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JerryKook t1_iw9p0ax wrote

Vermont is not an easy place to make friends. People assume it is but it isn't. Especially the older you get. If you don't have old friends and are old, you are screwed.

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Aoe330 t1_iw9uiaz wrote

And if you get too old, you can't connect with your old friends without a Ouija board.

Seriously though, I worry about retirement. Work is like, 90% of where I socialize.

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JerryKook t1_iw9xyku wrote

Yeah, I was lucky that I moved here when I was young and participated in a lot of activities that introduced me to a lot of people. School & work also helped.

I couldn't imagine moving here if I was older.

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Amplify_Love4715 t1_iwhd0o3 wrote

My wife and I I lived in Vermont when we were a lot younger and had a bunch of friends. We’ll be coming back back after 30 years so I’m sure we won’t run into many of the people we used to know very often and we’ll also be like 45 min north of areas where we used to live. We do have family in VT. so that helps and I’m a musician so I’ll be out playing music as often as I can and hopefully making some new musician friends and connections that way. One of my my best friends here is 25 years younger than I am so age really never factors in for me. I’m looking forward to making lots of new friends!

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computaSaysYes t1_iwcawvn wrote

Welp just work till you keel over. /s

Seriously though did anyone see the local man on the news the other night, machinist still working full time at 80. shudder

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edwardsamson t1_iw9vhh4 wrote

I'm 33 in the Upper Valley and it feels like potential friends just don't exist for me here. Its all either Dartmouth kids I'm 10+ years older than, junkies who couldn't get out of the UV after high school, and people either married with kids or just with kids in general. Oh and I forgot the maga rednecks too.

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nikelz t1_iwa5pec wrote

More people like you exist, we just seem to congregate on the internet instead of wherever 35 year old childless progressives are supposed to hangout in the UV.

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laika404 t1_iwbt30l wrote

Yeah every now and then I see evidence of our group, just wish I knew where to meet others in this group offline...

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Severe_Net_3732 t1_iwsn3ou wrote

There’s an active Upper Valley Young Professionals group for this.

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somedudevt t1_iwhf1s4 wrote

Yup… this is the answer. Pick the hobby you enjoy (something that’s not watching Netflix alone) find a forum/social media group about it. Post the rando doing xyz on x day if anyone is interested post… vet anyone who replies by looking at their post history to make sure they are not a Nazi or conspiracy theory nut. Meet up and do the activity. Repeat the steps till you have a small group of people with similar interests.

There are tons of groups online… going into winter people coop up which is not great, find something outside that’s interesting and then get into that community, whether it’s lake ice skating, xc skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, etc.

Most of the people I spend time with regularly are people i either met through common interest forums, or reconnected with in those forum, or are friends of people from those forums.

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MizLucinda t1_iwacwu1 wrote

Someone once told me the only way to make friends in vermont is to have kids, since you’ll end up doing a lot of socializing through elementary school events. I was like, isn’t having kids kind of a big life decision on the off chance I might be friends with some parents in 6 years? Blank stare in response.

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msanthropical t1_iwcco6w wrote

Should we do a CF meet up?

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Averne t1_iwdhhur wrote

I would very much be down for something like that.

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Ok-Fun9346 t1_iwe4m3k wrote

I would be down for a CF meet up too.

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VTPeWPeW247 t1_iwa8xc6 wrote

I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way.

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Averne t1_iwdh8v3 wrote

I’m 36 in the Upper Valley! Let’s be friends!

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edwardsamson t1_iwdzb82 wrote

Hello! Are you from the UV originally? What kind of stuff do you like to do?

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Haltmaw t1_ix1w2fr wrote

WRJ has the cartoon college which brings in folks who are in their 20s and 30s from around the world. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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MEuRaH t1_iwbtlu5 wrote

I'm going to disagree. It's very easy through hobbies.

Find a hobby you want to try, join a meetup, join a league, etc. I have 4 hobbies and have more friends than I can keep up with tbh.

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JerryKook t1_iwe7qrb wrote

It works for me as well but not everyone.

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johneerottn2dacore t1_iwb6d9x wrote

At 52... learned this the hard way. Still much love for Burlington though!!! lol

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Pyroechidna1 t1_iwbmg28 wrote

Joining the local fire department is a good way to get integrated with the community.

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MarkVII88 t1_iwbtq86 wrote

Only if you care about being some kind of pillar of the community. What if you just want to pay your taxes, keep your mouth shut, live your life, and occasionally have some folks over for dinner or to watch the game on TV, or to go out cycling or skiing with, for example?

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JerryKook t1_iwbzkhs wrote

True, becoming a volunteer fire person is a huge commitment. One that I was not willing to make.

Love your user name.

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Pyroechidna1 t1_iwdbt30 wrote

Don't be surprised when you call the fire department and no one shows up, it's much closer to happening than you would believe in most of Vermont's towns

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MarkVII88 t1_iwdhv5q wrote

I don't live in a part of VT where that is likely to happen due to proximity of multiple, staffed FD's with overlapping coverage in my area. So, while that may be a concern in some places, it's not for me.

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suzi-r t1_iwcdki3 wrote

Cheers to you for saying that—even more if you’ve done it!! VT life is about community.

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