How to Make Lasting Friends as a Digital Nomad

Digital nomads have a unique challenge in making long-term friendships. You can meet loads of new people but still feel lonely. Why? Just as you’re getting to know someone, it’s time to say goodbye. Moving around doesn’t help build those strong, long-lasting bonds you crave. So how do you build quality friendships that last? This guide explores ways to find and build deeper friendships.

Casual Friends vs Genuine Friends

Casual friends are like your buddies you hang out with now and then. You know them, but not that well. Genuine friends however are the real deal. Trustworthy, loyal, and ready to grow alongside you. They’ve got your back when things get real. They’re the true friends that really matter.

The foundations for making friends anywhere work both for casual friends and genuine friends. The key difference lies in the commitment and regularity invested. Lifelong friendships are formed through spending frequent, quality time together over extended periods. 

Nurturing Friends

Once you start meeting people and making friends, all you need to focus on is nurturing your connections. You’ve already done the hard part of initiating contact and making invites. Now you just have to keep doing the same thing but with some added T.L.C.

Here’s how to turn acquaintances into real friends:

  1. Keep in touch with your connections.
  2. Make invitations to catchup
  3. Hang out regularly

Plant a Home Base

If your goal is to build genuine friends then you need to slow down and stay longer in fewer places. Good friendships are built on regular time spent together. That’s why planting a home base is important for strengthening bonds. It’s a place you call home and return periodically. Somewhere that makes you a familiar face to local communities.

Take advantage of remote work to explore places where you thrive. When you find a place that clicks with you, consider that as your home base. The more time spent in a home base, the better the odds of building a stronger circle of friends. Your home base can still be an effective launch pad for weekend getaways to nearby destinations. Just make sure your timeouts don’t interfere too much with your regular social schedule.

Some suggestions:

1 Home Base

Stay in one spot for a good chunk of the year (3-6+ months).

Use the remaining time to travel or find another home base.

2 Home Bases

Rotate between 2 home bases between 3-6 months per year.

This is probably the sweet spot.

3 Home bases

Rotate between 3 home bases. 

4 months per home base is a decent time not to alienate your inner circle.

Building Your Tribe: Planting Social Roots

After settling into your home base, engage with communities, events, and social activities that recur regularly. Start with your interests and if there’s nothing available in your area, be the host. Friendships deepen when there are activities involving common goals or shared values.

Make Friends with Locals or Expats

Locals and expats who have planted their roots in a city are great friends to have in a home base. You know they will be around for some time and won’t uproot on a whim. However, they can be challenging to befriend since they have built a life of close friends and view digital nomads as just another passerby. By demonstrating your ties to your home base, you open the path to making deeper friendships with locals. 

Hang Out Often

Spend time with your new friends regularly. Organize a weekly or fortnightly activity you can do together. Something based on a common interest or shared values. It could be a weekly sports game, a business mastermind, or a casual dinner catchup. Alternate between one-on-one and group activities. Just don’t do anything virtually. 

Later on, try to do activities outside of what you normally do together. Sharing diverse life experiences adds a deeper dimension to your friendships.

Be a Regular

Show up often at social activities and venues. Being a familiar face helps you integrate and build trust with the local community. People will be more open to investing time together when they know you have ties to the community and won’t bounce around. Stick with activities that demand ongoing attendance. That’s how you build rapport with your local peers. 

Keep in Touch

Stay in touch with your friends by sending messages or media in between the times you hang out together. Share something funny or something they would value. At the heart of this is looking out for their best interest and supporting their growth. Consistency is key! 

Do Goal Oriented Activities

Goal-oriented activities such as team sports, classes, and clubs are great places to make long-term friends. Sharing goals, challenges, and triumphs builds strong bonds and fosters camaraderie. Find things you love, keep showing up, and watch those friendships grow. 

Join Communities

The best place to start building deep friendships is through your hobbies and interests. What do you enjoy doing that involves other people? Preferably something that requires a commitment or an ongoing skill development.

Local Clubs

Every city has clubs, leagues, and associations that usually require membership. There is a club for almost anything.

Some popular clubs with big audiences are:

  • Book Clubs
  • Running Clubs
  • Wine Clubs

Search online for your [Interest] + [City] + [Club], [League], or [Association].

Sport Clubs

Join a team sport and compete in a tournament. Sports tournaments build strong friendships by regularly uniting with your teammates in the pursuit of a common goal. Reach out to local sports clubs, gyms, or colleges for tryouts. 

University or College Clubs

Did you know there are college clubs open to the non-students? Outdoor clubs are popular for making adventurous friends while going on specialized trips at subsidized rates. Gear rental services are often included with the membership which is incredibly useful for adventurous digital nomads who pack light.

Church

Churches are a good place to make friends and build ties with the local community. It may not suit everyone due to personal beliefs but some people attend church for the community spirit. Churches often organize community events outside of their weekly sermons such as barbecues, business networking, volunteering, and other social activities. Attendees have firm roots within the community, making them ideal candidates to build long-term friendships.

Masterminds, Inner-circles, and Coaching groups

Collaborative gatherings are perfect for people with similar goals to team up and move forward together. Masterminds are all about peer support, while coaching groups and inner circles give you structured guidance under a mentor’s wing. These groups are gold for making quality friends as you work towards common goals. But they can be a bit pricey, so choose wisely. 

Building genuine friends in these groups starts with continually adding value. Show up, share useful stuff, lend a hand, and be a connector. That’s the recipe for building lasting friendships.

Workshops, Classes, Courses

The classroom is fertile ground for building authentic friendships thanks to shared interests, regular interaction, and teamwork. It is a natural space to socialize and make quality friends. Stick to in-person classes that stretch out over weeks and months giving you time to build rapport with your classmates. 

Consider local language classes as a way to blend seamlessly abroad. Similarly, martial arts, fitness classes, and dance classes offer ongoing bond-building opportunities with the community.

Roommates

Shared living spaces have been a timeless way to make lasting friends. Proximity breeds familiarity and leads to frequent conversations, shared meals, and spontaneous activities. Housemates can be a good support system to bounce ideas, seek advice, or be a listening ear. Over time you get to know each other on a deeper level and build a rock-solid foundation of trust. The shared experiences and memories in communal living make any inconvenience well worth it.

Nannying and Au Pair

If you are looking to make friends with locals and make some income on the side, then you might want to consider doing work as a Nanny or an Au Pair. However, you must have a valid work visa and permits before you start any paid work abroad.

These jobs effectively build a local social network through the host family and their friends. Families generally have stronger ties with their local community and they can help introduce you to people in their social circles. These jobs are best suited to digital nomads who are considering a longer-term stay in a location.

Nanny and Au Pair Resources:

AuPairWorld – Look for Au Pair host families across the world.

AuPair – Become an Au Pair and find host families from abroad.

AuPair Care – For Au Pair workers seeking host families in the USA.

Facebook Groups, Local Classifieds, Craigslist, Gumtree and international equivalents

Search for [city] or [neighborhood] + [nanny], [au pair], [caregiver], or [childcare].