Anyone Know How to Find a Person Without Using Paid Services?

Hi is there anyone who successfully managed to find a person online without using one of those paywall heavy search tools? I’m trying to locate someone i went to uni with more out of curiosity than anything else i remember their name and the city they were last in and maybe a few things like their old workplace and hobbies the issue is that every time i think i’ve found something it leads to a site asking for money to unlock more info, and most of the time it’s not even clear if it’s the right person.

Is there a smarter way to go about this? Like certain keywords to use on search engines or any sites where people help each other track people down in a respectful way?