Roavi · Nara
Become a Local Friend in Nara
Create your Local Friend profile, share the places and experiences you enjoy, and connect with travelers visiting your city.
Free to create. You choose when and who you meet.
Roavi · Nara
Become a Local Friend in Nara
Create your Local Friend profile, share the places and experiences you enjoy, and connect with travelers visiting your city.
Free to create. You choose when and who you meet.
No commission · keep 100%
You set your rate
Free to publish
Locals are already sharing these cities with travelers. Yours can be next.
Bangkok, Medellín, Mexico City, São Paulo, Bali, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Santo Domingo, Tokyo, Lisbon, Ho Chi Minh City
Not a tour
This is not about memorizing a tour.
It is about sharing the version of your city that only you know.
Morning
Coffee, markets, your neighborhood.
The stop you make without thinking, the market that isn’t in any guide.
Afternoon
Food, culture, the hidden places.
The alley with no sign. The place you’d only find if someone showed you.
Evening
Music, nightlife, conversation.
By night, you’re not a guide — you’re just a friend showing someone around.
Your rate × your schedule
What locals actually charge.
You set your own rate. Payment happens directly between you and the traveler — Roavi never touches it. Here's what real Local Friends are asking on the platform today.
Your hourly rate
Hours a week
A month, roughly
$1,386
yours to keep · 0% commission
An example, not a promise. You're paid directly by the traveller; Roavi never touches the money.
You already know more than you think.
You know where to eat, where to walk, what to avoid, when to arrive, and where the city feels most alive. That local knowledge is what travelers are looking for.
Share what you love, on your own terms.
Roavi helps people discover and message one another. It does not create a booking or force either person to meet.
- Choose your availability
- Set your own rate
- Decide who you respond to
- Choose where to meet
- Say no to anyone, anytime
- Pause or edit your profile anytime
A few minutes
Four steps. A few minutes.
Set up your profile today. Start hearing from travelers.
- 1
Create your profile
Add your name, photo, city, and a short introduction.
- 2
Add your local interests and availability
Choose the food, culture, nightlife, or experiences you enjoy — and when you’re free.
- 3
Publish your profile in the Roavi directory
Your profile becomes visible to travelers — free, right away.
- 4
Receive and respond to traveler messages
Interested travelers message you directly. You decide who to respond to.
Build more trust with optional identity verification
Verification is completed through Stripe Identity. Once approved, a verified status appears on your profile — addable anytime from your dashboard.
Your profile, directory visibility, and messaging remain free without verification.
Verified identity status
A trust signal on your profile that helps travelers feel confident reaching out.
Profile performance insights
See how your profile views trend over time from your dashboard.
What someone who lives in Nara can open up
Almost every visitor comes to Nara for the day from Kyoto or Osaka, sees Nara Park and Tōdai-ji, and leaves by evening. Many are startled to be surrounded the moment they hold deer crackers, and see Nara only at its most crowded hours. Tōdai-ji early in the morning, the lanes of Naramachi and the quiet of Kasuga Taisha at dusk are almost unknown.
What you can show
- 1
How to be with the deer: feeding crackers, the bowing, and not getting too close.
- 2
Tōdai-ji in the quiet morning, and the Kasuga Taisha approach at dusk.
- 3
The lanes of Naramachi, machiya cafés, and shops for kakinoha-zushi and Nara-zuke.
- 4
For visitors who stay a night: the evening, and how to see the town the next morning.
One practical thing before you start: on a student or dependent visa, earning income needs permission for activity outside your status of residence, capped at 28 hours a week. Most work visas and the Working Holiday visa are fine. Check your own status.
Travelers are looking for locals in Nara
Be one of the first Local Friends they meet. Build your profile today and get discovered by travelers heading to Nara.
Worth reading first
Good to know before you begin
A few honest answers, so there are no surprises.
No. Since the Interpreter Guide Act amendment of 4 January 2018, you can be paid to show foreign visitors around without the national qualification. You can't use the 'National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter' title without it, and driving people for a fee is a separate, licensed activity.
Yes. Plenty of people visit, and nearly all of them only see the crowded middle of the day. Few people know Nara in the morning and evening, and only someone who lives here can show it.
Yes. Creating and publishing your Local Friend profile is completely free — there’s no cost to appear in the directory or receive messages.
No — and that is the point. A Local Friend is not a tour guide: you spend time with someone as yourself, you do not run a tour. Professional guiding is a licensed profession in a number of countries; spending an afternoon with someone is not. And if you do hold a guiding licence, put it on your profile — travellers look for it.
Yes. You set your own hourly rate, and you can change it anytime from your profile.
No. Roavi doesn’t process payments or take a commission on what you arrange with a traveler.
No. You decide who you respond to, and you can say no to anyone, for any reason.
No. Verification is optional. It’s completed through Stripe Identity and adds a verified status to your profile, but your profile, visibility, and messaging stay free either way.
Travelers message you directly through Roavi once they find your profile in the directory. You choose whether and how to reply.
Yes. You can pause your visibility or delete your profile at any time from your account settings.
Your city is already part of your story. Share it.
Travelers are already looking for someone like you.
No commission. No required schedule. You stay in control.