Are Blogging Friends Real Friends?
Posted on: November 27, 2017
- In: friends | People
- 90 Comments
You may have read on a previous post that one of the items on my personal “bucket list” was to meet my blogging friends in person. I am excited to say that I have met three recently.
During my last trip to Canada, a blogging friend showed up at my presentation at a Calgary Library. I was delighted to meet Sue Slaght from Travel Tales of Life. She is as delightful in person as she is on her blog. A prairie girl like I am, she enjoys travel too. Her blog provides excellent articles written with a great sense of humour and filled with interesting details and pictures. She is game to try anything and have it videoed by her patient, eye-rolling husband. Check out her blog. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and the stunning pictures will entice you to visit the many locations she writes about. I am so glad to have met Sue in person.
With blogging buddy Sue Slaght in Calgary, Alberta
Another blogging friend I met recently is Fatima Rosales Naya. I have been following her blog, Saysell Travels, for a few years now. She writes about her travels with her husband and cute dog, Beano, around France and Spain in their motorhome. They find the coolest places to stop and explore and writes about them. They happened to be near Alicante recently so we arranged a meetup. It was like seeing a best friend at long last and we chatted nonstop for two hours. I’m sure we were sisters in another life. Check out her blog, with fabulous pictures here.
With long-time blogging friend, Fatima in Alicante, Spain
While in Liverpool I had a coffee with Alison Sandilands of Seemytravels.com who lives there. We had met once before when she spent six months in Canada five years ago and made a stop on the west coast. I wrote about it in an earlier blog here. After a coffee, snack, and catch-up, she took me to a historic church and gave me great ideas of things to do while in Liverpool. She was the one who suggested I stop by that fabulous library. It was so wonderful to see her again, especially as now she has a sweet little girl. Her blog is a mixture of travel and lifestyle articles.
With Alison and her baby in Liverpool, UK.
There are those who question whether blogging friends are real friends? I for one have always felt they are real friends and meeting some of them in person, makes them even more real. It is so great to have friends scattered all over the world. You can never have too many friends!
Have you had the opportunity to meet a blogging friend?
90 Responses to "Are Blogging Friends Real Friends?"
November 27, 2017 at 4:44 am
How coincidental, I just wandered to this blog by accident and did recognize Sue by her blog and photo. I live in Calgary but have not yet personally met her.
November 27, 2017 at 5:05 am
I’m sure you’ll meet at some point as you are both cyclists. Thanks so much for stopping by.
November 27, 2017 at 4:45 am
I’ve only met 1 blogger in person….a cyclist from New York state. Since then, she seems to have stopped blogging.
November 27, 2017 at 5:02 am
I’m sure it was great to meet her. Some of my blogging friends have stopped blogging as well.
December 11, 2017 at 2:36 am
I wish I understood what was happening in her life. I’m sure she’s fine, her mother returned to some cycling herself. And they’ve biked together.
November 27, 2017 at 4:59 am
Such fun meetings and to know you are loving life, Darlene!
November 27, 2017 at 5:07 am
Wonderful that you have met blogging friends in person, Darlene. I have not (yet), yet I consider many to be close friends. Meeting in person must be awesome!
November 27, 2017 at 5:40 am
I think it is so special because you have already created a bond through blogging. Perhaps it is somewhat like the pen pals we had as children. I had one in Australia and always wanted to meet her one day.
November 27, 2017 at 5:12 am
To answer your question – an unequivocal YES! Blogging friends are real friends. I’ve met 6 or 7 so far and it seems we had an instant connection because of earlier virtual conversations. Fatima often comments on my blog. Someday I hope to meet both of you in person. As a matter of fact, I believe I met her online through YOU. Lucky me!
November 27, 2017 at 5:42 am
That is so true, we already feel we know each other by the bond we created by blogging. Yes, I do believe you met Fatima through my blog. It would be so much fun to all meet up one day. You never know.
November 27, 2017 at 6:49 am
Yes, we did met through Darlene, and I hope we will meet in person some time too. ❤
November 27, 2017 at 5:18 am
I agree. I consider them friends. I’ve met so many of my blogging and author friends at so many different conferences, critique groups, and while studying with various authors. I also chat with them on the phone, through e-mail and skype. The kidlit community is such a warm, friendly and close group. And, someday I hope to meet you, Darlene.
November 27, 2017 at 5:44 am
There are so many ways to meet today! I’m sure we will meet one day, Patricia. I agree about the kidlit community, everyone is so friendly and supportive.
November 27, 2017 at 5:29 am
Isn’t it great when you meet your FB friends in person? I had the good fortune to meet three of my own FB friends, all of them writers who live in different parts of the word. We had a wonderful time. I hope I’ll get to meet you one of these days as well, Darlene!
