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Making friends in retirement abroad when you're not working or in school

Helga Larsen ⭐ Helpful member
8 Jun 2026, 04:33

Younger expats meet people through jobs and classes; we retired here and the days can be quiet. We're not shy, but the ready-made social scaffolding just isn't there at our stage. For other retirees — how did you actually build a circle of friends from scratch in your new country? What worked beyond 'join a club'?

7 replies

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Chris Bennett ⭐ Helpful member
8 Jun 2026, 07:25

Joined a specific recurring volunteer commitment. Less about the activity itself and more about seeing the same faces regularly over time — that’s what actually built the friendships.

Paolo Bianchi ⭐ Helpful member
9 Jun 2026, 08:43

Following, retiring here in about a year myself, taking notes early.

Linda Svensson ⭐ Helpful member
9 Jun 2026, 09:11

Found other retirees specifically through a local international-residents association rather than a general club — a more relevant peer group for exactly this stage of life.

Helga Larsen ⭐ Helpful member
11 Jun 2026, 03:26

OP here — hadn’t thought to look for a retirees-specific group rather than a general one, going to look into that.

Viktor Ivanov ⭐ Helpful member
2 Jul 2026, 16:28

No advice, not retired yet myself, but bookmarking this thread for later.

Pavel Novak ⭐ Helpful member
4 Jul 2026, 18:10

Does language ability matter a lot for this, or are local social groups generally welcoming regardless?

Kwame Mensah 🏆 Community expert
14 Jul 2026, 17:39

Not retired myself, but from general experience: the willingness to try seemed to matter more than actual fluency. People noticed and appreciated the effort.