“It’s too touristy here!”
“Everyone is a backpacker and from Germany”
“The place is full of touts, where are the nice locals?”
Everyone is looking for their “authentic travel experience” yet when you land in a popular tourist destination people get their panties in a twist when they don’t find happy go lucky locals on every corner.
The locals they do meet then don’t pay them attention…can’t blame them though!
Most locals just want to go about their day to day lives without anyone bothering them, treating them like new age creatures who haven’t heard of iPhones and NetFlix (hint: most have).
MeetUp.com For Specific Groups Of People
MeetUp.com is like CouchSurfing but a more formal site where you are likely to meet people with similar interests based on the meetups you choose to attend. There is usually a local host who everyone seems to know and 90+% of the crowd will be locals as it hasn’t transformed into somewhere
Meetup Groups galore in Auckland
CouchSurfing To Meet Interesting People, Locals And Foreigners
CouchSurfing is a great way to meet with everyday locals. You don’t have to stay with someone if that makes you uncomfortable. Simply look up events on the website in the city you are looking for. The CouchSurfing communities fluctuate in terms of participation, but most of the larger cities will have scheduled events each week.
There will be a large crowd of fellow travellers at these events, but the locals are usually very interesting people.
Bus Bar Wednesdays in Chiang Mai is my favourite CouchSurfing event.
Two weekly events held in Wellington, NZ
Get Into Community Events
Some communities are better than others and are a great way to meet local people who have influence in the community. They can be harder to find, but talk to hostel receptionist, notice boards and in general just keep your eyes peeled. There’s also websites and Facebook groups which can be helpful. In Facebook search (insert city name) under groups and see what you can find, join the group and reach out!
Chiang Mai groups are everywhere!
You can’t just turn up in a city and expect to be surrounded by locals in a world of globalisation. You need to make some effort and find the avenue that allows you to feel comfortable and have a pre-meditated connection with rather than cold introductions.
Bottom line, just be a nice person and you will attract the kind of people you want to meet!
