That can work, but I think meeting in person still carries its own risks. Even someone you know may not always be as trustworthy as you think. There was a recent case in Mexico where a family was allegedly killed because of their Bitcoin holdings. Stories like that are a reminder that privacy is not the only concern. Physical safety matters too. For me, knowing someone personally would reduce some risk, but it would never remove it completely.

The best option for me is to have a trusted network of peers I can reachout and meet IRL to exchange sats directly, wait for confirmation when onchain and then spend some time together to chit chat.

I am curious about this too. It is one of those questions I keep coming back to. Especially from a privacy point of view, I would like to understand what people actually use when they want to move between cash and Bitcoin without relying on a centralized exchange. I will definitely be following the replies here.