Building your community abroad

CJ and Amanda shares their personal experiences and best tips for building your community abroad.

Here’s the main takeaways:

1. Put yourself out there — community starts with brave first steps

Both hosts emphasize that building a village doesn’t happen passively. You need to take initiative:

* Say yes to “blind-date” coffees

* Join meetups (e.g., InterNations, “new to Frankfurt” events)

* Attend language classes or pregnancy/parent groups

* Accept invitations even when it feels awkward

Almost every friendship they formed began with taking a small social risk.

2. Shared experiences create the strongest connections

The transcript shows that community abroad often forms fastest around common life phases or needs, such as:

* Being new to the country

* Learning the language

* Having pets

* Pregnancy classes or young-kids groups

* Being an international living far from home

These “we’re all in the same boat” situations naturally bring people together and make it easier to bond deeply.

3. Build both international support and local integration

A balanced community abroad includes:

* International friends who offer emotional familiarity, understand holidays, and “adopt” you like family

* Local connections that help you integrate, navigate bureaucracy, learn the language, and support your kids in school

Even though connecting with locals can be harder (language barriers, established circles), both hosts agree that learning the local language and making some local ties helps you feel truly rooted.

Podcast links:

Mel Robbins Podcast Episode 283- It's Not You: The Real Reason Adult Friendship is So Hard & 3 Ways to make it easier: https://open.spotify.com/episode/55RjbE6ffgz4hcsLnOkNW5?si=bc14dc28aab744aa