Kids Making New Friends Abroad Have Changed for My Family Over Time; Here’s How

Kids making new friends while traveling full-time has always been an adventure. My son’s playground charm didn’t disappear when he became a teenager. It just found a new playground.

Little Man burst out of his room the other day, tablet still in his hand, grinning.

“I made a new friend.”

Most days, asking about his friends gets me a shrug and a “yeah, fine.” This time he came looking for me.

I was working on my laptop, so I patted the spot next to me. He sat down and told me the whole thing.

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The Swing Set in Yangon

There was a time this wouldn’t have been news. He was the kid at school who invented the playground games everyone else wanted to play.

I still remember a park in Yangon, Myanmar, on our first night in the country in February 2020. We’d landed, checked into the hotel, had dinner, and wandered over as the evening cooled down and the whole neighborhood came out to enjoy it.

Families were everywhere. Nobody spoke English; we spoke zero Burmese, and more than a few people gave us the kind of curious, friendly stare that told us they didn’t see many foreigners in that park.

Little Man didn’t notice or didn’t care. He saw a kid about his age on the swings and went straight over, and within a minute the two of them were locked in a wordless contest to see who could kick their feet higher on the upswing.

That was him. Four minutes, sometimes less, no common language required. Watching kids making new friends that fast, in a language-free crossfire of smiles and swing sets, never got old.

When we first started worldschooling, he’d spot a group of kids he’d never met and run straight into it, no backward glance. I’d see him again for a water break, maybe a snack, and that was it until we had to drag him away.

A New Kind of Playground

He’d been on a Discord call with Kai, a friend he’s made here in Southeast Asia over the last six-ish months, and a few other worldschool kids.

Kai added a friend of his from back in the States, a kid named Eddie, so they could all play a game together.

That’s how it goes in worldschool circles. You’re always passing through at slightly different times than everyone else, a few days here, a few weeks there, and then someone moves on to the next country before you do, or you’re the one who leaves first. You might see them again. You’re never sure when.

Eddie said hi to four strangers at once. Brave, honestly.

The other kids were polite, but Little Man and Eddie actually clicked.

By the time everyone else logged off, the two of them were still talking, mostly about how many of the same games they’re into. Including, of all things, a virtual fishing game my kid has been oddly obsessed with lately.

They’ve played together every day since. Kai still checks in when his schedule allows. Eddie even brought in one of his other close friends, and now it’s the three of them, getting along like they’ve known each other for years.

What’s Different Now

The last couple of years, he’s been more hesitant. These days, when we’re headed to a worldschool meetup, a mix of kids he knows and some he doesn’t, he’ll sometimes say he doesn’t feel like it. That he has enough friends already. That he’s not in the mood to meet anyone new.

When he does go, and he’s nervous, he gets quiet, which makes it harder for other kids to get to know him.

We’ve tried practicing an introduction, something simple about himself, his interests, easy small talk starters. He tells me that’s weird and does his own thing instead. Sometimes his own thing is nothing.

That’s teenagers, I guess.

I’ve always known he wants friends. He’s just seemed to forget how sometimes, now that he’s a teen.

Then I watched him light up over a kid he’d never met in person, over a video game about fishing, of all things.

The wanting friends never left. Knowing how just got harder somewhere along the way. Maybe it’s nerves. He’s still working it out.

Still Kids Making New Friends

The day after they met, I sat on his bed scrolling my phone for a bit while they talked, doing what I always do when someone new is in his ear. Just subtly doing the parental check-in, making sure the new friend is kind and all that.

Eddie has good manners, and he was actually more excited about a virtual fishing pole than my kid was.

Little Man hasn’t asked how old he is. Or where he lives. Or any of the small talk we adults tend to do. He doesn’t need to. He’s just relieved to have someone else in his life who cares about the fish as much as he does.

Honestly, so am I.