Moving to another city is always stressful. You leave behind many friends, colleagues and even acquaintances. And if you don’t have a soulmate who will move with you, the feeling of loneliness can become absolutely overwhelming.

Making new friends in a new place is always difficult. You do not have a close circle in which you might meet friends of friends. Chats on local urban social networks often require understanding the context, which you may not know and look stupid because of it. And simply approaching people and getting to know them on the street has already become bad practice in the 21st century.

So what can you do? Does moving to another city automatically become a life sentence to loneliness? Of course not! You just need to slightly adjust your approach to communication. We have collected some useful tips for those who have recently moved and don’t yet know how to make interesting acquaintances in a new place.

Spend more time in places where there are many different public areas
To get started, check out Google Maps and Booking.com to find out which places near you are the most popular with locals. Cafes, restaurants, malls, amusement parks — anything at all! The more popular the place, the higher the chance you might meet someone really interesting.

It is in such places that small talk most often occurs — short conversations with random people. Such chats are not binding, but at the same time, they can be the beginning of a strong friendship or even something more. Don’t be afraid to turn to someone in line or ask a passer-by for directions to a place you need. That’s completely normal!

Have a “tourist day”
Do not spend your free time within the same four walls — that way you will only drive yourself into depression due to a growing sense of loneliness. Make a list of interesting sights and memorable places that you want to visit and hit the road.

A lot of people gather near tourist sites — both locals and visitors. As a rule, these people just relax and are not in a hurry. This means they are more open to conversation. You can ask someone for more information about the attraction, or again, ask for directions. These small chats could also eventually grow into something more. And at the same time you will learn a lot of interesting things about your new city — combine the useful with the pleasant.

If you have a dog, let them “walk” you
A pet is a real trump card in your sleeve. Walking your dog is always a great opportunity to chat with other dog lovers, share funny stories, and talk about your pet. Believe us, the conversation in this scenario will flow very easily and naturally.

The main advice is to change your walking routes or even let the dog choose the path itself. Take a walk together, meet other dog owners, have a good time and treat your pet to an exciting day in a new place.

If you do not have a pet, we advise you to fix this — an animal companion can be a real cure for loneliness for you on all occasions. It’s always nice to come home when you know that they are waiting for you.

Get to know your neighbors
You will probably cross paths with your neighbors almost every day and at least say hello to them. Why not go a little further and get to know each other better? You can invite guests home on Friday evening or just chat near your house.

It’s not necessary for your neighbors to become your friends. It’s just that when you make your first acquaintances in a foreign city, life will become much easier. You will already feel more confident, it will be easier to find a common language with other people. Or maybe your neighbors will become your best friends. This can’t be ruled out.

Spend time with colleagues if you moved for work
Moving for work gives you one important advantage — you find yourself in a new team with whom you’ll have to interact one way or another. At first, this may feel unusual and even uncomfortable. After all, those around you know each other well, and you feel like a complete stranger. But this feeling will surely pass.

Try not to limit yourself to just chatting at work. If you’re invited, for example, to a bar after work on Friday, do not refuse. Spending time together outside the workplace will help you get to know each other much better, open up, and communicate on many topics that are usually not discussed in the team. Your colleagues may very well be your first major social circle in a new place. So don’t distance yourself from this. Even better — become the person who initiates interesting joint activities outside of working hours.

Get acquainted on dating apps with a filter by location
Nowadays there are a lot of dating applications that take into account the user’s location. For example, Tinder uses your location to select potential partners, and Happn sends an alert when another user of the application is near you. There are many options.

Despite the fact that today the popularity of dating apps is not as high as it was 5-10 years ago, thousands of users are still actively getting acquainted using them, making new friends and even finding love. So try it! It’s not necessary to make dating services your only tool for finding a potential mate.

Use chat roulettes
Chat roulette can be a good alternative to classic dating apps and websites. One of the most famous such platforms is Chatroulette. Though true, the quality of moderation and functionality on it leave much to be desired. So we recommend that you also consider alternative chat roulettes: Chat Alternative, Chatki, Shagle and CooMeet. They are more user-friendly, with better moderation and support. And the audience on them, as a rule, is more sociable.

When choosing a chat roulette website, we advise you to pay attention to the presence of gender and geographic filters, quality of moderation, availability of flexible search settings, as well as mobile applications for more convenient communication. Otherwise, the principles of chat roulettes are very similar, and you can alternate between different platforms to further expand your circle of potential acquaintances.

This is the start of your new adventure
Nobody said life would be easy in a new place. But on the other hand, this is your chance to start over from scratch, to become a different person, a better version of yourself. A new city always brings new opportunities. You no longer need to adapt to your social circle, which is used to seeing you “just the way you are”. Now you can be different! Perhaps even more real than you ever used to be.

Try to make the move with optimism as another bright adventure in your life. And remember: there will always be people around you who also want to communicate and meet new people. Many of them, just like you, are lonely and dream of meeting their true love. All you need is to make the right steps. And who knows, perhaps the move will not be doomed, but that long-awaited chance for happiness you’ve been dreaming of for so long. Good luck!