Lonely - how do 20 somethings meet other 20 somethings?!

[Blahdeblah111]

Cut a long story short, relationship ended in Oct, live 200+ miles away from family. My nearest friend is 100 miles away.. And i'm awfully lonely. I have people at work who are more accquiantances but they are much older than me. Some in their 50s, one in her 30s but she has a young family.
I want people that are similar to me to go out on a weekend with. How do we meet? I'm not the most outgoing person, and i find that most people already have a group of friends, so they naturally assume you do too. I live very rural so gym classes etc are out of the question! I am also doing OLD but want to meet people for friendship too.

I don't know if it's an option but I started a part time evening job in a city bar (and then rural hotel! ) to meet some new people. I worked day time as well in my regular job. It was hard work but I made friends with the people I worked with - mostly other 20s - and also the people that came in. Worth a try.

Thanks for the suggestion but i work in education, so any kind of extra work is out of the question on a purely 'not enough hours in the day' basis!

I joined meetup and been to a few things, have you tried it? Not sure where your nearest meetup will be if you're in a rural area but worth a try!

Oh my goodness! Could you apply for a job nearer home? Or nearer to town? Bet you only have the weekends with such a busy job. No wonder your lonely. You need a plan to get away.

I am moving house soon, to the town where i work, which will make things a bit easier in as much as i will more opportunities to make friends, but i still need to make them!

If there isn't a local meet up, how about starting your own? I just joined a new local 20/30s group and it already has 50 members.

meetup is great - try out loads of different groups though. Some you will meet scores of people and click with none of them then at others you will find a big chunk of people you like all at once! You could start your own rural meetup for young people?

Also, citysocializer.com is worth a look too if you aren't too rural.

One of my younger colleagues (she's 25) went part time in her job and has started a university course. She's made loads of friends through joining charity fundraising groups at uni and is doing some quite exciting stuff.

Maybe if you can't go to college or uni again, you could join a charity (one where younger people will be helping out). Or do an evening class in something popular like photography - one of my male friends has met new people doing that.

I do know people that have met others through meetup.com - ok they're 2 men in their 40s but they have made friends of all ages.

Also you definitely need to try your local gym when you move - classes like Salsa & Zumba & Streetdance are very sociable, at my gym there are all kinds of groups too like running groups & book groups.

Just look at the demographic of the group / charity / class before you join. One of my 30 yr old friends joined a painting class. It was fun but.. she was the youngest by 25 years.

Sports clubs? Hockey/netball/lacrosse? Excellent social aspects.

What about volunteering? Have a look online for something nearby. The National Trust do lots of things in rural areas e.g. Conservation projects and also walks etc.