I moved to a foreign country a few years ago and I've still not managed to make any friends. I've never had an issue doing things alone but having to do almost everything I find interesting alone was a little sad at first. It still is, but less so.
As someone who has had to make friends in new places multiple times, key to me making friends in almost every case were:
finding mentors and work/industry contacts online and IRL and then meeting them socially to see where they go and what interesting things there are to do locally
meeting local journalists, writers, authors, and musicians and going to their shows, events, exhibitions, and sharing tips and scoops
riding public transit, skateboarding, bicycling, and walking around a lot, doing street photography of the environs and interesting people, their fashion, and pets, and generally drumming up a conversation with anyone to get them talking about people in their life, about their own life, their work, their hobbies lived reality, and material conditions
going to makerspaces and hackerspaces, libraries, and basically any large public gathering place/space/event that is even remotely interesting to me or anyone I’d like to meet, and making and breaking stuff in public
It’s basically the FORD method and a numbers game to make the odds work out.
F - family
O - occupation
R - recreation
D - dreams
There’s also one I recently learned called HEFE which is also useful.
H - hobbies
E - entertainment
F - food
E - environment
Being lonely is so good. Thank you for reminding me yet again. People laugh when I tell them that I enjoy myself more than being with anyone. But that does not change the truth—I enjoy myself, and I enjoy doing some of the things suggested in the video. I am writing this from a coffee shop where I am alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs