This is the new age of "meeting" people.  You don't even have to leave your home.  Just get online.  There are millions of "places" that you can meet people.  The drawback is that you don't always know exactly who you're meeting.  "Blind dates" are a given.  =)  I know colleagues that met their now wedded spouse online, from half-way around the world.  No, this was not through one of those "buying" a spouse online from a third world country.  They met through playing online games.  One was in Europe and the other is from the US.  They ended up getting married and staying in the US.

Now, this would most likely not happen just 10 years ago.  The Internet is certainly making the world a lot smaller.  You can meet and converse with people and get to know people from different cultures in the comfort of your own home; or, anywhere you go, with portable devices such as Blackberries.

A lot of people also make friends online and travel to the countries of those new friends.  When they get there, they already have friends to take them around, or to stay with.  But, please do be careful, and, take caution to validate the person/people on the keyboard at the other end.

Do you have any experience meeting people online?