6 Ways to Make Friends as a Digital Nomad
Happy International Friends Day! In honor of this fantastic day of celebrating our old friends, new friends, and future friends, we will discuss the top six ways to make friends as a digital nomad!
One of the scariest factors about arriving to a new destination is the fear of making strangers into new friends. Most travelers, at some point during their journey, feel anxious that they won't meet people or don't know where to find people like themselves in a foreign country. Relax! This feeling of loneliness should be the least of your worries while traveling. Travelers already have this innate sense of wanderlust; therefore, they understand the challenges of your lifestyle - and loneliness can be one of the many obstacles to overcome. Rest assured, your new nomadic friends will be the most adventurous and free-spirited people you will ever meet.
How do we find these magical travelers?
1. Facebook Groups
Most people think Facebook is only suitable for the older generations, but Facebook should be your first resource when searching for new friends in a foreign country. And this search can begin before you arrive to your new home! There are Facebook groups for everything. You can do a generic search like:
"Digital Nomads in [Insert City]"
"Remote Workers in [Insert City]"
"Foreigners in [Insert City]"
There are Facebook groups for digital nomads, expats, remote workers, backpackers, couch surfers, and other traveling groups. You can also find groups catered towards different activities, such as foreigners running in Mexico City or meditation groups in Bali. There are endless Facebook groups available to you. Go have a search on Facebook groups and see what you are able to find.
2. WhatsApp Groups
Similar to Facebook groups, there are WhatsApp groups that cater to different communities of travelers. These groups can cater to a broad group of digital nomads living in a particular city or groups related to specific activities and hobbies. You can find a variety of Whatsapp groups catered to party-goers, the conscious community, soccer fans, Sunday beach volleyball, or gym goers. The links to these Whatsapp groups will be found on Facebook, websites, or community bulletin boards. If you can’t seem to find a Whatsapp group for your community, maybe it is time to create your own! You can host your own ‘meetups’ or weekend outings, and this is an excellent way to integrate yourself into your new community - everyone appreciates a coordinator of events.
3. Join a Digital Nomad Community
There are plenty of digital nomad communities you can join and connect with other digital nomads from across the globe. Here are a few of the communities to consider:
Nomadlist.com (Most Popular)
These groups offer a variety of services. Some of these communities host conferences - both virtual and in-person. For example, Nomadlist has scheduled a conference in Capetown, South Africa for 2022! Some organizations provide chat functionality with other members through Slack, Discord, WhatsApp groups, Telegram or Facebook Feeds. And some propose meetups in different cities across the globe. These digital nomad communities are a gold mine for information. You are networking with a group of people who have traveled the world. You will learn quickly that these types of friendships are priceless to your travel journey.
4. Attend Activities That You Enjoy!
Let’s oversimplify making new friends. Naturally, we make new friends based on lifestyle choices and similar interests. You will make friends with other travelers because you already have an essential hobby in common - you love to travel. A great conversation starter for anyone you meet while traveling: ‘Which is your favorite country and why?’ But you will have secondary interests such as scuba diving, yoga, cross fit, running, painting, dancing, and reading. Go attend that activity! Naturally, you will enjoy it and you will find others who enjoy it too! If one of these activity-specific communities doesn’t exist in your city yet, why not build the first one? Or maybe this is an opportunity to pick up a new hobby. You will be surprised by the people you meet in the process.
5. Head to well-known coworking cafes or coworking spaces
Remote workers have the added luxury of working from anywhere worldwide, and the idea of working at home is a big bonus for many people. But if you are living in a new city and searching for new friends, why not head to a cafe where you can accomplish two goals simultaneously: get work done and make new friends? There are plenty of coworking cafes across the city. If you complete a search in Google Maps for ‘cafe with nomads’ or ‘cafes for working,’ you will find plenty of gems across the city.
You can also check out the Top 6 Coworking Cafes in Mexico City: https://youtu.be/E9LqMCg5NcI
6. Attend language classes
Learning a new language can be complicated, but learning a new language among new friends can be much more enjoyable. If you are attending a language class featuring the native language of your new country, chances are the majority of individuals in the classroom are foreigners too. You can build great friendships with your classmates (especially if you attend a weekly class), and you are developing a new language. You can also use these new language skills to participate in a language exchange in your new city.
As a digital nomad, you are constantly changing homes, friend groups, hobbies, time zones, and headspace; therefore, it is essential to seize every opportunity to meet people. Combating loneliness has been a big issue for digital nomads, but using the resources around you is imperative to meeting new people in the nomadic lifestyle. Travelers of all styles can empathize with your loneliness. So go ahead and put yourself out there. Use this template and make a few posts on a few different groups around the globe.
Tell them - ‘Hey, I am [your name] from [origin city] and I am coming to [insert your city] for three months. I am a digital nomad, and I would love to connect with new people in this city. Would anyone like to go for a coffee on Tuesday when I arrive?