Dear friend,
I have lived in seven cities across five states in the last decade. Two of those moves were for career promotions, two of those moves were marriage-related. All of those moves required me to meet new people. Make new friends. And y’all – I LOVE humans. I love people. I am an extreme extrovert. And even I, as a people-loving, extremely extroverted, talkative millennial, have struggled to connect at times.
Enter this blog.
I have finally landed on a centering theme for this blog, a focus: how to make, keep, and enrich life-giving friendships that make your life more colorful, bright, and fulfilled. I invite you to come back every Monday and Thursday for friendship tips.
Think of me as your friend in the city. Your sis, encouraging you to make new connections. Today’s friendship tip is below!
Making New Friends in a New City
When my husband and I moved from Washington State to Washington, DC, this fall, we were moving to an area of the country where neither of us had ever lived. I only knew a handful of people in the DMV, but I was pretty much starting from scratch with making friends.
Tip #1: To make new friends, go to events built around meeting people
I’ve shared this story countless times, but a few months ago, my husband was driving our big moving truck through the fields of Iowa (…or was it Idaho?), when I started to worry that I wouldn’t know anyone in DC. So I opened up LinkedIn, and an event popped up for Military Spouses that I signed up to attend. It was free!
And guess what? While there are a handful of extraordinary ladies I connected with, one fantastic woman I met connected me to so many other groups. As a result of this one new friend and her invitations, I attended four different events in my first six weeks in DC! Brenna is her name, but guess what? Your Brenna is on the other end of an event you don’t even know exists!
Here’s my advice for steps to finding events with “your” people, even if you didn’t just move across the country:
- Go to events and places that match what YOU value. Are you exploring your faith and beliefs? A small group at a church would be a good group to join to meet new people. Do you like to move? Join a hiking or walking group. There’s a fantastic one in DC called City Girls Who Walk DC, which hosts free walks for women in the city.
- Seek & you will find. Google and social media have made finding fun events SO much easier than years ago. I find most of my events through Insta pages I follow that tell me about what’s happening in DC, but there are so many ways to search! Eventbrite is a hub for a variety events that allows you to search by city, date, and even price range. Facebook events tend to be hit-or-miss, in my opinion, but depending on your area, it may have good events.
- Show up early to class or work. If you are in a new job or class, often times, just showing up early allows you to have time to connect with people you’re studying or working with. I had a trial for ClassPass and went to a Yoga class right outside of DC. By showing up early, I ended up hitting it off with a talented woman who I now work with at coffee shops every few weeks. She’s become a good remote-work buddy.
The key to activating this tip is at any event you go to, is to actually say something to at least one person. You never know where it’ll lead.
You don’t need a ton of friends. You just need a few good ones.
Your friend in the city,
Vimbo
P.S. ❤️ Subscribe to my weekly Sunshine Emails that go out on Mondays, click HERE 😊
