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Traveling the world or living overseas can be thrilling, eye-opening, and endlessly rewarding. But let’s be real: it can also get lonely. Even if people constantly surround you, that doesn’t mean you’re making real connections. Whether you're backpacking through Southeast Asia, teaching English in Europe, or starting a new job in South America, finding meaningful friendships takes effort—but it’s absolutely possible.
👉 Listen now to this episode of Dusty Roads with Anita to learn practical ways to make genuine friends while living abroad.
👉 You can also read more by clicking here: How to Make Friends While Traveling or Living Abroad (https://abusonadustyroad.com/how-to-make-friends-while-traveling-or-living-abroad/)
#DustyRoadsPodcast #MakeFriendsAbroad #TravelTips #SoloTravelLife #LivingOverseas #ExpatsConnect #BackpackerGuide #TravelCommunity
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
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0:00
[Music]
0:07
Hi, this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
0:09
podcast. In this podcast and in our
0:12
blog, A Bus on a Dusty Road, we are all
0:14
about living our lives as a global
0:17
citizen. I've recently written a blog
0:19
entitled How to Make Friends While
0:21
Traveling or Living Abroad. We'll put a
0:22
link in the description below in case
0:25
you'd like to read it. I've lived and
0:27
worked in overseas my entire adult life
0:31
since I've graduated from college. So I
0:33
think I have a lot of experience and be
0:35
able to talk about how to make friends
0:36
while traveling or living abroad. I can
0:39
also say too it can sometimes be
0:41
difficult to be able to make friends or
0:44
to get to know people. And one of the
0:46
hard things about living overseas is
0:49
that a lot of people move and change.
0:51
Especially, you know, if you're in an
0:53
area where there's an embassy community,
0:55
every 3 years the embassy people move.
0:57
So maybe you meet someone, you become a
0:59
great friend of theirs and within 3
1:01
years or a couple years they're gone and
1:03
they're on to the next posting. So there
1:06
can be a lot of change for things
1:08
overseas. Even you know teachers people
1:09
that are here teaching can move and
1:12
constantly be a you know you could be
1:14
constantly be looking to find new
1:16
friends. So if this is something which
1:19
is really hard for you if you are
1:20
somebody who just wants to you know
1:22
you've kept the same friends you've had
1:24
the same friends your entire life you
1:26
know you've you've never had any other
1:28
friends except for those you went to
1:29
high school with or you know those you
1:32
you know you knew since you were in
1:33
elementary school. This might be hard
1:35
for you.
1:37
But let me talk about some ways that you
1:39
can uh find some friends or ways that I
1:42
have. One of the most ways is to attend
1:44
a local church or religious service. A
1:46
lot of my friends I found through
1:48
attending church here overseas. And
1:52
that's, you know, given me friends in
1:54
all different walks of life that I
1:55
normally would never cross paths with if
1:58
I didn't attend church. people that are
2:00
in the embassy. I would never have been
2:03
gotten to know unless I actually, you
2:06
know, attended a church. Just like
2:08
church services, if church is not your
2:10
thing, you know, and that's fine because
2:12
it's not for everybody, you can join a
2:15
club, a social group, or, you know, some
2:16
type of hobby circles. you can um you
2:19
know a lot of times there's women's
2:20
clubs or other things going on overseas
2:23
here or there's ams or other type of
2:26
clubs that you can join or people have
2:28
the same type of hobby that you have.
2:30
Maybe it's a sports club, you know,
2:33
which is the next one. Get connected
2:34
through fitness. Join a local gym or
2:37
fitness class. A lot of times you can
2:39
find some fitness groups here. people
2:41
that are maybe riding bikes together,
2:43
people who are, you know, exercising
2:45
together, uh people who are swimming
2:47
together, you can get to know people
2:49
that way. Join an expat or national
2:52
clubs. If you like to play things like
2:53
football, maybe you can find a football
2:55
group or pickle ball group or, you know,
2:58
you could join some type of clubs that
3:00
are around which have to do with fitness
3:02
or just any type of clubs. There's some,
3:05
you know, English clubs, some language
3:07
clubs, there's many things like that.
3:08
volunteer for a local charity or an NGO.
3:11
You know, this can be a great way to be
3:13
able to meet people if if that's some
3:14
things that you join. You you can find a
3:17
local charity or an NGO that you can
3:18
volunteer for or spend some time there
3:20
with them. Explore the meetup and event
3:23
platforms. A lot of times there's some,
3:25
you know, meetup things that go on.
3:27
Depends upon the country, whether or not
3:29
they have it. There could be language
3:30
exchanges, cookie nights, board games,
3:33
there could be quiz nights at a bar, uh
3:35
movie clubs, day trips, and hikes that
3:37
you could join.
3:39
stay in hostels or join a co-l
3:40
livingiving space if you are if that's
3:43
kind of your thing. You want to be able
3:44
to, you know, get to know other people.
3:47
You might, you know, get yourselves in
3:48
an area with some roommates or you might
3:50
join a hostel or, you know, if you if
3:52
co-l livingiving is not your thing, if
3:54
you're able to work, you know, work in a
3:56
space with other people, you don't have
3:57
to go into an office. You could join a
3:59
maybe a co-working space. Take a
4:01
language class. There's usually always
4:03
language classes overseas that you could
4:06
take. A lot of foreigners are in those
4:07
language classes. You can get to know
4:09
other people. Use social media and
4:11
forums. You can, you know, do searches
4:13
for expats in the city. Uh digital
4:16
nomads, travel buddies. You can look for
4:18
all of those things there uh for the
4:20
city that you're at. You can do some
4:22
searches there. There's a lot of times
4:24
these cities will be will have like, you
4:26
know, Facebook groups and other things
4:28
where you can post things on. sign up
4:30
for a class or a workshop, you know,
4:32
like um you know, maybe you want to take
4:34
a cooking class in Italy or in Vietnam.
