The Roavi Blog
Stories from people who live there.
Travel tips, city guides, and local insights from the Roavi team.
1173 articles
Become a Local Friend
Best Side Hustles in Washington DC in 2026: Nine That Actually Pay (Local Friend Beyond the Mall, Tutoring at Washington Rates, Paid Research Studies, Rideshare, Delivery, Convention and Arena Staffing, Interpreting in a City of Embassies, Pet Sitting, Notary Signings), What Each Makes, the DC Taxes, and Which Fit Your Hours
Washington has the highest minimum wage of any US city, one of the most educated and highest-paid populations in the country, twenty million visitors a year who mostly see the Mall, and a demand for interpreters in every language an embassy speaks. Here are nine side hustles that pay in 2026.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Become a Local Friend
Best Side Hustles in Michigan in 2026: Nine That Actually Pay in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Up North (Local Friend in a Comeback City, Rideshare at DTW, Delivery, Paid Research Studies at the University of Michigan, Stadium Staffing, Arabic and Spanish Interpreting, Snow Removal, Up North Summer Co-Hosting, Tutoring), What Each Makes, the State and City Taxes, and Which Fit Your Hours
Michigan's side hustles split by season and by city: Detroit's comeback bringing visitors back downtown, Ann Arbor's university and its paid studies, Dearborn's Arabic-speaking community, winters made for snow removal and delivery, and summers Up North. Here are nine that pay in 2026.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Become a Local Friend
Best Side Hustles in Ohio in 2026: Nine That Actually Pay in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati (Local Friend, Ohio State Game-Day Work, Rideshare, Delivery, Paid Research at Ohio State and the Cleveland Clinic, Tutoring, Pet Sitting, Snow Removal, Notary Signings), What Each Makes, the State and City Income Taxes, and Which Fit Your Hours
Ohio has three big cities and a hundred-thousand-seat stadium in the middle of one of them, two of the country's biggest research hospitals and universities, low state income tax, and city income taxes that most lists forget. Here are nine side hustles that pay in 2026.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · San Juan
Puerto Rico's Bioluminescent Bays: Mosquito Bay on Vieques (the Brightest in the World), Laguna Grande in Fajardo (an Hour From San Juan, by Kayak), La Parguera (the One Where You Can Still Swim), How to Pick, Why the Moon Matters, What a Tour Costs in 2026, What to Bring, and What Dims the Glow
Puerto Rico has three of the world's few bioluminescent bays, where every paddle stroke lights the water blue. They are not the same: one is the brightest on the planet and needs a night on an island, one is an hour from San Juan by kayak, and one is the only place you can still swim in the glow. Here is how to pick, when to go, and what it costs.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Travel Guides · San Juan
El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico: the Timed-Entry Reservation for the Main Road (and When You Don't Need One), Which Trails and Waterfalls Are Worth It, the Rain, When to Go, Getting There From San Juan, Tours vs Driving Yourself, and What to Combine It With (2026)
El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest system, 45 minutes from San Juan, and the one thing most visitors get wrong is the reservation: the main road into the forest needs a timed-entry ticket that sells out. Here is how it works, which trails and waterfalls are worth it, when to go, and how to fit it into a day with the beach and a bioluminescent bay.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Travel Guides · San Juan
Culebra Day Trip From San Juan: the Ferry From Ceiba (and How Not to Get Stranded), the Short Flights, Flamenco Beach, Snorkelling at Tamarindo and Carlos Rosario, Golf Carts and Taxis on the Island, What It Costs in 2026, and Whether to Stay the Night
Flamenco Beach on Culebra is regularly named among the best beaches in the world, and it is a day trip from San Juan if you get the ferry right. Here is how the ferry from Ceiba works (and why people get stranded), the flights, what to do on the island, what it costs, and when to stay the night instead.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Travel Tips
How to Practice Spanish With a Local on Your Trip: Conversation Partners, Classes and Intercambios, or Paying Someone From the City to Spend the Afternoon Talking With You (What Each Costs in 2026), the Best Cities to Do It, How to Ask, and Why the Afternoon Beats the Classroom
Six months of an app and you still freeze ordering a coffee in Mexico City. What fixes that is four hours of real conversation with someone who speaks at normal speed, about real things, while you do something together. Here are the ways to get it on a trip, what each costs, the cities where it works best, and how to ask.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Travel Tips
How to Hire Someone to Go to a Concert or a Game With You: Why People Do It, What a Paid Platonic Buddy Costs, Who Buys Their Ticket, Where to Find Someone (RentAFriend, Roavi, Fan Groups), How to Ask, and the Boundaries (2026)
You have two tickets and nobody to go with, or one ticket in a city you are visiting and no wish to stand in a stadium alone. Paying someone to come is a normal, platonic thing people do. Here is what it costs, who buys the ticket, where to find a buddy, and how to ask so the night actually works.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Travel Tips
How to Bring a Hired Plus-One to a Work Event: Company Holiday Parties, Galas, Award Dinners and Conference Receptions, What a Paid Platonic Plus-One Costs, Whether to Tell Anyone, How to Brief Them on the Room, the Line Between Company and Pretending, and the Boundaries (2026)
The holiday party invitation says plus-one, the gala is black tie, and walking in alone means an evening of explaining. Bringing a hired platonic plus-one to a work event is more common than people think, and it goes well when two things are true: the person is good in a room, and you do not ask them to pretend to be something they are not. Here is how.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Become a Local Friend
Best Side Hustles in Washington State in 2026: Nine That Actually Pay in Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and the Islands (Local Friend, Rideshare Under the State Pay Floor, Seattle Delivery at the City Minimum, Alaska Cruise-Day Work, Tutoring, Pet Sitting, Stadium Staffing, Interpreting, Notary Signings), What Each Really Makes, No State Income Tax, and Which Fit Your Hours
Washington has no state income tax, a statewide minimum pay for rideshare drivers, a Seattle minimum for delivery workers, and a summer of Alaska cruise ships leaving from downtown Seattle. Here are nine side hustles that pay in 2026, what each makes, and which fit your hours.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Become a Local Friend
Best Side Hustles in Massachusetts in 2026: Nine That Actually Pay in Boston, Cambridge, Worcester and Cape Cod (Local Friend, Rideshare at the Settlement Pay Floor, Delivery, Tutoring in a College Town, Paid Research Studies at the Hospitals and Universities, Pet Sitting, Stadium Staffing, Portuguese, Spanish and Haitian Creole Interpreting, Cape and Islands Co-Hosting), What Each Makes, the Flat Tax, and Which Fit Your Hours
Massachusetts has a guaranteed hourly floor for rideshare drivers, more universities and teaching hospitals per square mile than anywhere (and their paid studies), a tutoring market priced like a college town, and a summer on the Cape. Here are nine side hustles that pay in 2026.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read
Become a Local Friend
Best Side Hustles in Tennessee in 2026: Nine That Actually Pay in Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga and the Smokies (Local Friend Off Broadway, Rideshare on Broadway Nights, Bachelorette Photography, Concert and Festival Staffing, Delivery, Pet Sitting, Tutoring, Spanish Interpreting, Smokies Cabin Co-Hosting), What Each Makes, No Income Tax on Earnings, and Which Fit Your Hours
Tennessee has no income tax on earnings, Nashville's Broadway full of bachelorette parties every weekend, Memphis's music history, and the Smokies, the most visited national park in the country. Here are nine side hustles that pay in 2026, what each makes, and which fit your hours.
Oscar Garcia··3 min read