Hi Everywhere is a site where people can connect with locals in virtually any city around the world who will act as tour guides. It’s well established that there is no better way to tour a city than with a local. The experience far surpasses hiring a sterile professional tour guide who will focus on major tourist attractions, or attempting to navigate a foreign locale on your own.
The premise is simple, just browse the various tour guide listings and if you find a match, Hi Everywhere will facilitate the connection and schedule the dates. During or after the trip, Hi Everywhere offers a place to write up a journal entry and upload photos from your adventures.
Note: In the world of the internet it does pay to be careful, and though the purpose of Hi Everywhere is laudatory, it has the potential to be misused. Hi Everywhere does not reference any screening process of its guides. Given the fact that any stranger could conceivably choose to answer your call for a tour guide, we would recommend that you proceed with caution.
Practical Uses:
- Find someone to show you around a country you’ve never visited
- Meet people in your own city to learn more about its history and activities
- Visit your ancestral homeland with someone who actually lives there
- Record a journal of your trip and your meeting with your tour guide
- Find potential clients if you’re interested in becoming a tour guide
Insider Tips:
- Be descriptive about who you are and what you want to see
- Read through other people’s journals from places you’re going to visit
- Before you get together with someone in a foreign country, request as much information as you can about that person: start an email relationship, talk on the phone, get pictures, and so on
- Become a guide! The way to make sure this site is totally on the up and up is to become a guide in your own city (currently the main users are in Asian countries, so if you live in a popular American city, you could find people to show around town)
What we liked:
- It’s free
- It’s a well-made site and easy to surf around
- It’s a unique idea, especially combined with the journaling feature
What we didn’t like:
- There isn’t a whole lot of activity at the moment
- The journaling functionality and usage on the site currently is pretty sparse
- No real safeguards against fraudulent activity
Alternatives:
Company Info:
- Launched: December 2007
- Privately Held
- Headquarters: Taipei, Taiwan
- Founded by: Brenda Chen and Ryan Wu
- Web site: http://www.hieverywhere.com
Costs:
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