Meet Up & Make Friends with the Locals

Let’s say you want to meet people in a different community with whom you share a common interest. Take a look at the Estonia-based website Like a Local Guide.

“We believe that the best tips come from people who are locals in a city, not tourists, so all of our content is created by real people in different places,” says Ülane Vilumets, co-founder of Like a Local Guide. “People are different so our site compares your preferences with those of our locals, so you find out where people like you enjoy going in that city.”

The mentality of the company is that since not every traveler is the same, not every trip should be the same.

“Through a series of entertaining questions we get to know you and recommend you the places added and liked by those locals that are similar to you in their preferences,” says Vilumets. “That way if your idea of a good time is having a glass of wine in an intimate little bar then we won’t send you to a club with loud dance music, even though both places might be local favorites.”

Meetup.com is another way to rub elbows with the locals. Meetups are community-organized events, ranging from game nights to photography-interest groups, that take place in more than 45,000 cities around the globe. Though Meetups are typically designed for locals looking to meet locals, there is nothing to stop an interested traveler from poking his or her head into the fray and getting involved.

The mission of Meetup is simple: to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize.

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