Moving to a new city by yourself? Can anyone share experiences?

It can really suck... but it pushes you to become a better individual. You'll learn how to focus on the most important things, especially like calling your family and working hard at your job.

Things you can do to start building up a life in Boston:

Join a gym with group classes like crossfit or whatever... great way to meet new people and exercise killing two birds with one stone.

On that note, get on meetup.com and start going to events for new people in Boston, events where you share hobbies and interest, and its going to be weird at first but it's actually an effective way to quickly build up friends.

Most importantly, be friendly at work and say yes to whenever anyone there asks you to go out. Slowly you'll build things up for yourself.

I'm from the area and I could image it could be tough in Boston. A lot of people end up hanging out with their friends from college and even high school. That being said, a ton of my friends also are good friends with their co-workers, and then you'll end up meeting their friends and so on.

It will be a bit tough but I would've given up half my pay to move to a cool city like Boston instead of the absolute crap tier 4 city I took a job in after school. Ended up transferring offices after a year later to a city comparable to Boston. Hell of a lot better but still looking forward to moving back to NYC soon.

I'm about a month into up and moving to Los Angeles from NYC and am going through much of the same...trying to fit in hard at work, and actively look for things to do.

I think we will be better for it in the end, but the WTF did I do occasionally sets in every now and then. That's when I try to remember how lucky I am to have made it this far and where I came from.

Bro, if you are cool, hit me up. A solid friend of mine just moved to Boston and I would be happy to make an introduction. I've moved to a new city twice and the key is to put yourself out there. Get involved in ACG, TMA, CFA, CFA real, real estate events, young people in finance, alumni events, anything. If you aren't out at least 3-4 nights every week you are doing it wrong. Goal should be to network, but along the way you will make friends.

Boston is an amazing city (although the white trash in that city is absurd). Enjoy yourself and get out there. We've all done it before, just reach out and plug on.

Living in a new place all by yourself will make you a better person. It helps you to be stronger and more independent. You will learn a lot about life and the people around you. It will help you discover the strengths hidden deep inside of you.

In terms of general advice on how to make new friends in a new city:

1) Networking events - Attend things like Internations or WSO meet-ups. In this case, you can even organize a WSO meet-up on your own.

2) Introductions - As per TNA's post, introductions are helpful. Ask friends/family if they know anyone in Boston they can introduce you to as you're new in town and don't really know anyone yet.

3) Alumni - Reach out to alums, specifically ones in your age range and industry if possible. Let them know you're moving to Boston and get their advice on things like: where to live, what gym to go to, how to score Red Sox tickets, etc. Doing this serves as a good segue to meeting up as you can even offer to treat them for lunch or after-work drink in exchange for their assistance.

4) Volunteer events - always good for meeting new ones (especially girls if you are single!)

Hey man, I moved to Europe from Boston 6 months ago without knowing anyone here. Here's some advice I hope will steer you in the right direction:

-If you can, share an apartment with someone rather than living by yourself. Even if it is a randomer, i'd say the odds are in your favor to find someone you actually like/can live with, like in undergrad. That's what I did, I'm not home most of the day so my roommates physically don't have the opportunity to get on my nerves while being available to go out on the weekends. Win-Win -Being an incoming analyst in IB I would assume you'd get to know your fellow analysts really well. I don't really know your particular situation but that's what you tend to see. You'll be part of a freshman class just like in college so there'll definitely be kids who are in your same situation. -Boston is very collegial and I mean that in every possible sense. It might be the city with the largest number of high level universities in the country. I think this can work in two ways for you: On the downside, people tend to know a lot of people from college so it might be harder to find someone to hang out with if you don't share an alma mater with them. On the upside however it really just takes getting to know one or two people to have access to a huge pool of new connections. -Again I would say your best bet to do the above is to befriend your fellow analyst class. -Someone above mentioned alumni events (amongst others), those are definitely a good idea and I presume your alma mater will have some organized, if you're lucky specifically for people in finance. USE THOSE - In addition to being very collegial, boston LOVES sports. If you share that passion you have a lot going for you. You meet someone at the office whos interested in Baseball? Invite them to go see the Sox, fairly simple. - Hit up some friends from college, someone is bound to have someone they know in Boston, ask them to introduce you (to make it sound less desperate ask them about where to live, go out etc aka "practical advice") - No idea if you like videogames but I think they are often forgoten as a means of keeping in touch with friends. First purchase I made after moving to Europe was a new Xbox. Call me a nerd if you want but theres nothing better than throwing on a game on a sunday and catching up with friends about weekend shenanigans on xbox live.

