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What is Nomadtable?

Nomadtable is a free app that allows people to create events that others can attend, such as hiking a nearby trail, sharing a picnic at a local park, having a drink at a popular bar, or splitting the cost of a rental car for a day trip. While the name would suggest that only travelers use it, I’ve found locals create and join events as well. I’ve never used the paid version of the app, but I get into what it offers further below.

How Does Nomadtable Work?

After downloading the app, you select your home country and then, optionally, you can include things like the languages you speak, your Instagram handle, and a short blurb about yourself. From there, you can view a map of the area that you’re in and which Nomadtable events local users have set up.

My favorite function is the ability to choose which events Nomadtable notifies me about; it’s what ultimately kept me from deleting the app. I got sick of seeing a new “Such-and-such wants to get drinks” event every day. While I enjoy sharing drinks, I prefer using Nomadtable to find more novelty experiences and people to get out into nature with.

My second favorite function are the City Chats. Once you’ve added a city as a place that you might travel, you have the option to join a chat specific to people who are either currently there or planning a trip there. Think of it as joining a subreddit or WhatsApp group. You can ask place-specific questions like where to buy certain items or how easy it is to get a bus to a nearby town, etc. This is a great way to see what you might expect in a place or get information like whether it’s safe to go at all. While I was a member of the Bariloche City Chat, one user worried whether he should avoid visiting due to fires. News stories had led him to believe that entire region of Patagonia was on fire when the issue was actually hours away from Bariloche.

Is Nomadtable Safe?

Just like I mentioned when I wrote about using Tandem’s language exchange app, the usual amount of caution you exert with anything related to the internet should be enough. You are also able to make your events private so that people specifically have to request to join your event’s chat rather than just hopping into it. Nomadtable also offers a few other safety options for female users, like the ability to create female-only events and making it so that male profiles cannot view your Instagram handle (if you choose to include your Instagram account name on your profile at all). As with many apps, even though this is meant to be for making travel friendships, some users may treat it like a dating app.

Would I Recommend Nomadtable?

Overall, yes. Larger cities are definitely better though. Smaller areas won’t have as many people and therefore won’t have as many events. Plus, smaller areas tend to have travelers who only have a few days to spare versus hubs where there are plenty of nomads, expats, and locals who are staying for longer periods of time and have greater time flexibility.

Have I Created Any Nomad Events?

Also yes! I created a park picnic event back in Mendoza, where I met another female nomad that I went on to hang out with when we overlapped in Santiago. There was, however, another event I created and cancelled because it felt like a slow burn towards people not ultimately showing up (it required people to buy a ticket to a play and show up on time, lol). More laid-back events can have greater success, especially when you factor in cultures where it’s common for people to show up late to pre-planned events vs. cultures that are known for being punctual. But even if you don’t attend many events, the map offers a chance to see the pulse of a city and what kinds of activities are possible You never know what you might find!

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While I prefer TimeLeft over Nomadtable for the consistency of the connections you make, I have enjoyed both and actually even introduced people I met on NomadTable to people I met through TimeLeft!

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What Does the Paid Version of Nomadtable Offer?

The paid version of Nomadtable offers the ability to browse through all local users. Otherwise, you can only see the first few people who come up on a provided list of nearby accounts. You can also see who exactly has viewed your profile rather than simply knowing “someone viewed your profile,” and the paid version also boosts your profile so that others see your profile more often. Regardless, you can always create events and attend the events of others for free.

What Are the Cons of Nomadtable?

The main drawback of NomadTable is that sometimes the application will simply go down. You open up the app and stare at the logo, but nothing else appears. Sometimes restarting the app does the trick, other times you just have to wait until later.

If you’ve tried Nomadtable, I’d love to hear what your experiences were like!