Locals for Hire

Carousing through town with bona fide locals in a new city, you can’t help but feel intrinsically cool. Tourist? Hardly. You’re just kicking it with friends.

And for those of us who don’t happen to have friends conveniently scattered throughout the globe, Like-A-Local.com promises that hiring a local to be your friend will elevate you to that high-and-mighty feeling just the same.

The Amsterdam-based company’s roster of friendly locals—located in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, and Stockholm—is rife with regular folk who (for a small fee) want to host you on their houseboat in Rotterdam, picnic with you at Barcelona’s Collserola Park, or show you insiders highlights of their hometown, like authentic Belgium pubs in Antwerp. On deck for expansion are more than a dozen more global hot spots, from New York to Istanbul.

To pick your local buddy, browse Like-A-Local.com’s directory of offerings, split into sections on unique lodging experiences (Live!), authentic experiences (Go!), and tastes of local cuisine (Eat!).

Sure, hiring a local might remind you a bit too much of when your mom paid the neighbor kid to tutor you (read: be your friend)—and yes, there goes the serendipitous romance of your travel tale—but let’s face it: Meeting locals through happenstance is tough (and can be near impossible with a language barrier).

Thanks, Gadling, for the tip!

Photo: Like-A-Local.com