As every story has many stories..
Vi’s Story
The idea of our app was born on the streets of Montreal, where 2 of my gfs and I were strolling down the city without a clear plan. We checked all the touristy places we found online, made reservations in very so-so restaurants and even went to a nightclub with 18 years olds by mistake.
We craved new experiences and wanted to meet new people just to mingle and socialize. As new yorkers we can have a small talk anywhere we go, but that is not the same if the person you talk to is not on the same page with you.
Then we went to Georgia and had a fantastic time with a group of strangers we met on a tour bus with whom we rented a private tour the next day and helped each other with tips and suggestions.
I am not even saying that splitting cost was surely a good idea.
Those few days were a highlight of our trip. We didn’t only explore a new country with new people we shared something more intimate – new impressions.
Another push to start our app was our dating life. It is nowadays reality to find people online and we are not exceptions. We meet men online, have conversations and then, if all goes well, meet in person. Sometimes you won’t even have a conversation in spite of having matched with each other. And it happened quite a few times to me and Kat that we matched with tourists and visitors who were probably bored as hell and wanted a local, quote, to show them around.
Don’t get me wrong, 2-3 weeks a year I also become a tourist and do an exactly identical thing – go on a dating app and look for a local “to show me around” like they don’t have anything better to do.
And in most cases, neither I reply to a man who indicated in his profile that he is visiting, not I get responses when I claim that the visitor is me.
That was when Kat and I looked each other in an eye and…no, we didn’t suddenly become gay and fall in love with each other, we just realized that tourists want to mingle, and the best people to mingle with are …tourists who are also visiting right at this time.
Locals can be picky or moody (we are) or they simply don’t want to meet a visitor whom they never going to see again (we don’t).
And Pikk was born.
Kat’s Story
Caramba, one moment you are a local who knows all the “secrets” of the scene and confidently navigates through the city using phrases such as: “I will meet you at the north-west corner of the twenty-third and we will head up.” Six hours later you are a tourist in the new, exciting, beautiful country where everyone speaks Dutch, except you. Our girlgang takes every chance to travel. But how do we travel? We add one-two days around holiday weekends and go away for 4-5 days. One day to get to the place, one day to get back home. So, after all, you have 2-3 quality days at your destination.
In the past 2 years, we visited Iceland, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Mexico, Columbia, and to multiple US States and Cities. We have no problem to start a conversation anywhere with anyone. However, when you stroll down the streets of e.g. Montreal and a group of guys/girls/couple with kids similar age as your kids are heading your way, you are exchanging this eager looks and.. nothing. Another thing is places to visit. Yes, we do the research, yes, we read “tips “and check travel Instagram’s of local bloggers. But still, given the time limits and the fact that we are new, it’s often that we “waste” our evenings’ at a disinteresting/stuffy/overpriced/boring/to touristy places. By the time we get to meet other tourists who can say that between XYZ which you both saw on TripAdvisor, they would recommend E, that is around the corner of their Airbnb, it’s time to pack your bags and go home.
So, what do we, single girls do, when we are cleared by the customs and happily riding in Uber to our home for the next day. We do the same thing that annoys us so much in NYC. We go on Tinder, Bumble, Happn, Inner Circle and keep swiping. Who do we match with? With locals who are definitely looking to entertain group of people, who they have little in common on their day off, or worse, after work. There are plenty of profiles on dating websites that state the days of the visit, or “working on the project for a month” and many other variations. But this is Not the point, the point is that you want to have quality time on this short/long trip, and don’t want to cheat and connect with someone who’s obviously looking for a different experience.
Additionally, there are so many things other than mingling. How many times we thought that it would be great to go on a tour with someone else, because travel agency requires a group of 8+, or rent a car with other girls to see waterfalls on the other side of an island. There’s a good chance that you will meet someone that you will click at all-inclusive hotel in the Caribbean, but how you’ll find same people in the center of Madrid “right now”, or better “yesterday”?
Moreover, you want to get to know the person before going for a drink, not to say for a 6-hour tour together. And this is how we came up with the idea of our application. With Pikk you simply look for likewise humans at the location where you are at the moment, or you can, and actually should start looking for a travel buddy while planning your journey. There are no limits: search for couples, individuals, parents with kids and do all that stuff that you wished for. On the other hand, we have an option for locals as well. If you love to share your passion and love for your city with visitors, we gotcha ya too. There are no strings attached, spend as much time together as wished, not only share your experiences and ideas – share your worlds. When travel – Pikk.
