Americans search "travel buddy" for the parks and the road, and foreigners search it for a country that's enormous and expensive alone. The answers are the same.
Why the USA especially#
A hotel room costs the same for two. A rental car, fuel and a motel on a parks trip halve when split. The country has almost no hostels outside a handful of cities. And the distances are the kind where the passenger matters.
Where travel buddies are found#
- Facebook groups for solo travel and travel buddies, with the warning that they're also where the scams recruit (the honest guide).
- Reddit's solo travel and travel partner communities.
- Hostel boards in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Miami.
- Roavi Community: post your route and dates ("LA to Zion to Vegas, 10 to 17 March, have a car, one seat free") and travellers going the same way on the same dates appear in one place. Locals along the route can reply too. Post it here.
The five questions#
Before anyone commits to two weeks in a car: budget per day; hours of driving a day; morning or night; how much alone time; what happens if you want to split up. Then a video call. Then meet in public on day one, with your own way out booked. How to find a travel buddy has the longer version.
The scams#
Someone who needs you to send a deposit for "our" car or cabin. Someone who can't video call. Someone whose dates always shift to match yours. Someone who moves the chat off the platform in the first message. The rule covers all of them: no money for anything you can't see in your own name.
When a Local Friend is better#
For the road, you want another traveller. For the cities on either end, a Local Friend is often the better evening: a person who lives in Chicago or New Orleans, by the hour, who takes you to their neighbourhood and then goes home. Rent a friend in the USA explains it. Solo travel in the USA covers doing the cities alone, and a travel buddy in Thailand is where most of the same people end up next.
Looking for someone to share the road? Post your route and dates.
Post your tripFrequently Asked Questions
Where do you find a travel buddy for the USA?
Travel-buddy and solo-travel Facebook groups, the solo travel subreddits, hostel boards in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans, and Roavi Community, where you post your route with dates and travellers going the same way appear.How do you vet a travel buddy you met online?
Five questions before you commit: budget per day, driving hours a day, morning or night person, alone time, and what happens if you want to split up. Then a video call, a public meeting on day one, and no money sent for a booking you can't see in your own name.Is a travel buddy worth it for a USA road trip?
Usually: a car, fuel and a motel split two ways roughly halves the cost of a national parks trip, and ten hours of desert is better with someone awake in the passenger seat. The risk is being stuck with the wrong person for two weeks, which the vetting is for.What's the difference between a travel buddy and a Local Friend?
A travel buddy is another traveller who shares the trip and the costs. A Local Friend is someone who lives in the city, paid by the hour, who shows you their version of it. For the road, you want the first; for the three days in Chicago, the second is often the better evening.