I’ve been living in London for about a year and a half now… I can’t believe it’s been that long! That is crazy… Anyways, during that time, it’s been a bit of a struggle to make friends. I think that once you hit your post Uni/college days, it’s really hard to find new people to hang out with. Especially if you work for yourself like I do. Luckily, I had a built in network through travel blogging, but that’s obviously not the case for everyone. When your pool of people travel for a living, it can also be lonely even though you know you have friends! So are you wondering how to make friends in London?
Here are some ways to make friends in London
1. Mutual Friends
When I first arrived in London, I got in touch with everyone I knew who lived here. I met up with them for drinks, for coffee, for lunches, and dinners. And it was great to catch up with them. And I met a few people through friends I already had. But, I don’t really think this is the best way to make friends. I found that a lot of people don’t want to include you in their already existing group of friends, which sucks, but oh well!
2. Put Yourself Out There
Because I struggled actually maintaining friendships with mutual friends, I ended up putting myself out there in each and every situation. I would compliment someone if I liked their shoes. I would ask someone for a pen while working in a cafe. I would go to every event I could and I would be out of my house as much as possible. Odds are, if you’re sitting around a home, you’re just not going to meet people.
3. Attend Events
So that brings me to number three. No matter what you do, day to day, there are tons of events going on in London. It doesn’t matter what your interests are, there is almost always something going on. Whether you find it through eventbrite or webstites like meet up, you can find something to do where other likeminded people will be!
4. Facebook Groups
Hundreds of people move to London each day, so odds are you aren’t alone in trying to make friends. London is a really transient city, meaning that people are constantly coming and going. I found that joining a facebook group of other new people, was really helpful. I really like London New Girl. Everyone is really open in there and you can be as active or inactive as you want. A few weeks ago I posted something about wanting to hang out with people in the area I live in. I had over 50 people contact me and ended up getting drinks with several of them.
5. Apps
If you’ve tried an app for dating, why not try an app for making friends? I went on Bumble BFF two months into my move into London. I now live with the girl that I met on there! Apps are a wonderful place to meet people because you know that the person on the other end is interested in meeting people too!
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