Making friends as an adult is HARD! Gone are the days when classrooms and after-school activities made
bonding as easy as just being present. Regular class schedules, team sports, and shared dorms naturally
bring people together. Once you become a real adult though, the opportunities to create new friendships can
feel few and far between.
We know that friendships are absolutely crucial for happiness! The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the
longest running study on happiness, found close relationships are the best predictor of a happy, healthy
life, surpassing job satisfaction and wealth. Social connections were even more significant than cholesterol
or blood pressure in predicting well-being at age 80. The same study shows that loneliness can be as harmful
as smoking or obesity. Human beings are social creatures. We need friends to be truly happy; without them
our mental and physical health suffers immensely. But Americans are more lonely today than they have ever
been. An American Psychiatric Associate’s 2024 poll found that 30% of respondents ages 18 to 34 said they
feel lonely every day or several times a week. That’s almost one in every three people feeling lonely on a
consistent basis!!
How did this happen!?!?!
Americans are moving more than ever. Unlike the past, when lifelong friendships formed in childhood, many people now relocate multiple times for education, work and other opportunities. This often means starting over and trying to build a new community of geographically local friends in your late twenties, thirties, forties and beyond. This frequent relocating can also break up established friend groups, so even if you're not the one making moves, you may find yourself suddenly and unexpectedly on your own. Sure you could try a “friend dating” site, but creating a profile, matching with other people close to you, endless chatting, sorting out plans to meet–it’s a lot. More often than not, real life meet ups don’t end up happening. It can be discouraging and disheartening.
Enter Trybe!!!
All the matching and planning and organizing the group is done for you–you just have to commit to consistently showing up and then show up!! Research has shown that it takes approximately 50 hours of time spent together to create real solid friendships. That’s why we set the Trybe schedule for one year. Assuming each Trybe meeting runs from 1-2 hours, by the end of the year you will have spent enough time together to have made real, solid friendships. It’s science!