1. Travel friends give you insights about your own culture, and how weird it is.
There are alot of habits ingrained in us through our culture, and through traveling and meeting people from different places we can gain insight into those habits and learn about new ways to live our lives as our best selves. Let’s be honest, that’s amazing!
2. Travel friends help you decide where to go next
Say, you make a friend with someone from England or Finland. Well? Duh! There are so many places to go and sometimes it’s overwhelming deciding where to travel to next, but if you have a local friend to show you around a place, then that can really help you plan the next place to go. Because, Cue #3.
3. Travel friends = local travel experts
It’s not everyday you can travel to an obscure country like Romania, Georgia, or Finland and have a local show you the ins and outs of the city or town. It’s like having a free travel guide, and perhaps a free place to stay in a cool foreign country!
4. Travel friends share great stories with you, and they share in new amazing stories with you
“Happiness is only real when shared”
-C. McCandless, Healy, Alaska
I’m not saying you should make transactional friendships or anything… but there is a reciprocity associated with friendships, and once you have made a travel friend there are amazing dividends that pay out over time! Yes!