You’ve settled into Indy, set up your new apartment and are getting the hang of your first “real world” job. But with adulthood comes challenges that no one prepares you for…like making friends. Think about it-this is the FIRST time where you’ve had to work to make friendships.
In college, there are classes and clubs that make it easy to meet new people. But once you’re on your own, your social life is pretty nonexistent unless you actively search for things to do or groups to become a part of. It can be daunting to put yourself out there, so here are a few ways we’ve explored and enjoyed Indianapolis with the hopes of making new friends along the way.
Our Experience
Having both spent the last year living at home with limited social lives, we knew that connecting with other young people around Indianapolis was a top priority for us, so we brainstormed different ways to go outside of our comfort zones from the beginning:
- Venture to a new area (like Fountain Square)
- Strike up conversations at a bar
- Get to know friends of friends
- Mix up friend groups (events with college +work friends = new friends for everyone)
Other ideas include:
Hosting Game Nights – What’s better to bring new friends together than a traditional game night? Bringing back the classics-Clue, Scattergories and Uno- is a great introduction to starting a friendship because it’s non-threatening, a low maintenance event and super chill.
Making a Facebook Group- We created a Facebook group called Exploring Indy that includes people from work, college, friends of friends, etc. It’s an easy way to plan big group events and reach out to your entire social circle at once. It also opens us up to activities not on our radar since everyone can contribute.
Top Resources
IndyHub Community Calendar
This calendar is a great resource for young adults looking for fun, affordable things to do. There are things constantly being posted, and instead of being focused solely on music or festivals, it has a little bit of everything. If you’re interested in something particular, you can use the tags feature to sort through events. Be sure to check out IndyHub’s events, too!
Yelp
If you’re someone who’s always hunting for new events and restaurants, being a “yelper” is a great way to meet others who, like you, are up for new experiences. Besides being the go-to platform to find honest reviews, Yelp hosts FREE events all throughout Indy to spice up your social life during the work week.
Do317
This e-newsletter comes to your inbox daily and is largely music-focused. You can also sign up to win free tickets to a bunch of headliners. It’s our favorite resource for events happening throughout the week.
Visit Indy
We use The Weekend 5 – a weekly e-newsletter which features trending events-when looking for fun ways to fill up our Saturdays and Sundays.
Take notice of the events your friends are interested in because, chances are, they’re into a lot of the same things you are. Facebook is really good about linking info to the event and being pretty up front about the cost. Plus, if you just click the “interested” button, it’ll give you real-time updates on that event.
Indy is full of great event venues, sports teams, free activities and other young professionals looking for new experiences; it just takes a little digging and an open mind to have a thriving social life in Indy.
Lexa and Caroline are the faces behind the travel blog Sippin’ Sangria. They’re Butler grads who traveled to over 13 countries together and are now roommates in Indy. In their free time, they love finding affordable adventures, taking road trips and keeping their Spanish skills fresh.
