Wakapadi – Meet locals and travelers nearby and join free walking tours

Hi HN,

I built Wakapadi after noticing that most travel tools focus on planning trips, but not on actually helping people connect once they arrive somewhere new.

When traveling, it’s often hard to meet locals or other travelers unless you already know someone, join organized tours, or rely on chance. I wanted to make discovery more natural — seeing who’s nearby, joining free walking tours, and exploring cities together.

Wakapadi currently allows users to:

discover free walking tours

see nearby travelers and locals who are open to meeting

connect and chat before meeting

explore cities in a more social way

The project is still early, and I’m especially interested in feedback on:

safety and privacy expectations

what would make you comfortable meeting people while traveling

features that would make this genuinely useful instead of another travel app

Happy to answer any technical or product questions.