Finding travel buddies

I believe the intent was to recommend resources that the solo backpacker can leverage to meet fellow travelers along the way. There must be countless thousands of mature, independent, and self-reliant young people from all over the world that travel this way every year. They stay in hostels, meet new people, and enjoy the experiences of a lifetime. I can’t think of a better way for a college-age person to learn about, participate in, and understand the world around them in real-time!

Have your sister's friend check out the Lonely Planet and Boots N All websites which caters to young backpackers far more than this website.

She can go to war at this young age, why can't she go to Europe alone? That is sort of strange. Europe is filled with people traveling alone at age 18. There is nothing wrong or scary about it.

And as someone who has sent my husband to war 3 times... war is supervised by adults. And anyone who goes to war has training.
If there was a couple month long boot camp for young travelers, then no big deal. Maybe that is what Rick can offer in coming years, solo travel boot camp.

Perhaps that was the wrong point. Would you prefer that at 18 she can vote or get married? My point is that she is an adult and should be fully capable of making her way around Europe without having to be on a tour. Thousands upon thousands of 18 year olds do this every year, I do not see why this should be a problem.

In theory I agree with Jo. In practice, IMHO 18 year old Americans are much more immature and inexperienced (in dealing with life in general) than their counterparts in other countries.

Go to www.backpackeurope.com, and navigate to “s” in the site index to solo travel. You'll find links to other sites that may assist you with finding travel companions. This is one of the best backpacking resource websites I've seen.

I agree with Jo. If you can vote, be married, go to war when your 18 I think you could go to Europe. However, everyone is different when they were 18. Some are way more mature than others!

I leave tomorrow for a solo 5 week journey through Central/Eastern Europe and I have arranged to meet with a few people from various cities on Couchsurfing. I am not quite brave enough to stay at their house, but I will be meeting them for the day and they have offered to show me around each city.

If she stays in hostels she will be sure to hook up with tons of other travelers.

Lonley Planet has a section for wanted traveling companions as well.

I would try www.couchsurfing.com

I agree with other posters that young Americans mostly lead a much more protected life and I would be concerned about an 18-year old girl traveling alone; let's face it, girls are much more vulnerable than boys. If she lives near a university, there may be bulletin boards listing student backpackers looking to hook up in Europe or if she's going to college this fall she might check this out with them. There is a travel companion website on Rick Steves, too. Maybe she can have an emergency contact address in each country she plans to visit, starting with you.

Thanks for point me in some good directions. I've passed them on to my friend.
As for the debate of 18 being too young to travel alone...I just want to give my friend some ideas of where to meet other travelers so she doesn't get lonley on her trip.

"Maybe that is what Rick can offer in coming years, solo travel boot camp." I'd LOVE to see a video of that event. Imagine the drill sergeant's reaction to finding contraband items, like traveler's checks or a fanny pack.

If I had an 18 year old daughter, I would be concerned about her going through a website to find a STRANGER to travel with! Even if that stranger is female and her age. You still don't know what she's like.
At 18, I went to NYC alone! But the first reply you got here, James, suggested the Contiki tour. That sounds like that's something to look into. But it may be a good idea if she waits to go to Europe when she finds a friend to go with. Even Rick Steves daughter at 18 didn't go on her first trip to Europe(without her parents) alone. She went with a good friend. But really, finding a stranger to go to Europe with??? I'm not only talking about safety, but what about when she meets this stranger, if she's a real nut, and ends up not liking her? That can really ruin a trip. She may sound great reading about her on a website, but you don't know someone at all until you meet them in person. I think this is taking a real chance.

No offense, but James, I think your comment is ridiculous.

Granted, there are some sheltered & immature 18 year olds who shouldn't be allowed to travel alone, but there are just as many sheltered & immature 30 & 40 year olds who shouldn't travel alone.

The fact that she's interested in going to Europe, and not Tijuana, cancun, or some other spring break drinking destination, I assume she's intelligent & responsible.

There are a number of risks involved in traveling for any age, the key is always being aware of your surroundings.

The times I was there in high school & college, I would go off on side trips on my own, with no problems. I found the best place to meet people is in the dorm room environment of hostels.

But, at the same time, 18 is too young in the USA to drink(legal at 18 parts of Europe) and you can't rent a car at 18. Crazy, I know. When I was 18 back in the 1970's, 18 was legal for everything in the USA!
Michelle, I see you are from Italy! Is your friend's sister from Italy too, or from another country? If she is from Italy, I would think for her to travel alone would be safe enough in other parts of Europe! If you can get along in Italy, you can easily get around in other parts of Europe, I believe.

An 18 yr old female,, does have to be more careful,, and does not have an accumulation of life experiences to fall back on to avoid scrapes.

Saying an 18 is old enough to get married, does not mean an 18 yr old SHOULD get married, that they are mature or responsible enough etc etc. some are some aren't / And the war reference was just lame. As pointed out soldiers do not go alone, unsupervised or untrained to foreign countries, that was truly silly.

I agree there are ways of meeting others,, but I would think one would still have to be a bit cautious.. I have seen a few postings by young men who say they just want a travel companion( must be young female) and they have lots of money and will pay the companions way,, LOL ,, yikes

Hostels seem like a good bet.. and there are as pointed out, university and college in young ladys town may have a bulletin board that will have partner ( travel) wanted ads up.. at least she could meet them in her home town before actaully meeting them in Europe.

A tour may or may not be a good fit,, some young folks love the built in party atmosphere of some tour companies( Contiki), others do not. She could go on their site, check out their forums anyways.

There are 18 year olds that are mature, and ones that aren't. Without personally knowing this 18 year old, it's a little absurd to make a sweeping generalization that 18 is too young. The fact remains, she's old enough to make her own decision - especially if it's her money she's using to fund her trip. I traveled on my own in Europe after I graduated high school - I was still 17 years old. I have a niece who just turned 18 and lives in her own flat in the Netherlands. If she announced tomorrow she wanted to solo backpack through Asia or South America, I wouldn't think twice about it. She displays more common sense and maturity than people I work with that are in their mid to late 20s.

If this 18 year old is looking to meet people during her solo trip, hostelling is a great way to accomplish that. I would also recommend a hop-on/hop-off backpacker bus circuit. She won't be tied into one particular tour group, it's a good way to get around on back roads she may not normally travel if she relied solely on rail travel, and she has the flexibility to stay longer in those cities or villages that interest her more. These companies also help secure lodging for backpackers at each of their overnight stops (typically hostels, sometimes budget hotels or camp sites) and also tend to offer booking options and discounts on different activities at each stop on the circuit.

An 18 y.o. traveling alone is probably going to stay in hostels. She will have zero trouble meeting people to have dinner with, sightsee with, and travel with, by staying in hostel, which are full of other young people traveling alone.

Statistically a male is MUCH more likely to be a victim of a violent crime than a woman. Europe is a much safer place, in terms of violent crime, than the US. And she's probably heading off alone to college at the end of the summer. It makes absolutely no sense to argue it's unsafe for her to travel to Europe alone.