Finally, cheer up man, you're moving to Boston, it's a really cool place with ample weekend getaways (better than NYC I would say) like vermont in the winter and the cape in the summer. In addition to that you have access to the best concentration of sports teams in the country in a great little setting without any of the pains in the neck NYC gives you, you could be doing way worse! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions

OP I did this recently several months ago and can very much relate.

Everyone here has touched on some great points and I definitely recommend you take them to heart. What TNA said about going out 3-4 nights a week, minimum 2, is important. When I moved to my current location I had some distant family friends but that was it, for all purposes I was solo and it sucked like everyone says but you quickly realize that like the rest of life, it's up to you in how you make it.

So you can either sit at home and mope and go on Tinder for hours in your spare time as you drink a six pack to yourself for the fifth time in 10 days because you have no friends or start hitting the ground running and building up a solid network for both your social life and career. When I moved here and did the former for a couple weeks because I wasn't thinking things through long-term and figuring out just basic things, very soon it just hits you that you are no longer in school and seriously, who the fuck is going to knock at your door to be friends with you or date you.

I got on meetup.com, eventbrite, LinkedIn and went to events I was interested in and hit up alumni and people with shared interests or career paths (notice how making friends and networking go hand in hand, as it should because people with similar interests tend to chill with one another). By far my favorite thing that I've done and am most proud of is joining Toastmasters. I found a club in the nicest part of town, figured I could meet a ton of people in finance, and proved I was exactly right. I've gained several mentors, learned a ton from people older than me in the career path I want, work on my public speaking every week and have gained many, many friends. Not all Toastmasters clubs are like that but that's why it's encouraged to check out several before you join one, because like fraternities it's all about the culture of the club and what type of demographic is attracted to it. I honestly cannot recommend Toastmasters enough.

Best of luck to you and know that everyone's right in that you have to be very patient with this new chapter of your life but months down the road your effort to get out there and especially get out of your comfort zone will be rewarded.

PS for chicks, join pub crawls posted on the internet, tons of people go solo and have met some wonderful people that way as well. Easiest way to go out in a city if you have no one else to go out with. No excuses

ITS AWESOME, THE WORLD IS YOURS FOR THE TAKING. YOU WILL GROW AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND LEARN TO NOT GIVE A FUCK. SORRY CAPS LOCK IS BROKEN.

I moved to a different country knowing zero people there; you can always make good use of modern technology (i.e., Tinder) to meet people you can, eventually, befriend.

Most of the above advice is spot on. There are plenty of areas of Boston where the population is mostly recent college grads, I would definitely try and live in one of those areas. You'll have more chances to meet others and find plenty of people in the same situation as you.

During the first week of living in a new city I found a gym I liked, a jiu-jitsu class, and an ice rink. Made the move so much easier having things I enjoyed & was familiar with.

Moving to new places is kind of the story of my life having moved around a lot as a child. But it does not get any easier as an adult. I would say good places to find friends are work of course, maybe people in different groups than yours if you are not comfortable being friends outside work with people in your team. Also, I use meetup.com to go to events and I made some friends through toastmasters. As everyone else has probably already mentioned, do something you are interested or passionate in and meet like minded people - be it volunteering or anything else. Someone once told me - ask not what people can bring to you but what you can bring to the table too, so when you join a new community, try help out and then you will build your friend circle

I moved to a new city to take a much better job opportunity than I had post college. At first, it definitely sucked. I left behind a girlfriend and a significant number of friends from college who stayed in our college town post-graduation.

After ~2 months of being bored/lonely when not at work, I followed the same advice that others have posted in this thread. Get involved in some meetup groups for hobbies you enjoy and try to always say "yes" when someone asks you to go out and do something outside of work. Hell, even joining coworkers for lunch isn't a bad start since that eventually leads to happy hours or other events with even more people to befriend. The move helped me become much more outgoing, and I'm very grateful for that.

