Notes from the ground

Guides on meeting people, doing more in your city, and how Zerca works, written by the people building it.

Things to Do in San Juan: A Local's Guide by Time of Day

What San Juan actually does: sunrise runs in Condado, coffee in Viejo San Juan, beach afternoons, and where the night really starts. Written by locals.

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How to Meet People in San Francisco (Without It Feeling Like Networking)

SF is full of people who moved here alone. Where connection actually happens (run clubs, Dolores Park, pickup games) and why small plans beat big events.

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How to Meet People in Puerto Rico: For Locals, Returnees, and New Arrivals

Whether you grew up here, just moved back, or arrived last month: how social life actually works in Puerto Rico and how to plug into it.

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How to Make Friends as an Adult: What Actually Works

Adult friendship isn't a personality problem, it's a logistics problem. The three conditions friendships need, and how to engineer them into a normal week.

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The Best Apps to Make Friends in 2026. And Why Most Don't Work

An honest tour of the friend-making app landscape: swipe apps, event platforms, group chats. What each gets right, and the step they all skip.

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Meetup Alternatives in 2026: What to Use When Events Aren't Enough

Meetup invented event-based socializing, and aged into its limits. The real alternatives by use case, from hobby communities to spontaneous local plans.

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How Zerca Works: The Deck, the Map, and Why Plans Beat Profiles

A walkthrough of Zerca from the inside: the poster deck, the live map, check-ins, and the design decisions behind a plan-first social app.

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Safety by Design: How Zerca Makes Meeting Strangers Less Strange

Public places only, proximity-verified check-ins, reputation that follows behavior, and moderation that runs before content ships. Zerca's safety architecture.

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