Whether you are moving to a new town in your state, or heading to a city hundreds of miles away, it can be overwhelming if you don’t know the area and don’t have friends and family in the location. Follow the tips below for getting settled and more acclimated in your new home town.
Find the local shops.
Drive around and find the nearest grocery store, CVS or Walgreens, coffee shop, movie theater, gym, etc. It’s always helpful to find them before you actually have a need to go.
Map your route to work.
Before your first day of work, make sure to map out your route and take a drive by to see exactly how long it would take you to get there. If possible, try going on a weekday, so you can see if you would be stuck behind busses or if there is a lot of traffic on a particular route.
Use your current connections.
Making friends in your new location is essential for social interaction and your overall happiness. Before you move, ask your current friends and connections if they know anybody who lives in the place you are moving to. These people can be your first friends or at the very least, a good person to ask about things going on in town.
Introduce yourself to your new neighbors.
When you move into your new home, it’s best to get to know the locals in your neighborhood. They might not make the first move, as they don’t want to disturb you while you’re moving and trying to settle in. It’s up to you to say hello and wave when you see them outside and perhaps you can form a good relationship with them over time. Going for walks around your neighborhood can also expose you to more people.
Join organized groups.
Another way to get active in your new neighborhood and make friends would be to join organized groups for your hobbies. This can be a group fitness class at the gym that you join, something you find on a bulletin board at a coffee shop, a work related group, or even something you find online with the help of meetup.com or couchsurfing.
Be active in your children’s schools.
If you have young children in school, be sure to be active if possible. Go to PTA meetings, watch your kids in the school play, volunteer as a chaperone, etc. This will not only help your kids feel more comfortable in a new school system, this can also help you become more familiar with your kid’s teachers and friends.
Always say yes when invited.
Until you make a group of friends in your new location, you should always say yes whenever you are invited out somewhere. Even if the activity isn’t something that you’ve done before or something that you’re particularly that interested in, you may make some new friends by participating and maybe even get a good experience out of it too.
