Participate in a group activity, such as a game or a quiz night.

“Two Brits, an Hungarian and a Kiwi walk into a pub… It’s charity quiz night at the local pub and it turns out arriving on time meant we were late to the party. Only 4 seats left. We looked at each other and formed a team on the spot. Strangers only minutes before we were soon signed up as the Atomic Kittens (don’t ask me) and getting down to the serious business of ordering some healthy snacks (pizza and burgers) and some cognition enhancing beverages, all the while learning a little about each other in the process. By the end of the evening, we knew even more. Nioce was born the year the Berlin Wall came down, me the year of the first moon landing, Kevin had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Disney Films and Clive a better knowledge of NZ rivers than his kiwi wife (that would be the geologist in him). We had a range of different upbringings in different countries, wildly divergent interests, and an age range of 30+ years. This, it turned out, was quite the advantage.”

“I host a trivia night, and I go to trivia nights by myself all the time. I usually get there a little early and sit at the bar (the bar invites socializing while a table asks to be left alone). Sometimes I join up with an existing team, sometimes I play by myself, sometimes I end up forming a team with the bartender if they're not too busy or another person who showed up alone. The bartender and trivia host can probably point you in the direction of a friendly team if that's what you want, but I can say as a host and bartender, there's absolutely nothing wrong with flying solo either. People do it all the time.”