4:36
Vietnam has lots of great cooking
4:37
classes, surf lessons in Bali, tango
4:40
lessons in Argentina. Sign up for some
4:42
type of class. Say yes even when it
4:45
feels awkward. Now, this is a hard one.
4:47
You making friends means stepping out of
4:49
your comfort zone. You accepting
4:51
invitations even if they're outside your
4:53
usual interest. Go to barbecues, rooftop
4:56
parties, the cultural festival. Many
4:58
friendships start because someone took a
5:00
chance, you know, on an invitation. You
5:03
never know who you'll meet.
5:05
Start something yourself. If there's not
5:07
something there, try to start something
5:09
yourself and get like-minded people to
5:10
join together. Be a regular somewhere.
5:13
Be a regular at a coffee shop or
5:15
neighborhood bar where staff and patrons
5:17
and others can get to know you. Talk to
5:20
strangers. Yes, really. You know, I talk
5:23
to strangers all the time. You could ask
5:25
people, "Is this your first time here?"
5:27
know any good local spots? What brings
5:29
you to the city? Get to know people, you
5:31
know, just reach out and get to know
5:33
other people. Most people you'll find,
5:35
especially if they're sitting alone. If
5:37
you're in a if you're in a restaurant
5:38
alone and someone else is alone, reach
5:40
over and talk to them. Find out more
5:42
about them and their life. Find out who
5:44
they are. Who knows, you might just find
5:46
yourself a new friend. Fast travel is
5:50
fun, but slow travel builds friendships.
5:54
When you spend more time in one place,
5:56
you'll naturally start seeing the same
5:58
faces and the routines. You know,
6:00
whether in your small town or big city,
6:02
staying in one area longer gives you the
6:05
time to deepen connections instead of
6:07
just making acquaintances.
6:11
One of the most important things in all
6:12
of these, these are all great things,
6:14
but if you're a closed off person and if
6:17
you're somebody who, you know, really
6:19
wants to stick to yourself, and that's
6:20
fine. Some people, they like that. they
6:23
they want to stick to themselves. They
6:25
don't have to make friends. Then that's
6:26
okay. Then understand that you are that
6:28
way. But making friends abroad, you
6:31
know, isn't always instant. So you have
6:33
to have an openness for it. It gets
6:35
easier the more practice, you know,
6:37
being open, curious, and intentional.
6:40
You know, it does become easier when you
6:42
do that. You know, not every
6:45
conversation will turn into a lifelong
6:47
bond. And that's okay. You know, you're
6:49
planting seeds. Some will grow quickly,
6:52
others over time. Some may not even grow
6:54
at all. You know, you may you may get to
6:57
know some not grow at all. Remember,
6:58
you're not alone in feeling alone. Many
7:01
other travelers and expats are looking
7:03
for a connection, too. Be proactive. You
7:06
know, one thing I didn't put down on
7:07
here, but living overseas, I have met a
7:10
lot of people walking my dog. So, if
7:13
you're an animal person and if you have
7:15
an, you know, if you have a dog, you
7:17
know, you might want to consider getting
7:18
yourself a dog and going out walking
7:20
your dog in areas where other people are
7:21
walking their dogs. And I've I've met
7:23
some great sort of fun friends here
7:25
where, you know, we're not we're not
7:26
like social friends, but when we see
7:28
each other, we talk. In fact, a lot of
7:30
times I know their dogs names and we say
7:33
hello on the street and we get to know
7:35
each other because we have this common
7:37
interest of a dog that we're both
7:39
walking. And so if you're living in
7:42
another other part of the world and
7:44
you're feeling kind of a little bit
7:45
lonely, if you like animals, consider
7:47
getting yourself a dog and then taking
7:48
that dog out to dog parks or other
7:50
places and getting to know other people
7:52
that are like-minded like you who have
7:54
other, you know, dogs and animals. You
7:56
might be surprised what kind of
7:57
friendships you meet along the way. I'm
7:59
going to put into the description our
8:01
blog we've written on this, how to make
8:03
friends while traveling or living
8:04
abroad. Esp thinking of you know you
8:07
need to move abroad for some reason or
8:09
you are moving abroad and you're you
8:11
know kind of worried about how are you
8:13
going to you know meet any friends or
8:15
get to know anyone this is a great blog
8:17
for you to read and to consider or if
8:19
you're just thinking of traveling by
8:20
yourself this this hopefully can give
8:22
you some ideas of how to meet some fun
8:24
friends along the way. This is Anita
8:27
from the Dusty Roads podcast. We're all
8:29
about living our life as a global
8:31
citizen. And we hope that you will join
8:33
with us and subscribe, that you will
8:36
become part of our community. We truly
8:38
do appreciate you, all of our listeners,
8:40
all of our watchers, all the people that
8:42
are out there. We want you to know that
8:44
we appreciate you and we hope that you
8:47
are enjoying this, too. We'd love to
8:50
hear from you. Thank you.
8:53
[Music]
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