Bumble BFF Review: How I Easily Met My Travel Buddy on This App
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One of the things people ask me when I tell them that I usually solo travel is, ‘How am I not lonely?’
To be honest, it can get lonely sometimes. But other times, it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet other travelers!
It forces you to get out of your comfort zone.
So, you may be wondering how to meet people while traveling like I have.
As someone who has successfully used Bumble BFF and maintained a three-year friendship that began with a simple swipe in Barcelona, I’ve navigated both the successes and failures of meeting people through friendship apps while traveling.
In this Bumble BFF review, I will walk you through my experience using it to meet fellow travelers and provide advice on profile setup, safety, and realistic expectations.
What is Bumble BFF?
Bumble BFF is an app that provides users with a simple, free, and fun way to meet new friends from the comfort of their homes—or wherever they are with their phones!
It used to be part of the main Bumble app. However, they have since parsed off the varying sections of the app, the other two being Date and Bizz mode.
Switching between them used to be a little annoying since you couldn’t access any messages from BFF while in Bizz, for example. Now, you can download just the Bumble BFF portion, which makes it easier to handle.
Why I Joined Bumble BFF
I joined Bumble BFF because I liked its overall ease of use as an app. I also liked that it’s free unless you pay for a subscription to get access to additional features.
Additionally, I liked that it had a dedicated “friends” section, unlike a lot of dating-focused apps. Bumble also has a good reputation for having “higher value” people as part of its user base.
Setting Up My Bumble BFF Profile
When setting up your Bumble BFF profile, the most important thing some forget when traveling is to mention that in your profile. You don’t want to mislead anyone that you live in whatever city you’re visiting.
I usually write something in the tail end of my “Bio” that says “Visiting Lisbon 6/1 – 6/8″ so that others know I’m not a local.
If you want to meet up with locals, that’s fine. But I know some people are on the app trying to find long-term local friends, and me, I’m usually looking for other travelers, so I want to be clear about my intentions.
The rest of the profile is pretty similar to dating app advice. Make sure you have some recent photos of yourself, fill out the prompts and bio, add to your “About you” and “More about you” sections, select the languages you speak (this can be helpful, especially if you’re looking for locals and you speak their native language), and connect your social accounts if you wish.
Bumble BFF has this nifty feature called “Profile strength” at the top of your Profile, so you’ll know if you need to add more info.
How I Met My Travel Buddy While Traveling Solo
I’ve discussed many ways to meet people while traveling solo. However, my most successful meeting with someone with whom I’ve stayed in contact for three years so far was on Bumble BFF.
When visiting Barcelona in the fall of 2021, I had been using the Bumble app for its Date mode. I wasn’t very successful with it, though. After two failed meetups, I decided I needed some girl time and switched the app to BFF mode. And am I sure glad I did!
Within a day of switching it, I met someone I’ve stayed in contact with since—someone I’ve now traveled to three countries with! We’ve been all over Italy, to England, and to Finland.
But I’m getting ahead of myself on this Bumble BFF review. Obviously, this was the access point to meet each other and become friends, but before that began, I was merely swiping to find a woman close in age to me who liked to travel and was in Barcelona at the same time I was.
Lessons I Learned on Bumble BFF
To help you learn how to meet people, let me walk you through what I was looking for while swiping.
As I mentioned, my criteria were female, close in age, likes travel, and in the vicinity of where I was at the time. I did not overthink it beyond that. Sometimes, we can get really in our own heads when we’re looking for someone—friend or date—and it can ruin a good opportunity. We’ve even said to each other since that we were just hoping the other wasn’t crazy when we agreed to meet up. That was it.
Let’s say you match with someone you’d like to meet up with. I like to chat with someone for a bit before meeting up. I do this in hopes that I can suss out if we’ll vibe. When traveling, however, you can’t draw this out too long, as if you do, the other person maybe onto their next destination by the time you warm up to them.
How to Safely Meetup with Someone
Alright, you’ve found a new friend! Now what? My #1 travel tip in this Bumble BFF review is to be safe! Do not go to someone’s hotel, hostel, or whatever accommodation they have. Many men have tried to pull this on dating apps. Luckily, I haven’t seen it on the BFF app, but I maintain this rule nonetheless.
When I met my friend in Barcelona, we agreed to meet at a rooftop bar. Unfortunely, that place wound up we needed a reservation for, but we quickly Ubered to another rooftop and had a beautiful view of the Barcelona Cathedral.
If you can’t tell, this bar was a public location, so we both felt comfortable. If heaven forbid, one of us had been unstable or just plain awkward, at least we were in a heavily populated area where we could get help if needed.
Always, always, always do this when meeting someone new. I knew Barcelona Cathedral was a touristy spot, so even though I was no Barcelona expert, I knew the area was public and, therefore, likely safe. If you’re unsure of the area someone is suggesting, Google its reviews or, even better, counter with a place you like that you’re comfortable in.
What to Do After Meeting Someone While Traveling
Let’s say it went great. Wonderful! Keep in touch however you feel comfortable which is another top safety tip on this Bumble BFF review. We met up a couple more times on this trip and exchanged Instagram handles way before phone numbers.
We also got lucky that we live an hour from each other in the States, so we’ve been able to stay connected even while at home. I actually picked her up from the airport when returning from the trip we met on since I was at the tail end of my trip when we met, and she was at the beginning of hers.
However, even if you aren’t local to one another back home, you can still maintain that friendship online, as I did with one of the women I met at the hostel I stayed at in Dublin.
Now, let’s say it didn’t go so well. That’s fine! I’ve met plenty of people while traveling that I haven’t heard from since. Just because you connect in that moment doesn’t mean it always carries on beyond that. But that’s perfectly okay! That’s simply life (though I hope these photos give you hope)!
Learning how to meet people while traveling is a lot of trial and error. I know this is a Bumble BFF review, but I didn’t meet that friend in Dublin on Bumble. We only happened to be staying in the same room and had similar interests. Bumble BFF is merely another tool in your arsenal.
FAQs
Is Bumble BFF still a thing?
Yes, Bumble BFF is still a thing! It’s actually a much better user experience now that it’s become its own app, in my opinion. Even when I use it at home in the United States, I find a lot of people on it, so even if you don’t find success with it while traveling, you can use it at home as well.
What age group uses Bumble BFF?
It is hard for me to say in this Bumble BFF review, as I’ve previously mentioned, I was looking for someone my age. However, as long as you’re an adult, I say try Bumble BFF. I mention adults, as you need to be at least 18 years old to join Bumble BFF.
Did Bumble BFF help you make any friends?
Yes! And a friend I still have three years later and is in all these photos, so I highly recommend it for those looking to meet people while traveling.
Is it safe to use Bumble or any other online apps to make friends?
As I mentioned above, there are safety precautions you should take no matter what app you’re using, including Timeleft (which I commonly use as well). Use common sense when meeting someone on the internet. Unfortunately, not everyone is who they say they are, and not everyone is well-intentioned. It’s the most important thing to remember when meeting people while traveling.
Related Travel Apps Guides
- The Best Apps for Traveling in Europe that are FREE
- 27 of the Best Travel Apps for Paris That are FREE
- Bumble BFF Review: How I Easily Met My Travel Buddy
- Review of Mango Languages: Free Way to Learn a Language
- Is Lingopie Useful to Travelers? My Honest Review
- How to Use the Google Translate App for Communicating Abroad
- Is Timeleft Worth It? My Honest Review After Trying It in the US & UK
- 30 of the Best Apps for Solo Travelers: Safety, Savings, Community, and More
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