.. a little bit of alone time is good, but a whole week of it not so much
 
hollydolly said:
this is the position I'm in as well. Always been a big traveller...even on my own, on occasion.. but now i'm older like you, and going through a divorce, I still want to travel, but don't wanna necessarily end up on my own at the destination...well not for all of the time.. a little bit of alone time is good, but a whole week of it not so much
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That's it really. Having a good meal and sitting pool-side alone doesn't help to put life into perspective. Not in a moving forward sense. You understand very well I can see. A week in Sunny Beach would be so much better .......
 
My oldest son and his wife travel outside the US twice a year. Their travel agency hooks them up with online groups going to the same destinations during the same time-frame.

They've had a good time with every group. They really hit it off with one of the couples in the group on their Germanic tour this year, and they've kept in touch with each other. On their trip to Italy a couple years ago, they hung out with 2 couples and a single traveler who liked breaking away from the main group with them now and then.

If you get your tickets and bookings and tours through a travel agency, ask about online groups.
 
One issue with web forums like this is numbers of members are for whatever reason not comfortable providing even general regional information about where they live. So for example, even if there was a reason for members to get together for some brief social of just a few hours some day, one would not know who might be possible. Thus will encourage any others that might ever have that interest in being social with other members to add that regional location information to their account profiles.

In my case I provide a modest amount of profile information including that I live in Silicon Valley because have already been a rather public person in hi tech for over 20 years that doesn't bother me or create issues. For someone else, simply adding say "Northern California" or "New England", "Tokyo", whatever, goes far enough so others in one's region can possibly become aware.
 
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David777 said:
One issue with web forums like this is numbers of members are for whatever reason not comfortable providing even general regional information about where they live. So for example, even if there was a reason for members to get together for some brief social of just a few hours some day, one would not know who might be possible. Thus will encourage any others that might ever have that interest in being social with other members to add that regional location information to their account profiles.
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I see your point but it doesn't REALLY matter. I don't think I would consider going from point A on a long journey to point B together with a stranger. I mean, I did a whole lot of hitch-hiking around the world for years when I was young and quite naturally I was thrust into tight companionships with no guarantees for my safety but for my own wits. I did, on a couple of occasions, get out and find another lift to carry on. Anyway, that time in my life is gone. I am assuming you are American and I don't think the US has any charter travel in the same way that we have in Europe. But maybe you do?

Ps. Your note about "not providing even genreral regional information" can be done by PM.
 
What I suggested was not members traveling together but rather if within the same region driving/traveling independently to wherever then meeting up as a group at some event like a festival or park. That is how www dot meetup dot com works. People are given instructions of where, when, with mobile phone numbers of participants.
 


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