I love to travel. Experience other cultures. Expand my comfort zone. Explore the unknown.

With travel, comes uncertainty. And questions. Where to go? Where to stay? How to get there (and around)? Where to eat? And most important: What to do to fully experience your destination?

A great way to find the right answers is by getting in touch with locals. Because just as you know what to do — and what to avoid — where you come from, others do for the place you plan on going.

This is where Knowers comes in: A startup that connects travelers with locals to create authentic travel experiences.

Ps; de blog hier onder heb ik geschreven als onderdeel van het experiment voor de website van Knowers.

Enter Knowers

I’m Kevin Weijers. A little over two years ago, I embarked on an adventure: Around the World in 80 Experiments. A challenge to help companies all around the world launch new ideas in exchange for food and shelter. So far, I’ve completed 27 out of the 80 experiments.

Like every traveler, I have lots of places I want to visit. Tel-Aviv is one of them. When I booked my ticket two weeks ago, the next thing I had to take of care of is a place to stay. The problem: I don’t know Tel-Aviv. I don’t know in what area I should (or shouldn’t) stay. And I don’t know how to get from the airport to the city center. Use public transport or a taxi? Do they have Uber? I just don’t know.

How much I like to explore new countries, I hate endless Google searches and finding my way through a jungle of information. Knowers is designed to answer questions like this. So, I downloaded the app, created my profile, and asked my first question.

Within minutes, I receive multiple replies. This one is the most detailed:

Great, I’ll take the train. So, where should I stay? I ask my next question and got various replies. In short, Airbnb is good in Tel-Aviv, as is a place in the city-center called Abraham’s Hostel. Since I’m traveling by myself, I like meeting people. I check Abraham’s Hostel online and find out they have private rooms as well, which is just perfect for me.

Two weeks later

Once I arrive at the airport two weeks later, I take the train and find my way to Abraham’s Hostel. It’s surprisingly easy. I drop my bag in my room. The trip made me hungry. And I can’t think straight when I’m hungry… Luckily, I already asked on Knowers. Tons of places got recommended by different people, but this one place: ‘Ha Kosem’ gets referred three times. Since I’m up for some local food, that’s where I’ll go.

While enjoying this delicious meal, I realize it’s almost 7 pm. Time for drinks. So, I hop on Knowers, and ask my next question:

I end my first day with an Israeli beer, a great Vietnamese meal at Vong, and I’m ready for a good night sleep.

Exploring Tel-Aviv through the knowledge of local Knowers

I don’t want to get you all jealous, but the rest of my stay in Tel-Aviv (and Israel in general), was amazing. When it was raining I got recommended to go to Israel’s first whiskey distillery:

I was invited through knowers to join for the Shabbat dinner:

They showed me one of the most fascinating cities I’ve ever been to: Jerusalem.

And when I got asked what to do as ‘a tourist’ in Tel-Aviv, I got to show off with my Knowers-knowledge!

It’s difficult to describe how different this experience was from a ‘normal holiday’. Although it was just a week, I feel like I’ve experienced real Israel. In all its diversity, beauty, and with all its flavors. There’s just this one problem: I fell in love with the place. So I have to go back…

My tip for you — Download Knowers and start exploring. Or, help others explore your city: Because everyone is a local somewhere.