Friendliest Nations You’ll Meet Traveling

Having done my fair share of travel over the past few years, I’ve met people from all around the world and it’s truly been amazing. Travel allows you to connect with people from countries you may not have even heard of before. You’ll find yourself making friends across the globe in the blink of an eye! Although almost everyone I’ve met through my travels has had a positive impact, there are some nationalities that stand out as especially friendly. So here are the friendliest nations you’ll meet traveling! 

Kiwi’s

The people of New Zealand are known throughout the world as a friendly bunch, but it wasn’t until I spent some time with them that I came to see how true the stereotype is. My first interaction with kiwi’s took place when I was traveling alone in Switzerland. I met two guys from New Zealand who were very easy going and happily invited me to spend the rest of the day hiking with them and hanging out later that night.

My second and more noteworthy experience with the friendly people of New Zealand, was more recently. While I was living in Australia, I spent some time working at a store in Melbourne. A girl came in with her boyfriend and they happened to be from New Zealand. We got to talking for a while and I told them I was planning to visit New Zealand on my way back home to Canada. We stayed in touch and they told me they’d love to show me around the North Island.

Sure enough, when I got to Auckland, Maria came to pick me up, let me stay at her gorgeous house and took me camping for the week. She also invited me to a music festival with her group of friends and was nothing short of an amazing host! To think that someone I had only met once was so quick to offer to show me around and make me feel comfortable in her home country was surprising. She definitely left me with a lasting impression of the people from New Zealand!

Swedish

I hadn’t met many Swedish people through my travels until I got to the Philippines. I happened to meet many people from Sweden there and they were all very kind and genuine!

Two Swedish girls I met named Ebba and Emma were friends from home and traveling together. They made me feel so welcome and we spent many days together at the beach, getting to know each other.

When I had food poisoning, they helped take care of me and checked in on me to make sure I was okay. They also were very concerned when I told them about an older man who had been following me from one island to the next and staying at the same hostels I was at (stay tuned for a future blog post!). They were in touch with other Swedish guys we had all met together and asked them to keep an eye on me and make sure I was safe. The guys showed great concern which was nice, especially since I was traveling alone. 

British

No matter where you travel, you are BOUND to meet British people. There’s just no avoiding them, but that’s definitely not a bad thing! If their charming accent alone wasn’t reason enough to befriend the Brits, I don’t know what is. They’re definitely among the friendliest nations you’ll meet traveling for a reason. 

I found many similarities between British and Canadian people, making it easy to form bonds and friendships quickly. While living in Australia, I became friends with a British girl who just happened to be named Amy as well. I was able to visit her during a quick layover in London. She took time out of her busy life to pick me up from the airport, miss class that day and show me as much as she could in the short amount of time that I had! Soon I’ll be able to return the favour when she comes to visit me in Toronto in June. 

Dutch

Only having had a few interactions with Dutch people, it’s hard to judge them as a whole, but from what I’ve experienced, they’re very kind and light hearted people! When looking back on my latest backpacking experience, the funniest girl I met was Kat, who currently lives in Amsterdam. 

Kat had such a great sense of humour and could make anyone smile. We bonded quickly and I hope to visit her someday in Amsterdam! Besides Kat, I met a few other Dutch people along my travels and they were all great and very friendly.

Canadian

It should come as no surprise that Canadians are one of the friendliest nations you’ll meet traveling. I mean, we’re probably most known for our friendly nature and politeness. I can definitely attest to that! While I don’t usually meet many other Canadians when I’m backpacking oddly enough, I met a few when I was living in Australia who ended up being great friends. When it comes to backpacking, I’ve had mostly pleasant experiences with my fellow Canadians. My ears always perk up a bit when I hear someone say ‘eh’ and use the same slang or sayings that I’m used to from home.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve met really nice and friendly people from other countries when traveling such as Danish, Americans, Australians, Italian, Spanish, Colombian and many more! I found myself making friends with a lot of Americans when living abroad in Australia both times but for some reason don’t meet many when I’m backpacking. Either way, this list is definitely not conclusive but simply an observation I’ve made after spending some time traveling alone and meeting new people from around the world! 

Do you agree that these are the friendliest nations you’ll meet traveling? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,

Amy xx