Looking for friends my age

Submitted by seen-in-the-skylight t3_10wx4hq in newhampshire

Hey everyone. I (26M) and my partner (23F) are looking to find more friends in our age group. We live in the New London/Andover area and, while I love my older friends, we both need some peers.

Any advice on this? Any cool hangouts around here? Meetups isn’t turning up very much.

I’ve lived here for years and have found this to be a challenge. She’s in the process of immigrating from France so for her, being so far away from her support group, it’s even more essential. Thank you so much!

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smartest_kobold t1_j7pefkw wrote

You could try catfishing young MA people to lure them here.

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nullcompany t1_j7phqn9 wrote

Ab asino lanam, a donkey has no wool. Friendships in NH are born in kindergarten and give way to time and entropy - never rebuilt. Friends, split into people who are dating, split into people who got married, split into people who had kids ... but we never rebuild after we divide.

Ask yourself this, if you were in downtown Boston, how would you find some friends your age? If that's already a challenge, you're going to pull your hair out doing it up here. If it's obvious how to do it in downtown Boston, then how logistically expensive would it be to start there and slowly work your way backwards?

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SillyIce t1_j7phuun wrote

Hey I’m 32 and my wife is 26. We are in Andover! She’s in a similar process as your wife :)

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seen-in-the-skylight OP t1_j7pi1eo wrote

Replying to nullcompany (#1,753,169)

Very very good points. I know more or less how I’d make friends in downtown Boston - I’d look for groups, places where people hang out. I guess that’s the sort of stuff I’m asking about here: if people know of things like that. I was looking on meetups and found some cool stuff, but the pickings are of course slim.

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futureygoodness t1_j7pj2y4 wrote

Replying to nullcompany (#1,753,169)

This feels overly defeatist. We came here from NYC in 2020 and post-vaccine my wife and I have been able to make friends by joining groups in the community — she’s taking ukulele classes, I’ve started going to a local game store each week to play Magic: The Gathering.

This is definitely a low population, low density state, but there are things to do in the community. Just needs some initiative and a pro-social attitude.

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WhiskyIsMyYoga t1_j7pmik3 wrote

Climbing gyms are fairly inclusive around a shared passion for the sport. If there’s one nearby, it’s a great way to meet people.

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becbec1313 t1_j7pp2pu wrote

What kind of hobbies do you enjoy? Together or separately?

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seen-in-the-skylight OP t1_j7pr5om wrote

Replying to becbec1313 (#1,753,609)

Great questions! Together, we both like board games, classy brunch/dinner gatherings/parties, dancing (occasionally), good TV/movies and juicy gossip with our friend group (we do have friends, but they’re back in her home town in Europe).

I like hiking/walking, video games, history/philosophy, theater (especially Shakespeare) and politics (I’m on the left/liberal side of things, but I don’t judge unless you’re like, really really nuts).

My partner likes fashion, good food, bar-hopping, going to the movies. A lot of more “city activities” which makes it harder for her. I’m very happy to drive down to Concord/Manchester for things like that and I’m quite sure she would be too if she found something she liked.

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becbec1313 t1_j7pxnod wrote

Replying to seen-in-the-skylight (#1,753,741)

I definitely recommend Boards and Brews cafe in Manchester if you like board games. There's also a few board game stores around if you don't mind taking a day to adventure. Midgard in Derry is pretty nice, so is Relentless Dragon in Nashua. If you like video games and have an interest in vintage/older consoles, Core Gaming in Salem NH is awesome.

Manchester has some great bar hopping spots all along Elm Street. I'm partial to McGarvey's for a classic bar, the Shashkeen is a decent Irish pub close to all the downtown action and the theater nearby. I also like The Goat, they have a large whiskey selection and fun food, and live music every night at 9. Concord has some decent small spots too. Nothing too extravagant but good atmosphere. There's Penuches, which is a bit of a college dive bar but they tend to have good local bands on the weekends and decently priced drinks. I've met a lot of great folks there. Tandy's is a favorite for food, and I think they recently reopened their dance room in the back.

There's plenty of hiking and history spots up north, plus cute little towns with fun stores, great for day trips! I love the Cog Railway, and all the spots along Franconia Notch like the Flume and the Basin. Littleton and North Conway are some of my favorites for shopping, and they tend to have a lot of events going on in the warmer seasons.

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Low_Willingness_3595 t1_j7q0tu4 wrote

Not sure if you guys ski or snowboard but ragged mountains not to far from andover. Great vibe there even if your just chillin in the bar

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SuccessNo548 t1_j7r599q wrote

Hello! I (24M) don’t have a spouse, but! I also could use more friends and things to do! I live on the north shore in Mass but I am in Portsmouth/Dover area often

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Vi0lentByt3 t1_j7rr0fl wrote

Lol i think this gets asked here and bubbles up at least once a month. Outside of talking to internet strangers or making friends via your own hobbies it’s so hard to make new in person connections cuz cities are small and living in a house is expensive so its already a small subset of people and most are older.

Definitely worth trying though! I live outside manchester and am down to hang, you guys also live close to a bunch of mountains and snow sports have some good social opportunities too but can be $$$ Its an outdoorsy state so you wont get much in the way of urban experiences outside of manchester really. You are gonna have to kind of cut your own path and then see who comes up along the way

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Azr431 t1_j7s51a7 wrote

What’s “older”? 30’s, 40’s, or beyond? Maybe find out where the kids at Colby Sawyer go for fun

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MagnificentPower t1_j7spwgb wrote

Hey! I’m 23F and my fiancé is 24M and we’re in the concord area!

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OscarP808 t1_j7wl09z wrote

Replying to Burger-King-Covid (#1,753,567)

Along those lines the Dartmouth French department might have some good leads in particular for your girlfriend. At least when I was enrolled there decades ago the professors were all very approachable and would have loved to have a native speaker to converse with, although now that I think of it most of my professors were American. Plus the college has multiple graduate programs with students in your age range (maybe not quite what you’re looking for given the more transient nature).

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imcraiggy t1_j7x0r6u wrote

My partner speaks French we are both 29. We're in southern NH. Dm me if you would like! I hope you two can find your peeps :)

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