[tnecniv]

I just moved to a new city. It’s the first time I’ve moved somewhere without it being for school and having a cohort of people also looking to make friends. I’m a pretty chatty guy that can talk to strangers in a bar, but I’ve had a hard time meeting permanent friends via hobbies or activities (I’m on a rec sports team for example) that could go anywhere. I’m also single so I don’t have a partner that came here with me that is also meeting people out and about. My coworkers are pleasant but I’m not getting friend vibes.

I’m lonely pretty much every day when I’m not at work.

[aurareturn]

It's much harder to make close friends once you're not in school anymore. It's one thing they don't tell graduates.

[dukeyukey]

I've found it's not necessarily "hard", but the strategies that worked in school don't work after graduating. At school friendships just kinda happen - afterwards, you need to work at it. I struggled for a while, in my first two years after uni and leading up to Covid. What helped me was:

* Joining a very social team in a very social company. This was in 2019, and even though they went bankrupt and we all found other jobs, a few of us still hang out regularly.

* D&D. I'd played a bit at Uni, and once lockdowns subsided I convinced my girlfriend to come along to a local club with me. Now we're both running full-blown campaigns!

* Volunteering. I joined a local food-aid group, and it's been fantastic to have something with a bit more meaning behind it.

Once you've got a few good friends, it becomes a lot easier to make others.

[SamPatt]

These are good suggestions.

I would add that D&D is extremely hit or miss, and don't be afraid to leave a group you aren't clicking with and find another one.

[dukeyukey]

Absolutely.

We were lucky enough that we joined at the same time as three other mostly-beginners, and one of the regulars volunteered to run a beginner's campaign (Dragon Of Icespire Peak). It's also a big post-game pub group so lots of chatter afterwards.