If you play hockey, join a men's league. I've met a ton of guys in finance through that.

Whenever you're talking to co-workers, just mention you're new to the city and ask for their favorite restaurants, bars, etc.. it creates an opportunity for an invite

I moved to Philly recently without knowing anyone (and having never been to the city in my life), so I understand your concerns. I went in with a positive attitude and attended as many networking events / happy hours as possible, and started making friends with co-workers and young professionals in finance. Have a positive attitude and people will help you out. First few months were tough, didn't have anyone to go out with on the weekend. But after a few months I was able to build out a good social circle and I'm glad I made the move. Focus on your career, network hard, and the rest will take care of itself.

Love Toronto. My favorite place is to visit Pacific Mall. People in Toronto is nice. I think you would feel the same way in Boston. My little brother is working in Boston now. It is a college town with lots of people so you should be able to fit in. I think everyone above had already provided great suggestions.

I would recommend choosing various activities that you enjoy doing and meet people through activity-based groups. Boston is relatively safe compared to other cities in US and also has a much slower pace than New York City. If all else failed, the universities and colleges in the areas have lots of activities.

Let me know if you need specific advice on things to do in Boston. Will ask my brother and get back to you.

i've done it. Five times over the years. you start with work people, go to happy hour they introduce you to others or you just talk to random people. This has worked just fine for me. To be fair I tend to be more outgoing than most so making connections is easy for me. I also do well on my own so if it takes me time to make new friends it doesn't bother me so much. ultimately I would say make sure your move is for a good reason and you are very motivated to make it. if you really want it, you will be fine.

I'm still a student so I can't give you any industry specific advice, but I just got back from a 6 month internship in a small Asian country (Hong Kong / Singapore) and knew nobody going into it, so I can relate. First of all, just to set up the scene, at my place the youngest person I worked with was ~26 (I'm 20) and was a conservative Indian who couldn't drink because of his religion, didn't like going out at all in general (he would just watch movies in his house) , and wasn't concerned with girls because his parents were going to arrange a marriage for him. I guarantee your situation will not be as bad. If you're going in as an analyst there will definitely be people your age who are into a bunch of different hobbies so I'm sure you can find somebody there to hang with. Many people have said that people in Boston tend to hang out with their friends from college and h/s, which might seem bad for you at first, but it's actually a good thing. This is because once you do get invited out, instead of just meeting one or two people, you're going to get introduced to almost an entire social circle at once. Definitely use this to your advantage.

One thing that you can proactively do to make friends is join websites for people in your situation like meetup or Internaitons. Internations, in my experience, is mostly for older (27+) people but it is still a great way to kill the first few week of your friend search and to get you out and exploring the city so you don't feel as lonely. In all honesty my best friend making tool was, believe it or not, Tinder. I would just suicide swipe (swipe right to every girl 100% of the time) to get as many matches as possible and then try and get girls to meet up and go to a club / bar together with her friends. You get to meet her, her friends, and random people at the club and boom, you just met 5 or 6 people in one night. Even if you have a girlfriend I would recommend doing this and then just friendzoning the girl since (for me) this is the quickest way to meet people and it also allows you to go out fairly often without ever going by yourself.

Another thing I would suggest would be going to music festivals in/around Boston. People at music festivals are generally some of the most open people to meeting friends just because of how inclusive music is and the general vibe of the place. Even if you're not into electronic music, going to rap or rock concerts can still give you the same experience (people there tend to not be as open to meeting people though). Festivals are great for meeting people because they are one place where nobody will judge you for being by yourself, and like I said most people are open to meeting new people. If you're still shy about going alone I'm sure Internations will have a group that is going to whatever big festivals are by you and you can just join that and go in with them.

Good luck though man. I heard Boston is a pretty fun city and at the end of the day you're only 4 hours away from home and a few hours away from NYC, so if you feel like you're getting a bit too lonely at the start (the first month and a half or so is pretty rough), just take a weekend trip and vibe with some of your friends for a bit to refresh you.