November 27, 2017 at 5:45 am
It is great when that happens. I do hope, now that I’m in Europe, that we will have an opportunity to meet.
November 27, 2017 at 5:43 am
I think you all are very lucky. When I started blogging I never thought I’d make “friends” here — all I thought about was entertaining readers. How shallow that was! I haven’t met any fellow bloggers, but who knows — the future is wide open. And I have made what I call good friends here also. Keep the friendships going!
November 27, 2017 at 5:47 am
We always seem to find things in common in the blogging world, which is why we follow the blog we do, I guess! I love the friends I have made in the blogging world and get so much support from them. I’m sure you’ll meet some of us at one time.
November 27, 2017 at 6:47 am
This is beautiful, Darlene, and I am so glad to have met you in person and that you have managed to meet other fellow bloggers too. I hope you will meet many more of your blogging friends and, given your passion for travelling, I am sure you will. Thank you for mentioning me and my blog. 👍❤❤👍
November 27, 2017 at 8:41 am
It was a special day for me when we met! Travelling definitely does give us the opportunity to meet blogging friends.
November 30, 2017 at 5:33 am
“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met before.” Will Rogers
November 27, 2017 at 8:39 am
Oh my Darlene what a kind gift you have given. It was a true pleasure to meet you in Calgary. Your vibrant, positive attitude that I have come to know over the years on your blog was what I felt meeting in person. As I have mentioned your story of making your dreams come true has been an inspiration. Wishing you much happiness and I hope our paths cross again in person dear friend.
Sue
November 27, 2017 at 8:43 am
You are so welcome. I was so impressed that you went out of your way to hear me speak at the library. What a great opportunity to meet. I am sure we will meet up again. ❤
November 27, 2017 at 3:51 pm
Well if you had come from Spain surely I could drive to the other side of the city. 🙂
November 27, 2017 at 4:30 pm
I agree that they “can” be real friends. I have met one of my photography friends from Instagram a couple of times now, the latest with her and her husband yesterday in a Barcelona as we hunted around for artistic graffiti! They have visited our home in the Cotswolds too.
Today ……. Valencia!
November 27, 2017 at 10:55 pm
Enjoy Valencia, one of my favourite places! The museum of ceramics is amazing! So nice you connected in real time with a photography friend.
November 27, 2017 at 5:33 pm
I completely agree with you that they’re real friends. You don’t have to be with someone in the flesh to form a friendship. I would never have guessed the blogging community would be such a positive and rewarding environment before becoming a blogger myself. It’s lovely that you’ve met some of your blogging friends in person, and I’m sure they were just as delighted to meet you as you were to meet them. I haven’t met any fellow bloggers yet but I’m very much looking forward to meeting one in a couple of weeks’ time. One of these days I hope to be able to say the same about you. 🙂
November 27, 2017 at 10:57 pm
Enjoy your meeting with a blogging friend. I´m sure there will be tea and scones involved. You are certainly on my list should I find myself in your area.
November 27, 2017 at 10:32 pm
It’s a great idea, if possible, to meet Facebook/Twitter friends, Darlene. It’s lovely that you’ve managed several. Perhaps we’ll ask ‘virtual’ friends who live/visit Spain to link up if they’re near next year?! A sort of Writers’ Ink link?! xx
November 27, 2017 at 10:58 pm
Sounds like a great idea. There is a bloggers bash in the UK which might be fun to attend at some time.
November 28, 2017 at 12:53 am
when we organised the first Bloggers Bash meet up three and a bit years ago we had no idea if anyone would come and if they did would they be a mix of weirdos, charlatans and attention seekers. They did and they were! All true to their blogs and unutterably fabulosa! So now I’ve met maybe 50 bloggers through being London based (so many people come here if coming to the UK) and the Bash. Always fun, always splendid. If you made it here Darlene I pretty much guarantee a good time.
November 28, 2017 at 2:35 am
It is certainly on my list of things I want to do. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
November 28, 2017 at 1:43 am
I have not met any if my blog friends as yet but The Bloggers Bash is on my wishlist for 2018. 🌼
November 28, 2017 at 2:36 am
Sounds like a lot of us would like to attend. Perhaps I´ll see you there.
November 28, 2017 at 6:49 pm
It is lovely meeting up with blogging friends. I had the pleasure some years ago and would love to meet up with more. *sigh* someday! We are hoping to head to Canada in a couple of years so who knows we might meet up there Darlene. If you haven’t swung down our way before then. 🙂
November 28, 2017 at 6:56 pm
I remember when you met a blogging friend on one of your travels and I thought, It can be done! You will love Canada and will make some new friends the folks are very friendly. Hugs!
