Traveling internationally can be an amazing experience, but sometimes, it can get quite lonely. Away from all sense of familiarity, family and friends are no longer right around the corner, when you’re attempting to immerse yourself in a whole new culture, it can quickly begin to feel isolating.
From fellow foreigners to new local friends, creating your group can help ease homesickness, eliminate isolation, and make your international stay just as thrilling as it should be, if not even more.
Here are some tips and tricks on how to make friends and manage your social life abroad.
Introverts vs. Extraverts
Extroverts
Whether or not you are an introvert or extrovert, it can be difficult to find new friends. But when you’re an extrovert, you tend to thrive off social occasions and get charged by the energy of the people around you.
Therefore, making friends is not only helpful when managing the different facets of life abroad, but it’s also essential for your mental health.
When you first get to your destination, you may struggle to think of the first step into making new friends. For you, it may be easy to start chatting with people at your new accommodation, maybe ask them to accompany you during a day of adventuring.
Sometimes, it can still be overwhelming, especially in a place where groups have already been established. Remember that alone time does not necessarily mean you’re alone.
It’s okay if you don’t make friends within the first few days or even weeks of getting to your new place. But the good news is, friends can be made anywhere, and as an extrovert, you have the special ability to capitalize on this.
Introverts
Now, for my introverts, this can be a bit more difficult. Where your extravert counterparts become charged by social activities, you become drained.
Making friends is an important to help you get around and further culturally immerse yourself while abroad. But, while meeting new people, make sure you are taking the proper time for yourself.
Make sure you check in with where your social battery is. It’s perfectly okay to seek alone time. Just don’t let it isolate you. All in all, my advice for everyone, identify the things that fuel you, the things that drain you, and the things that recharge you.
As for me, I would consider myself a bit of an extrovert, but I often prefer traveling alone. It gives me time to do all the things that I want to do and gives me a chance to recharge.
But I like to make friends in the places I go if I can. I need that time alone to reset, but I am also charged by the energies of the other people around me. So, you see, it's all about balance.
Places to Meet People
Nightlife
Now, this is certainly country-specific, depending on the culture of the place you travel to. But, especially for my extroverts, participating in fun recreational weekend activities like bar hopping and clubbing are easy ways to meet a lot of new people.
On my trip to Korea this year, I was surprised to find such an established club culture. When I was studying abroad, it was a great way for my new friends and me to relax and get to know each other in a much more casual setting.
While you're out, this is also an opportunity to meet and dance with even more people. Several socials will be exchanged, and here is where it’s up to you to keep in touch with the people you meet. This is why I say this activity may be better suited for extroverts, but once you find your core group, this activity can be fun for introverts as well.
Language Exchange Meetups
Maybe clubbing is not for you, and that’s perfectly okay! Good news, while it may be overwhelming trying to find ways to meet new people at first, in reality, there are tons of ways to get social in a new country!
Another great way to meet people is by going to different meetups or special-themed events. For example, Korea has tons of language exchange meetups where people can sit, talk, and share a drink in a casual setting.
You can come with friends or alone, but either way, you'll get the chance to meet many new people at an event like this. Usually, you’ll switch tables every hour or half, and these meetups are filled with people of several different backgrounds.
When my study abroad ended, I was sad to see most of my friends go. It almost felt like I might have to start over, but with the time I had left, I just didn’t want to do it all over again. Then, I went to the GSM Language Exchange Bar in Gangnam, and it completely changed the perspective of my final month.
I met so many new friends there, and my only regret is that I didn’t meet them sooner. I went from "laying low" for my last few weeks to enjoying the time I had left with the amazing people around me. I thought I could force myself into a comedown from such an amazing trip, but, I’m so happy that this was a part of my final chapter.
It was my time at GSM that made me determined to come back to Korea one day, and hopefully one day soon. As I spoke to people there from all over the world, I realized how much I truly enjoyed the life I was living, and even better, I got to share that life with the people around me.
Find Your People
Core Group
So, now you’ve gotten out there, you’ve met some people, and you’re acclimating quickly to your new place. At this point, some of us may find comfort in a core group of people.
My dad always says, if you have maybe three to five close friends that you can call up to hang out whenever, that you can be content with just studying, getting a coffee, sharing a meal, or even a full night out, then you're good.
At the beginning of my trip, I found this in the form of three other girls in my study abroad program. Of course, I hung out with many people, and there are many people I want to stay in touch with, but these are the people I spent most of my time with and had deeper conversations with. Having this group made my new place feel a little bit more like home.
Roommates
You never have to become best friends with your roommate, but if you have one, you're going to be seeing a lot of them. And as for me, my roommate in the first part of my trip is certainly someone I will make an effort to see again when I go home.
We both had different groups of friends but would always come back and talk about our days, “spill the tea,” and have amazing conversations, whether they ended in laughs or tears or both.
Befriending your roommate, even just a bit, can make your stay at your new place so much easier. Just make sure you schedule some time for yourselves alone or with other friends.
As I said before, everything is all about balance. It's that balance that led my roommate and I to have such a great relationship, and capitalize on our abroad experience together.
Staying in Touch
Now, whether you want to stay in touch with your newfound friends is up to you. Here’s the reality: in a few weeks, months, or even years, after your time in this new place is over, it’s a reality that you and many of your newfound friends are going to be time zones away.
So first, don’t fret if these friendships don’t turn out exactly as you hoped. However, if they do, I highly encourage you to do what you can to keep in touch.
The journey you just undertook is one that can bond you for life. For me, I have met people in every part of my trip that I know I want to and will see again in the future. People who I’m excited to see grow and grow with.
Remember, it’s totally okay and normal if you don’t make “lifelong friends” on your trip. But, if you have, and there’s certainly a chance you will, don’t let that go.
Ask for those Instas! Make more plans while you're both there. Keep going to events together and make plans for when you get back home.
Just keep talking. Again, this can be hard at first, but I promise, you're going to get to know people that you want to remain in your life forever.
Make the Most of Every Moment
Traveling alone can be tough. In fact, it may be one of the toughest things you ever have to do. But, it can also be one of the most amazing.
After spending five months in South Korea, I can honestly say that going there was one of, if not the, best decision I have made for my life thus far.
I have made small acquaintances as well as life-long friends in all the different stages of my trip. I also learned how to find that balance between alone time and social time.
For me, this place and the people I met are both things I will never forget, and things I will certainly come back to, and it was all made even more beautiful by the people I got to know when I went there.
