Home›Blog
Blog
Notes on arriving somewhere alone and not staying that way — from the people who make MeetMap.
- Tokyo solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Is Tokyo safe alone, where to sleep, how the trains and the last-train clock work, what to do and eat by yourself, what it costs, and how to meet people there.
- Taipei solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Solo Taipei, properly: safety, where to sleep, the airport train, what to do alone, what a day costs, and how to fill the other five seats at a rechao table.
- Singapore solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Singapore on your own: what gets you fined, where to sleep, Changi to town for under S$3, the hours that aren't 33°C, and how a shared hawker table becomes company.
- Seoul solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Solo Seoul done properly: safety, where to sleep, airport and subway fares, what to do alone, daily costs, and how to find a second person for the barbecue.
- How to meet people in Vancouver when you've just moved thereVancouver has a name for how hard it is to make friends here. It also has a mountain staircase, a seawall and a rainy season that decides your calendar. How to use the second list against the first.
- How to meet people in Toronto when you've just moved thereToronto is friendly and closed at the same time, and its calendar is split in two by winter. What fills in July, what fills in January, and why the rec leagues exist.
- How to meet people in Tokyo when you're travelling aloneTokyo is the easiest big city in the world to eat alone in, and one of the hardest to stop eating alone in. Where the counters, the hikes and the small plans are.
- How to meet people in Taipei when you're travelling aloneTaipei's best food is priced for a table of six, its best view is a twenty-minute staircase, and its last train leaves at midnight. How a solo traveller turns that into company.
- How to meet people in Sydney when you've just moved thereSydney is easy to like and slow to let you in. It also has a coastal walk everyone says yes to, a ferry that is a day out, and a Saturday-morning ritual that needs no invitation.
- How to meet people in Singapore when you're on your ownSingapore shares tables by default. Where the hawker centres, the reservoir loop and the evening satay street are, and how a stranger's plan gets filled in a city where everyone is busy.
- How to meet people in Shenzhen when you've just moved thereNobody in Shenzhen is from Shenzhen. That is the whole advantage. Where the night runs, the sunrise hikes and the beef hotpot tables are, and why the first month here is easier than it looks.
- How to meet people in Seoul when you're travelling aloneKorean barbecue is the most social food on earth and the hardest to order for one. Seoul's hills, its river and its plastic tables are how you fix that.
- How to meet people in Kuala Lumpur when you're travelling aloneKL's living room is a pavement café that never closes. Where the mamak tables, the morning staircase and the food street are, and how a stranger's plan fills in a city that eats at midnight.
- How to meet people in Hong Kong when you're travelling aloneHong Kong has a word for sharing a table with strangers, a hiking trail within thirty minutes of every door, and a harbour crossing that costs less than a coffee. How to use all three.
- How to meet people in Bangkok when you're travelling aloneThai food is cooked for a table, not a person. That is the best reason in the city to find dinner company, and Bangkok makes it easy if you know the hours.
- Kuala Lumpur solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Is KL safe alone, which neighbourhood to sleep in, how the trains and Grab work, what to do by yourself, what it costs, and how to end up sharing a mamak table.
- How to make friends in Vancouver when you've just moved there (2026)The Vancouver freeze is real; the way round it is outdoors. First-month prices, 18 concrete ways to meet people, the Richmond bubble, and a four-week plan.
- How to make friends in Toronto when you've just moved there (2026)Toronto is polite and closed, and its year is split in two by winter. Where newcomers actually meet, what a social month costs, and a first-four-weeks plan.
- How to make friends in Sydney when you've just moved there (2026)A first-month guide for students and new arrivals: what Sydney is like socially, Opal fares, rent by suburb, the Chinese bubble, and 16 ways to meet people.
- How to make friends in Shenzhen when you've just moved there (2026)Nobody here is from here. Where Shenzhen's night runs, dawn hikes, frisbee pitches and hotpot tables are, what a social month costs, and a first-month plan.
- Hong Kong solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Is Hong Kong safe alone, which side of the harbour to sleep on, how Octopus and the ferries work, what a day costs, and how the hills get you company.
- Bangkok solo travel guide: safety, where to stay, what to do, and how to meet people (2026)Everything for a first solo trip to Bangkok — is it safe, which neighbourhood to sleep in, how the trains and boats work, what to do alone, what it costs, and the part most guides skip: how to end up eating dinner with other people.
- How to meet people in a new city when you know nobodyYou landed, you have a room, and you have no one to eat with. What actually works in the first two weeks, from people who built an app about exactly this.