Friday, January 10, 2014

Five Ways to Make Fit Friends in a New City

Hope everyone is having a happy Friday! I'm in full panic mode because I'm moving in less than two weeks and I still don't have a single box packed or a place to live. Oh well. I managed to pack my entire dorm room from a year of grad school in China in the 2 hours from 6-8 AM when I had to leave for my flight back to the US. So I have tons of time!

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I'm also fairly convinced that I will have no friends in Santa Barbara except for Netflix, the internet, and food after I get there. Oh and alcohol!

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So I was super happy to get this email from a good friend from high school:
"I saw your blog post on moving and not having any friends, and it made me think of how I felt when I moved down to Atlanta without knowing a single person.  So I started googling Santa Barbara and found some things similar to what I did in Atlanta...I apologize if you don't want this unsolicited information, but I thought that maybe it might be useful."
After reading my friend's suggestions (thanks SO MUCH Andrew!!) and a little googling, I'm joining Fitting it All In's Five Things Friday Link Up with five ways to make new fit friends in a new city. So you don't end up alone, watching Downton Abbey on your laptop with a bottle of wine and block of cheese for company. 

1. Join a Meetup group and actually show up

Meetup.com claims to be the world's largest network of local groups and it is super easy to find and join meetups for almost any interest. So far, I found meetups in Santa Barbara for beach volleyball, running, hiking, yoga on the beach, and survivors of near death experiences. 

2. Find a running club

I've never had a running buddy, but since I'm going to really run this year I figure it's a great time to make running friends. Santa Barbara unfortunately doesn't have a Road Runners Club of America, but I was able to find a group using this Find a Running Club tool from Running in the USA.

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3. Play social sports

Social sports are a great way to meet people and are usually less awkward than chatting up strangers at a party. Being on a team gives you a built-in group to interact with at least once a week, and something in common to talk about during any team happy hours or other social events. With an extensive national network of leagues, Waka Kickball is a good place to start, and most leagues let you register as a free agent.

4. Find a CrossFit box

I've never made friends at regular gyms, but CrossFitters are supposed to be a really tight-knit community. You can find a CrossFit location here.

5. Volunteer

While not fitness related, Andrew says volunteering is a good way to meet people because "it's less like a young adult hookup club and the people seem to be generally nicer and more genuine (unless they are doing community service against their free will)." VolunteerMatch is a great site to find places to volunteer in your city sorted by cause area.

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Admittedly, finding all of these opportunities to make friends is the easy part. But to actually make friends, you have to take the next step--showing up. When I moved to DC, I joined about 10 Meetup groups but to date have not been to a single meetup. Ever. So something to work on this time.

Q: Any tips for meeting people in a new city? Have a place for me to live in Santa Barbara?

7 comments:

  1. Just keeping thinking of what a fun journey this will be! Sometimes the unknown can be fun because you can make it whatever you want it to be!

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    1. Yea I'm definitely excited too! I think I just tend to make jokes about how bad things are/will be as a defense mechanism to help keep me from freaking out. But I am definitely committed to leaping in to this new life with both feet and growing from all the new experiences :)

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  2. I have never moved to a new city, you give some great tips! I hope you the best!!! PS) Love the idea of finding meet ups, that way you can find people with similar interests! The hiking & yoga groups sound like fun!

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    1. Thanks Jessica! I'm definitely going to show up for some meetups!

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  3. When I came back to California after 6 years away, I didn't have many friends left. I didn't keep in touch with my high school friends. I went to one Meetup and that was okay, but I met friends through work and yes, through CrossFit. I would say you've got some good ones. It's hard to make friends when you're not in school anymore. :(

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    1. Ahh yea so much harder when you're out of school! Definitely in to trying CrossFit, once I figure my budget out a little. I'm trying to do a better job staying in touch with old friends too. I'm normally horrible about it, but I'm going to really try!

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