Travel Just Got Social with Travel Pal!

Do you want to travel but are limited by not knowing anyone abroad, not having anyone to travel with or accommodation costs?

Introducing Travel Pal, which is going to solve all of this: 

Last year we tried out Hello Pal - an exciting new app making it easy and social to learn a new language. I still use this app every single day (to learn Hungarian) and I have great news: Hello Pal has just brought out a new social app: Travel Pal!

Travel Pal connects you with real people from across the world. You can use the app to make real friends absolutely anywhere. Like Hello Pal, Travel Pal makes your life easier and more social: through Travel Pal you can find locals in your dream country to host you, meet up with you, show you around or just have a meal with. You can also use Travel Pal to find like-minded travellers heading to the same destination as you. Or to host people from around the world if you can't travel right now. And there's so much more! 

I tried out Travel Pal in Kuala Lumpur and this is what I thought:

First things first I downloaded the free app (Android, Apple) and set about filling out my profile:

Immediately I loved how easy it was to use (and how pretty the design was). The only thing that could have been better would be to have another option than just 'male' or 'female', there are lots of non-binary people and it would be nice to be inclusive (plus personally we'd have liked to have a 'couple' option). 

The next section was about nationality and where you are currently located. I LOVED this section, too often this type of section is hard for me to fill out: "well I'm from the UK, but I haven't lived there since 2013, I am currently living in Kuala Lumpur but next month I'll be in Bali. I stay in Bangkok the most but only 3 times a year... so for where I'm from, what do I put? Permanent address, nationality, what?"... but Travel Pal made it simple: "What's your nationality?", "Where are you currently located?". Love it.

Next came where you'd like to visit and your spoken language(s). I wanted to explore more of Kuala Lumpur so I added that, I thought it was great that you could add two more places too. And I was glad that three was the maximum amount of places you could add (you can change them at any time). I literally could spend five hours filling out the places I want to go and that's just silly. Thank you Travel Pal for reigning me in. 

A side note, whilst filling out these details I noticed how much thought and care had gone into Travel Pal. Little details like having the flags next to the places you want to go are just lovely. Things like this aren't really necessary but they make the whole experience more enjoyable.

The final section to fill out was the give back section - where could you help people out and what could you offer them: a place to stay, a shared meal, services as a guide or advice? Once I'd filled that out I was good to go. 

Get help from locals with Travel Pal

After my profile was filled out, I clicked the little 'travelling' tab in the bottom left hand corner. 

Here I could fill in my KL dates and request services. I decided to look for people to have coffee or a meal with and guides. It was all really self explanatory and I hit search for hosts and found this:

A whole range of people with different nationalities, ages, all in Kuala Lumpur and all ready to give advice about the city.

I picked the first person and loved how Travel Pal made everything very clear with how to use it:

It wasn't long before I was making friends around the city hearing hints and tips and arranging meet-ups. 

Get a travel partner with Travel Pal

But Travel Pal isn't just great for meeting locals, you can also find another person (or other people) to travel with. This is perfect for people that want to travel, but don't want to travel on their own. It's also perfect for us - we love travelling together, but sometimes we like to travel with new friends too: 

Let travellers come to you with Travel Pal

For those that can't travel right now, but still want to fuel their wanderlust, Travel Pal is also perfect. You can chat to people from all over the world, offer to host them or offer to show them round your city, meet up for a coffee or just give them advice. As a local, your hints and tips about your home country are invaluable - spread that knowledge and you'll be impressed with the positive response!

Learn a foreign language with Travel Pal

Like Hello Pal, Travel Pal is awesome if you want to learn a language. We don't like traditional language learning methods (like school), we think language is learnt best when you learn it like you learnt your mother tongue. Travel Pal understands and caters to that, you don't need to have any prior knowledge to learn a language with Travel Pal, just use the common phrases and away you go! 

Conclusion

All in all, I loved the Travel Pal app, I thought it was really beautifully designed - everything was very clear but it's also super cute with its emojis and flags. 

What I really loved about Travel Pal was that it has taken the best parts of Hello Pal and couchsurfing and put them together. 

I always really loved the idea of couchsurfing, but found that in practice no one wanted to chat or hang out with us (sob). Travel Pal is definitely couchsurfing on steriods though, people are out there ready to show you around their city - what more could you want!

And Travel Pal is so much more than that, it's also a great place to meet fellow travellers, host travellers or even learn a language.

Make sure you download the app today on Android  or Apple (it's free)!

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