Moving to a new city is always an adventure—thrilling, a little chaotic, and full of surprises. But let’s be honest, no matter how many times you pack your bags and strut into your new life like you’ve got it all together, things rarely go as planned. Sure, a passport and a place to stay are important, but the real survival kit? Friends. I’ve learned that “Better to have friends than money” isn’t just a cheesy movie line—it’s an actual life hack when moving abroad. A friend becomes your pillar, your GPS for navigating new disasters, and your therapist when you’re three days deep into bureaucratic paperwork. They turn the toughest challenges into shared laughs and unforgettable stories. So, forget about mastering the local metro system—here’s why finding a friend is the most important thing you’ll do, and how it saved my sanity abroad.
By Little Chilean
@gaby.o
Moving to a new city is always thrilling and filled with new-life surprises and challenges. In some cases, everything flows into place so easily that it doesn’t even feel like a change. Having already been there or speaking the same language, for example, will make the process feel even simpler.
But regardless of how much of a challenge it ends up being for you, finding your group of friends will completely make the difference in how easily you get to feel at home in this new destination, and manage to overcome every kind of obstacle.
From going to the doctor, dealing with visas or navigating work and love life, a friend is genuinely the travel essential you want to make sure you have on your list. You’ll have a partner, a mother, a sister, a sidekick, a bestie, a teacher, or a shoulder to cry on whenever you need to navigate life in this new place. All, nicely accompanied by laughs and memories that will stay with you forever.
So, for all those living abroad or starting to plan it, I can confirm that your checklist needs to start with a passport and a friend. The rest will flow around it and settle on its own. Why? There are several scenarios and reasons you’ll get to experience that will be completely better just by the fact that you got to share it with a friend. Here are my favourite 5 reasons why establishing a wonderful group of friends at the right time is the most important part of moving abroad.
5 reasons why a friend is the greatest treasure while living abroad
There’s nothing quite like taking that first stroll through a new city, discovering every landmark, uncovering hidden gems, and getting the hang of the local transport system. Trying out the local food and embracing new customs just adds to the excitement. And when you throw in a new country and language, there’s a whole new level of satisfaction when you finally feel at home and comfortable there. But all of that will be topped by having a friend by your side, and here’s why you want to find your person.
- Your new big sister
If they’ve been there for longer, they’ll be the best big sister you can ask for. You can rely on them sharing the good, the bad and the ugly parts of their move, for you to have your first dive in the new city in a smoother, mistake-free experience –or at least fewer mistakes, when possible; you’ll still make your own mistakes, don’t worry.
- Your friend will know things you don’t
Wisdom comes from experience, and when we’re adventuring in a new place, we want to have as much wisdom and knowledge as possible. So regardless of how long or similar your journeys are, there are always some tips and tricks they’ll be able to share with you to help you navigate the culture, work experience, transport, and everything in the new city.
- A side-kick is always welcomed
A sisterhood is probably one of the most valuable things we can ask for, one that feels even more valuable when we’re away from home. And every time we’re looking for advice when looking for a job, when trying the new café that opened around the corner, or when going hiking. And when we need to complain about our jobs and dating mistakes number 3 and 4, and even when we want to lose some steam on a night out, a good unconditional friend is exactly what you’ll need those days.
- Circle of people and contacts
When job hunting, simply dating, or when trying to get more people involved in your new cultural endeavour, knowing more people will help you with this challenge. And when doing so, among your friend’s friends and acquaintances, you just might find the right business partner or the lover you’re looking for.
- When things don’t go as planned
I wish I could tell you there’s a magical door that will open just by having a good friend, but the truth is, moving abroad is not free from challenges. And even though having a partner in crime will make navigating them way easier, you’ll still have to live them. And more importantly, you’ll still survive them and, eventually, they’ll all become a thing of the past, a funny story you get to share over and over with your friend who was there through it all. That’s quite a bond, I’d say.
Finding your person
But living through the thrilling journey of moving abroad is as much of an exciting experience, as a nerve-wracking uncomfortableness, even though it’s one worth living. So, as with every challenging life scenario, you want to have your loved ones around.
But for travellers, most of the time having your family around is simply not an option. So, we turn to the family we chose, our friends. As you can imagine, moving to a new city doesn’t include an assigned apartment and a friend for the ride. It means everything is new, and you have to juggle your way into getting settled in this new place.
