Alone in a crowd

My friends mean the world to me. It is so important to have some good mates beside you. To have fun with. To complain to. To cry with. Basically, to share memories with.

With moving overseas and starting a new life, I was eager to make some new friends. I have always been good at it. When on exchange I met some of my besties in my first week. And I was only 5 months there in total.

However, here in Australia I find it mightily difficult to meet some people I really connect with. Even though I try to put myself out there, meet people, go to parties and have conversations.

It is only now I realise how lucky I have been in the past meeting great friends I truly get along with.

My childhood friends, who probably formed me to the person I am today. But also at uni I was part of a great group of people. How lucky was I to meet them, and accidentally getting along with so well?

Here, I feel alone in a crowd sometimes. There are so many young people living in Melbourne. And I am sure there are hundreds I would love to hang out with. I just don’t know how to meet them.

Making friends as an adult is hard. When there is no place you have to be, like uni, school or a hobby, it is difficult to meet new people.

I am tremendously grateful for the friends I have, all over the world.  However, I am sad to be so far away from most of them. And even though I love them, it is hard to stay in touch.

We all have busy lives, and a Skype call is sometimes an effort on both sides. Some of them, even though really missed, I barely speak to anymore.

But I know this will not hurt our friendship. It is just the way it is. Something you need to accept when moving overseas, you can’t keep in contact with everyone.

To all my friends, wherever they are. You are missed. Come over to Melbourne whenever you can, all of you are always welcome. If you want to talk, let me know.

In the meantime, I will meet all those cool, awesome people out there and find my own Melbourne crew.

If you have any tips on how to meet new people and make new friends, or want to share a story, leave a message!