Some friendships start over a beer. This one started through way too many of them.

I first met Sergey in Krakow, when he joined the Krawlthroughkrakow pub crawl and started working with me. At the time, I was managing the pub crawl and he was staying as a volunteer. He was initially tasked with helping improve our website, but he quickly got the hang of the business and, more importantly, the fun that comes with bringing people together. Neither of us probably expected that, years later, we'd be running our own pub crawls in completely different countries.

Today, Sergey runs Las Palmas Pub Crawl in Gran Canaria, while I've built TiranaSZN in Albania. And somehow, after starting out working together in Krakow, we ended up helping each other build our own businesses.

From Working Together to Building Our Own Futures

After Krakow, we eventually went our separate ways. Life moved on, and we both ended up in different places. Then one day, while browsing Instagram, something caught my eye. It turned out that Sergey had started his own pub crawl in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

I knew he had spent a lot of time working with us in Krakow and was certainly a very social person who was well suited to guiding, but seeing him actually start his own business was something different. He had taken the experience he gained in Krakow and turned it into something of his own.

We got back in touch, started talking about what we were both doing and quickly realised that many of the challenges were exactly the same. The cities were different, as were the people and venues, but running a pub crawl comes with the same fundamental questions everywhere. How do you get people to connect? How do you build a good route? How do you find the right guides and venues? How do you create an experience people actually remember? And how do you turn a group of strangers into a group that feels like they've been partying together for years?

Those conversations became a regular part of our calls.

My Time With Las Palmas Pub Crawl

Eventually, I got the chance to know a lot more about Las Palmas Pub Crawl, and one thing became very clear very quickly: a pub crawl is never really just about the bars.

Las Palmas is a great city for nightlife, but putting together a good night isn't simply a matter of choosing a few venues and walking between them. The route matters, the timing matters and the guides matter, but most importantly, the atmosphere matters. You can have the best bars in the city and still have a mediocre pub crawl if nobody talks to each other.

What Sergey has built with Las Palmas Pub Crawl puts a lot of emphasis on the social side of the experience. The idea is simple: bring together travellers, students, expats, digital nomads and locals, give them a reason to interact and let the night develop naturally. There are games, challenges, drinks, conversations and plenty of opportunities for people to actually get to know each other.

Instead of simply trying to get people as drunk as possible, Sergey's focus has always been on creating the best experience possible for the people joining. Someone can arrive without knowing anyone and, by the next day, those same people might be renting a car together, having brunch or going hiking in the mountains of Gran Canaria.

That's what a good pub crawl should do. The bars are part of it, but the people are the reason it works.

What Las Palmas Taught Me

Hearing about the pub crawls in Las Palmas and later in Maspalomas, the tourist area in the south of the island, reminded me how much of this business happens outside the obvious things.

When you're running a pub crawl, there are always operational details to deal with. Where is the group? Is everyone ready to leave? Are the drinks sorted? Is the next venue expecting us? What happens if someone arrives late? All of that matters, but none of it matters if the guests aren't actually enjoying themselves.

A good guide needs to be paying attention to the people, not just the schedule. Who's standing alone? Who hasn't spoken to anyone yet? Which people are already getting along? When should the group move on, and when should you give people more time? Those small decisions can completely change someone's night.

Watching Sergey build Las Palmas Pub Crawl reinforced something I've learned from years in the industry: the product isn't really the route. The product is the experience people have while they're on it.

More Than Just Business Partners

One of my favourite parts of this whole journey is that Sergey and I never really became traditional business partners. We're running separate businesses, in separate countries, with separate brands, but we're constantly exchanging ideas.

I'll tell him what's happening in Tirana, and he'll tell me what's happening on Gran Canaria. We talk about venues, guides, guests, marketing, reviews, routes and all the random problems that come with running a nightlife business. Because we've both actually worked in the industry, the conversations tend to go beyond generic business advice.

Sometimes it's a quick message about a venue. Sometimes it's a discussion about how to get the best reviews possible. Sometimes it's a completely new idea that we want to try. And sometimes it's simply useful to talk to someone who understands exactly what you're dealing with.

When you're building a business in nightlife, having someone you trust who has been through the same things is incredibly valuable.

Why I'd Recommend Las Palmas Pub Crawl

I’ve known Sergey since we worked together in Krakow, and I’ve followed Las Palmas Pub Crawl as it has grown. What stands out to me is his focus on helping guests connect.

If you’re visiting Gran Canaria and want a social introduction to its nightlife, Las Palmas Pub Crawl is worth checking out. Visit their website for current dates and details.

From Krakow to Las Palmas to Tirana

We started as colleagues in Krakow. Today, we run separate pub crawls in Albania and Gran Canaria, sharing ideas and helping each other through the challenges.

That friendship is a reminder of what brought me into this business: the people you meet on a night out can stay in your life long after the trip ends.

TiranaSZN night out.