November 28, 2017 at 8:31 pm
I am from Indonesia yet I have 2-3 blooger friends from neighbour countries like Singapore or Malaysia. They stopped blogging I guess, yet we keep each other posted thru social media like Instagram or Facebook. Early this year, one of them visited Jakarta and I took him for walking tour . That was our first met after hmm 7-8 years
November 28, 2017 at 11:08 pm
That is so wonderful that you still keep in touch with your blogging friends even though they have stopped blogging. A sign of real friendship. So happy you got to meet one of them and how kind of you to show them around.
November 28, 2017 at 10:49 pm
What a lovely post, I’m yet to meet any of my blogging friends, so it’s great to see you have done so and it’s been such a positive experience!
November 28, 2017 at 11:09 pm
Thanks for visiting my blog, welcome. I´m sure you will have an opportunity to meet a blogging friend at some point.
November 28, 2017 at 11:17 pm
Absolutely agree Darlene! Thanks to my blog I too have met such wonderful people which I wouldn’t have ever even dreamt of knowing. Also through Twitter I have met a bunch of people and now we meet and talk on the phone and whenever in each others’ cities, we plan a meetup.
November 29, 2017 at 12:41 am
How exciting you met some blogging friends in person! I’d love to be able to do that sometime.
November 29, 2017 at 1:54 am
It was indeed exciting and I hope you get to meet some blogging friends at some point!
November 29, 2017 at 6:05 am
I have only met one of my blogging community in person so far (and it is SO far) but I can honestly say that the friendships I have been fortunate to forge in this arena in many ways eclipse or certainly equal the great terrestrial friendships of my life. We are carving out a new era in this etherous place and if our hearts and souls are in it then the friendships will be good and true and genuine.
November 29, 2017 at 7:48 am
Excellent point. I feel the same, many of my blogging friends have become as important as my face to face friends. We tend to have so much in common, but I imagine that is how we found each other in the first place. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
November 30, 2017 at 8:34 am
How great for you to meet in person these blogger friends. I was actually wondering if you and Sue would connect when you were in Calgary…glad for all of the connections!!!
November 30, 2017 at 8:44 am
It is so great how we are all connected through the magic of social media.
November 30, 2017 at 8:32 pm
Darlene, what a wonderful post and I can feel your joy and buzz at meeting your blogging friends in real life! What a fantastic time for you all! 😀 I’ve met a couple over the years but really would love to meet many more! I’m inspired by your post to try and arrange something! ❤️
November 30, 2017 at 9:30 pm
It was exciting to put a human form to the face and words. I hope you get to meet more blogging friends!
November 30, 2017 at 10:03 pm
I have only met one blogging friend and it was a wonderful experience. I know some people feel it is strange for our community to talk about forging friendships but I don’t. First, historically many friendships were made through letters and some letter writers never met each other but felt a great deal of love and affection for each other. Second, when my son died this year the outpouring of love and support that came from this community was amazing. I felt touched by love everyday my friend.
November 30, 2017 at 11:47 pm
So true. I loved the book 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, based on a 20-year correspondence of two people who never met. We were all with you at your difficult time, Bernadette, and still are. It is an amazing community in so many ways. xo
December 1, 2017 at 5:38 am
It’s a good question. I had a particular project in mind when I started ABAB and the idea of interacting with people across the ether hadn’t really occurred to me. I have found it a very pleasant by-product, often educational, funny and rewarding. Sometimes sad. A blogging contact was coming to the UK from the US and allowed me to comment on her itinerary, which I did – though I sometimes feel she knows the place better than I do. Anyway, after I’d done that, she emailed me a said – “So, do our movements coincide with anywhere you can easily get to?” To cut a long story short, Mrs B and I arranged to meet her and her husband in Durham Cathedral. I was a little apprehensive on the way – I guess it was a bit like an Internet date, only with different objectives. We recognised one another immediately and got on like a house on fire. I have met her husband again since. And now they’re on the Christmas Card List… 🙂
I’m not sure this would happen every time, but, yes, I do think bloggers can be real friends. And that is warming.
December 1, 2017 at 5:57 am
A great story, so glad it went well. Of course, we won’t meet everyone we share blog posts with and some we probably wouldn’t want to meet! But it is nice to meet someone you have built a connection with via blogging and most likely have something in common with. I like your comparing it somewhat to internet dating. Meeting somewhere public and with someone else is probably advisable!
December 1, 2017 at 10:54 pm
I have likened it to the old days when we had pen pals in school. I remember that I had one in Australia and one in France. That was before the internet, when you would wait anxiously to receive your letter after it had crossed an ocean. Now we can chat across oceans in real-time if we like. How things have changed!
December 1, 2017 at 11:00 pm
I agree it is a lot like having a pen pal. MIne was in Australia as well. I really wanted to meet her but lost touch when we both got married and had children. A shame. Things have changed as far as the speed of things but the act of written communication is still the same. So lovely to have you stop in and comment on my blog. Thanks!