Although there are different ways to make friends in a new place that I’ll dig into very soon in this article, you can find great inspiring tips in a previous article published in Life Lovers Magazine.
In all scenarios, this person or group of friends will become not just your sidekick, but also the reason your experience in that new city will be better. Unfortunately, is not the easiest job in some cases, and in others, even meeting the wrong kind of people will make things way shakier, especially if you’re already walking on a shaky ground of doubt and mixed feelings.
But as with everything in life, it’s all about keeping an eye out for it. In friendships, there’s no such thing as the one and only soulmate, but a whole bunch of awesome people who will make you feel like you belong, help you thrive, and settle in quicker.
Because let’s face it, even if things go south, and you end up bailing on your new city adventure before it’s supposed to end, the journey is always more enjoyable with friends than going solo, or even with a partner – trust me, I’ve been there!
Here’s a bit of how I managed to find my sisterhood in my new life abroad.
“Meeting my girls”
So, in 2020, I moved to Marseille, France, with my boyfriend at the time. It seemed like an easy move since I had already lived in a few different cities. But it turns out that living in a city where everyone speaks only French, and with a boyfriend working insane hours during peak season, wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. I moved to his city after him, and at that time, as I’d already moved and lived in a few different cities, it seemed like a piece of cake.
The road was long and hopeless. I felt my excitement of moving to a new city and country and learning a new language diminishing per day. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but simply the fact that my very “comfort zone” expectations were met with a hard reality check where I had to muster up a new strategy to find my way around.
My previous move to a new country was a completely different experience. But I was also way too lucky to have done it alongside 3 other friends, already speaking the language, and arriving straight to life in a hostel where everyone was on the same page.
Here, I had to really start fresh, and it was hard. I felt lost, slowly isolating. Managed to find activities to pass the time, keep my mind in check, walk around as much as possible on my own, and, whenever possible, I tried to latch to my boyfriend’s non-English speaking friends – not very successfully, If I may add.
It was a long road. Then, with what seemed like the obvious answers sitting in front of me for months, and a very low self-esteem by then, I went online. Joined Facebook groups and downloaded and switched over to the “BFF” profile in the dating app Bumble and, quite literally, put myself out there.
After a couple of interesting but not much of a match kind of encounters, I met this one girl who seemed to fit my vibe fascinatingly. We were almost the same age and could both share the same “I didn’t love the city when I first arrived” vibe.
It turns out that many people have a love-hate relationship with Marseille, as it is a magnificent but unique city that takes time to get used to. Surprisingly, this feeling towards the city brought us together. This initial connection led to more friendships, more matches and soon a solid group of girlfriends formed within a few months.
This group became my family, and I finally started to enjoy the city the way I was meant to from the beginning. I was happy.
We shared drinks, tears, meals, shoes, birthdays, our beds, tips on doing our taxes, finding a new home or job, apps to help us ease our way into the city, visa experiences, and much, much more. We all knew we had each other’s backs, and that gave us a sense of safety I had not felt in a while, by then.
Having that support, especially when everything else is falling apart — like getting fired, breaking up with our partners, finding a new place to live, or the eternal process of waiting for a new visa renewal—is simply priceless.
Just last month, one very important member of that new-found family ended up moving away to a new country. That was a crushing moment, but one that made us so happy because it gave us that chance to look back and review everything we’ve lived together in the last 2 years. And it was epic and beautiful.
We’ll miss having her with us at just a 30-minute walk –cause now she lives 12 hours away by plane– but we’re so happy she’s happier and starting a new stage in her life where she’ll be even happier. And when she’s not, we’ll all be just one phone call away, probably dispersed in different places around this globe, but still close when needed.
A lot has changed for all of us in the same period. One had a baby, one moved in with her boyfriend, others moved away from their couple’s apartment (me), one changed jobs, others got jobs, one moved to an island, and the other one moved back home. And throughout all that, there were many many laughs, trips, a few tears, a couple of arguments, and a great amount of shared drinks.
Looking back, If I leave this city tomorrow, or even if it takes me years to see them all again, I will never regret this experience because It gave me them, the girls. And in the future, I know I’ll only remember my time in this city with an unmeasurable amount of love, all thanks to them.
Love you. You know who you are.
Life Lovers Magazine® 