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This Week’s Best In Beta: Jambo, A Meet-Up App That Takes The Lonely Out Of Living And Traveling Abroad

jambo

This Week’s Best In Beta

Which startup is going to be the next big thing? Investors, bloggers, job seekers, and inspiring entrepreneurs everywhere are dying to know. Hundreds of startups enter private beta each month, and that’s far too many for any one person to keep up with. Fret not! Each week, I share some of the hottest new startups in this column, Best In Beta. Let’s discover the next big thing together!

 

Jambo

I thought I was a worldly person, ready to live anywhere. I’d lived on both coasts of the US, after all, managed to survive apart from my family for nearly a decade, traveled widely… and then I moved abroad to Buenos Aires and expat life kicked my ass good.

 

Connecting in a new place is tough – especially if you’re beyond university/foreign exchange years. The faster you can gain your bearings, the more enjoyable life becomes again.

 

Jambo is a promising meet-up app for expats, travelers and locals alike. It has social networking, city guide, and tour booking elements to help people make the most of their experiences in new locations.

 

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m ready to have an English conversation with the first native speaker I can find, but just because someone else is from the States and we happened to move abroad to the same place does not mean that we’re going to be besties. I’m a friendly person, but that’s just the truth.

 

jambo landing

 

Jambo avoids forced attempts at connections, giving users a chance to meet the people that they’re truly interested in spending time with. Search filters for country, languages, and shared interests bring people closer to meeting on common ground. Smart.

 

Another part of feeling immersed in your environment is knowing both the landmarks and the local hangouts. Jambo has a handy city guide tool for finding and reading up on spots. You can even purchase tickets in app, which is both convenient and a good way to avoid pushing off visits to famous destinations – really, the only way to go local is to do the things that tourists travel to experience. Sharing a zip code with monuments isn’t the same as knowing them firsthand.

 

To Jambo’s credit, it doesn’t cater to any particular agenda, though. If you find yourself traveling for work, pleasure, relocation, it aims to help individuals explore their surroundings better – be it alone, with locals, or fellow travelers.

 

You hear a lot of bogus travel wisdom about the value of venturing outside of your comfort zone. By stepping out into the world, you’ll encounter discomfort and challenges and beauty no matter what. So, I say, while you’re navigating new terrain, you might as well do it with great company and without missing a thing.

 

Book your chance to say hello to the world by visiting jamboapp.co, and request to join their iOS Alpha.

 

Photo Credits

Jambo | Zolotareva Elina/Shutterstock

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