December 3, 2017 at 5:44 pm
I think of all my blogging friends as ‘real’ friends even though I’ve only met one of them. I also have a pen friend in Holland. We’ve never met, but she is as real a friend as anyone could wish for. I think of you as a friend too Darlene, and I’m sure we would have masses to chat about if we were ever to meet.
December 4, 2017 at 12:55 am
How lovely, Darlene. Exciting for you to meet your blogger friends. I have a few I would dearly love to meet too. Actually, make that a lot.
December 4, 2017 at 1:10 am
I agree, I’ve been lucky. There are many others I’d like to meet!
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December 4, 2017 at 1:29 am
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December 4, 2017 at 5:31 am
Hi there Darlene 🙂
I found your blog through Itsgoodtobecrazysometimes’ link, and this post really spoke to me… I’ve been blogging for 2 years now, and the first blogger I “met” was Notthedane56 from https://everythinginandarounddenmark.wordpress.com
We’ve exchanged a lot since, via our blogs and through emails and other means, and I had the chance to meet him in person when I visited Denmark in May 2016, when I went back in February 2017 and again when I traveled in September 2017. It was a real pleasure to be able to speak face to face each time 🙂
I do beleive that we can make true friends through blogging!
December 4, 2017 at 5:55 am
Hi there! So glad you found me and I think it’s so great you met a blogging friend, more than once too. Yes, blogging is a terrific way to make good friends. Thanks for stopping in.
December 8, 2017 at 6:18 am
Life throws a test whenever we go looking for real friends. However, most of the times that real friends are not to be looked for, rather, they are the ones who we stumble upon just by chance. As a matter of fact these chances are what make life so beautiful and all the memories with friends all the more special. Please check out this post about the surprises that life’s unpredictability throws at us as a testament to its beauty: https://columntribe.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/a-break-from-everyday/
December 8, 2017 at 8:00 am
Yes, friends find us, and blogging is another way of connecting with potential friends. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
December 9, 2017 at 11:59 pm
Of course they are real friends. I’d love to meet some of the bloggers I follow and who have been kind enough to follow me – although I don’t blog much anymore. And Darlene, I’m waiting to meet you in Cape Town one of these days!
December 10, 2017 at 1:58 am
Should I ever get to Cape Town, you are definitely on my list!! Always nice to see you here, Malla.
December 11, 2017 at 9:02 am
Well, of course, blogging friends are real friends. I know that you and I have been friends since I first starting blogging. In fact, I think you were one of my first followers. In all the time, I have only met one friend in person, Sally Ann at Photographic Memories. Sallyann used to live in Oxford and we visited there. When I win the lottery I shall buy a Winnebago and travel around the states, Spain and Ecuador to meet all my friends.
December 11, 2017 at 5:56 pm
And you were one of the first blogs I followed! It has been quite the journey, through laughter and tears. Of course, I consider you a good friend and should I ever get to your part of the world…..
Have a super Christmas, Judith. ❤
December 12, 2017 at 12:45 am
I agree with you completely. I consider my blogging friends true friends as they take time out of their day to stop by and comment on what I’ve written. I’ve only had the chance to meet one blogger and what a visit it was. My husband and I were invited to spend a weekend at her and her husband’s home. She hosted a dinner party to introduce us to other friends…what a memorable time that weekend was.
December 12, 2017 at 1:15 am
I love hearing about these meetups with blogging friends. It sounds like you had a wonderful time meeting one of yours! I´m glad we met and became friends in blogland!!
December 20, 2017 at 4:54 am
I’ve only met a few blogging friends face-to-face, and it’s SO special! Just love this, Darlene 😀 And I’ve been terribly lacking in my ability to visit blogs for SUCH a long time (life just doesn’t let up), I haven’t been able to keep up with everyone’s goings-on. I hope all is well with you! Stay safe through the holidays 😀 oxox
December 20, 2017 at 5:06 am
Life gets in the way sometimes! So nice to see you here and hope all is well with you and yours. Yes, meeting blogging friends is special. Enjoy the holidays!! xo
December 23, 2017 at 4:57 pm
It gives a ray of hope, reading and knowing these stories.
Liked it.
December 25, 2017 at 5:20 am
I was reading a blog and ask her to give contact details. She is very interesting and now she is my best friend
40 | 2017 – How Did I Do? | Darlene Foster's Blog
December 31, 2017 at 8:46 am
[…] I make a concerted effort to keep in touch with everyone. Social media has been a huge help with this. I even met some of my social media friends in person this year. I wrote about it here. […]
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November 27, 2017 at 4:34 am
Great post Darlene. I’ve met Ellen Best so far, but hope to get to the Bloggers Bash next year and meet a few more.
November 27, 2017 at 5:01 am
Perhaps we may meet at the Bloggers Bash as well. That would be great!
November 28, 2017 at 2:18 am
Look forward to it!