I had the opportunity to meet with some of the friends with whom I'd worked for years with during my tenure managing Garrysmod communities. I'd known these guys for years, and worked quite closely with them only a year beforehand, and considering that one of them is a troglodyte from the midwest who was making a five day roadtrip to visit us in CA, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. But for some reason, I was getting cold feet about attending; part of me was afraid that meeting up in person would be awkward and break the friendship we had forged over the internet. Plus there were the expenses... the previous commitments... and all the other, "what-ifs" that nag at you.
I managed to force myself through the slump after I accepted that, if I missed this, I would forever regret it. So at nearly the last minute, I signed up for a two-way flight to San Diego and a room (definitely suggest AirBnB for good non-hotel lodging). I dropped a a few hundred bucks on the trip, which is big money when you're a poor college student, but the experience alone as worth it. There was no awkwardness nor even an introduction period; after shaking hands for the first time ever, we went back to calling each other by our screen names and just hung out like we usually did.
If you are friends with someone online, there will come a point at which you'll think about what it would be like to meet them in real life. If you get that far, then you should definitely think about meeting up with them at least once in your life. Even if it's expensive or inconvenient, it is imperative that you get to meet the friend behind the screen.
