What’s the best way to meet new people while traveling?
View all responses
I’m beginning to think the people who come up with these WordPress questions are independently wealthy, retired and spending their lives jetting between Paris, Rome and Tokyo. This is yet another question about traveling, apparently based on the assumption that the rest of us are constantly collecting passport stamps and frequent-flyer miles. Some of us have jobs, you know. Some of us have responsibilities that don’t allow us to disappear for a couple of weeks whenever the urge strikes. And some of us would love to travel more, but our bank accounts have a nasty habit of reminding us that we have other priorities.
Don’t get me wrong. I love traveling. I just don’t get to do nearly as much of it as I’d like. When I do get away, I enjoy discovering places I’ve never been, exploring local history, finding interesting restaurants and seeing things that aren’t necessarily on the typical tourist itinerary. But I don’t have a travel blog, a collection of exotic passport stamps or enough airline miles to get upgraded to first class. Most of my traveling is considerably less glamorous than that. So when WordPress asks me about the best way to meet new people while traveling, I’m not exactly drawing on a lifetime of backpacking across Europe or sipping cocktails on Mediterranean beaches.
That said, I’m not sure the answer requires a passport, a plane ticket or even a hotel reservation. If you want to meet people, you have to be willing to talk to them. And, perhaps more importantly, you have to be willing to listen. I’ve always thought some of the most interesting things about a place are the people who live there. They know the restaurants that don’t advertise, the interesting stories that never make the brochures and the places worth visiting that the tourists drive right past. And most of them are more than happy to share what they know if you show a little genuine interest.
For me, a restaurant or a bar is a pretty good place to start. Sit at the bar instead of a table, ask the bartender what they’d recommend, or strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you. Ask a server where they’d go for dinner on their night off. Talk to someone in a shop about the history of the town. And don’t just ask questions because you’re hoping to get some insider information. Ask because you’re actually interested in the answers. You might discover a wonderful restaurant, an interesting piece of local history or a new appreciation for a place you thought you already understood.
Of course, there’s a difference between meeting someone and making a lifelong friend. I don’t expect to exchange Christmas cards with every bartender who recommends a good bourbon or every stranger who tells me about a favorite local attraction. Sometimes a conversation lasts five minutes. Sometimes it lasts an hour. Sometimes you leave knowing a little more about a place, a person or a perspective you’d never considered. And sometimes you just leave knowing where to find the best barbecue in town. I’m perfectly happy with any of those outcomes.
I also think we’ve made meeting people unnecessarily difficult by spending so much time staring at our phones. We can sit in a restaurant surrounded by interesting people and never exchange a word with any of them because we’re busy scrolling through pictures of people we already know. There’s something a little ridiculous about traveling hundreds of miles to experience a different place while spending half the trip looking at the same screen we stare at every day. Put the phone down. Look around. Say hello. You might be surprised what happens.
Ultimately, I don’t think meeting new people while traveling is much different from meeting them at home. Be friendly. Be curious. Be respectful. Ask questions and pay attention to the answers. You don’t have to be the most outgoing person in the room, and you certainly don’t have to force conversations with people who clearly aren’t interested. Just be open to the possibility that the person sitting next to you might have something interesting to say. Some of the best memories we bring home aren’t souvenirs or photographs. They’re the conversations and unexpected encounters that remind us how much we have in common with people whose lives are very different from our own.
Now, if WordPress could just come up with a question about staying home once in a while, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve got considerably more experience with that.
Enjoyed this? Subscribe and get future reflections, bourbon notes, and assorted nonsense delivered straight to your inbox.
Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.
