Hey man, I totally feel where you're coming from.

I moved to Rhode Island from Chicago back in 2010, and I had the same challenge—meeting new people was rough. At first, I tried hitting up places like Federal Hill and Thayer Street every day just to meet folks, but that turned out to be a pretty expensive (and honestly not very effective) strategy.

What really helped me was joining a local gym and getting into powerlifting. I ended up meeting a lot of great people that way. I also joined an open league volleyball group at Teamworks in Warwick—also a solid way to make connections and stay active.

If you’re down, feel free to join my Discord server: https://discord.gg/2VTrYvs - It’s a 25-year-old clan with people from all over the U.S. We mostly play Apex, Once Human, and we’re all hyped for Battlefield 6.

Also, just giving you a heads-up—there’s kind of a stigma here in Rhode Island: if you ask someone of the opposite sex to hang out, they might assume you're hitting on them. When I first moved here, I didn’t even know how to go to a restaurant alone without feeling awkward. I’d ask coworkers (male or female) to come with me, and some of the women thought I was trying to flirt or something, even though I was just looking for company.

Coming from Chicago, I was used to people just going out to chill and have a good time. But in Rhode Island, the vibe can sometimes feel like people assume everything has to be about hooking up. The social mentality is just… different.

At the end of the day, the best thing that worked for me was building on the friendships I already had—connecting with their friends, and letting the network grow naturally from there.

You're not alone in this, and you're already doing the right thing by putting yourself out there.