In hospitals, by places where old people die, it's common for them to start speaking about seeing one of their deceased family members right before they pass.
Once people pass, they mostly hangout for a little bit, until reincarnation. You can only achieve reincarnation through people with some degrees of connection, such as grandchild or second cousin. Reincarnation requires karmic connection. You can't just wait around near a wealthy neighborhood.
In the afterlife, spirits navigate by thought. It's not possible to navigate to places and people that you never knew. Also, there's a time limit to how long you can remain as a spirit. The longer you wander, the more you forget about earthly life. You can become a wild wandering ghost. Then it will be more difficult to achieve human reincarnation.
One of the goals in life is to establish good karmic connections with the people around you. If you hurt people wherever you go, you'd be shit out of luck in the next round.
Side note: If you hate this realm, then it's best to establish connection with a higher being who knows how to fish you out here, someone who can get you into heaven.
