Around August of last year, I randomly made the big move from Charlotte, NC to Dallas, TX. While many of my loved ones found it terrifying for me to leave home and move to a city, I was never afraid or worried about the move. I never had problems making friends in high school or college, so I imagined it would be just as easy when I moved to Dallas, TX. Boy was I wrong!
When I arrived in Dallas I was overwhelmed by how huge it was. I’d visited before, but I didn’t explore the city the way I was after first moving here. However, just going around from place to place wasn’t making me any friends, so I had to figure out how to meet my people. Here are my tips for doing just that!
#(Insert City Here)
When I moved to Dallas, I didn’t really know many people. Because of that, I didn’t know what there was to do here. Because I’m always on Instagram, I decided to search #DallasTX one day. There were so many people using the hashtag that I easily found different events to go to and the cool places that people hang out at!
Because I am a Tone It Up girl, I also used #TIUDallas and #TIUDFW to meet like-minded people in Dallas!
Meetup.com
Meetup.com is a great way to meet your tribe! There are groups for everyone and everything! Groups that I joined after coming to Dallas were groups for women in their 20’s and 30’s, singles groups (at the time I didn’t know Anthony), Happy Hour groups and fitness groups. Here are some tips for finding good groups:
- Make sure they have events planned (and people attending those events)
- Join groups that have a bunch of members. They are more likely to be active.
- Be open-minded and try new things! You never know what new hobbies you will fall in love with and how awesome the people in that group are!
Just say yes!
One of the biggest things that helped me make friends was saying yes to the people I met! If they asked me out to coffee, I’d say yes! If they wanted to go to fitness classes, I’d say yes! You never know what new things you’ll learn from that person, or what new people you may meet through them! You are never going to meet people or form relationships if you don’t get out of your apartment and out of your comfort zone.
Hit the gym…
…and don’t be afraid to talk to people while you’re there! Gyms aren’t just for hitting on the hot guy lifting weights asking him how some simple machine works anymore. Its a great place to meet friends! Hit a Zumba class and ask the person next to you if they know of any healthy restaurants around. Tell them you’re new to the area! You won’t believe how many people are happy to show you around town.
Go out alone
This is probably the toughest one for some people, and it definitely takes you out of your comfort zone. But you will never meet people locked up in your apartment. Go to dinner alone. Don’t sit at a table, because you probably won’t meet people that way. Sit at the bar! People are normally more talkative and open at the bar. I would always ask people where the fun places to hang out were and what restaurants were the best in the area. I’ve never gotten so many numbers at a bar as I have since moving to Dallas.
The main thing when trying to make friends in a new city is that you just can’t afraid to talk to people. There aren’t many people I’ve met that don’t smile when I tried to talk to them. And if you’re worried about being awkward or weird, just don’t. I can be super awkward when I first meet people but I promise the more you do it, the more you’ll get comfortable with talking to strangers.
Oh, and I haven’t mentioned it yet, but BE SAFE! Don’t get in the car with strangers, and don’t invite people to your new apartment until you get to know them! Go out and meet all the new people that you want, but please be smart and don’t give out too much information. Learn the landmarks by your house so if someone asks what part of town you live in you can keep it broad and say something like, “Oh, I live in Addison near Whole Foods.” That way they can get an idea of where you live, without actually knowing where you live!
I hope these tips help you guys make new friends in your city! They’re good for people moving to new cities as well as people looking for new friends in their old cities! Just remember have fun and be safe.
