Evening · 8 ideas · easiest first
Alone in a city you don't know
Being alone somewhere new is the one situation where going out alone is completely normal, because everyone assumes you're from out of town, which you are. Food halls, hotel bars, open mics and run clubs all work for one person with no effort. The list below is ordered from the quietest to the most social. You'll meet people at the bottom of it whether you meant to or not.
A long walk with one podcast
An hour on foot with one episode, start to finish. You come back with the problem smaller than it was.
- Best when
- Morning before the day starts, or the hour before sunset
- Cheaper
- Free. A coffee at the turnaround point is the whole budget.
- Skip it if
- You'll check email at every red light. Leave the phone on airplane mode.
- Bring
- Headphones, water, shoes you can do five miles in.
Walk the whole food hall before choosing
Ten kitchens under one roof, a lap to look at all of them, then the one you kept thinking about.
- Best when
- Weekday lunch or early evening, before the line
- Cheaper
- Share two plates across three stalls instead of one entrée each.
- Skip it if
- You're indecisive. The lap makes it worse.
- Bring
- An open mind about eating at a counter next to strangers.
One hour in an independent bookstore
The staff picks shelf, a chair in the back, one book bought or none. A full reset in sixty minutes.
- Best when
- Any afternoon; evenings often have a free author event
- Cheaper
- Browse free, buy used, or note the title and put a library hold on it.
- Skip it if
- You'll buy five books and read none. Cap it at one.
- Bring
- A list of what you've been meaning to read.
A hotel lobby bar, alone
The one bar where sitting by yourself with a book is normal, because everyone else is from out of town too.
- Cost
- $15–20 a drink
- Best when
- 7–9 pm on a weeknight
- Cheaper
- One drink, nursed. Nobody turns tables in a hotel bar.
- Skip it if
- You're on a budget. This is the expensive drink of the evening.
- Bring
- A book or a notebook. The phone makes you look like you're waiting for someone.
Open-mic comedy
Fifteen people doing five minutes each. Two will be good. One will be a story you tell for years.
- Cost
- Free or $5
- Best when
- Weeknights, 8 pm
- Cheaper
- It's free. Buy one drink; the room survives on the bar.
- Skip it if
- You sit in the front row. You will become material.
- Bring
- A friend with a loud laugh, which helps everyone.
A band you've never heard of, in a small room
Two hundred people, a $15 ticket, a bar in the back, and a band playing like it matters.
- Best when
- Any night the listing looks interesting
- Cheaper
- Door price on a weeknight is often less than the weekend advance price.
- Skip it if
- You need to sit down. Small venues are standing rooms.
- Bring
- Earplugs. Seriously.
A run club
Thirty strangers, a three-mile loop, and usually a beer after. The easiest way to meet people in a new city.
- Best when
- Weekday evenings, 6 or 6:30 pm; running stores host them
- Cheaper
- Free. The beer after is the only cost, and it's usually a deal.
- Skip it if
- You haven't run in a year. Most have a walking group; ask.
- Bring
- Running shoes and a layer for after.
A meetup for something you already like
A language table, a board game night, a photography walk. Strangers with one thing in common and no small talk needed.
- Best when
- Weeknights; most groups meet weekly or monthly
- Cheaper
- Free to attend. Buy one drink at the host bar; it keeps the group welcome there.
- Skip it if
- You'll bail at the door. Message the organizer first; they'll look for you.
- Bring
- One question to ask the first person you talk to.