Hiya! Over the years I've made many online friendships that have carried over to r/l. All vanilla, and primarily related to my art activities. Much of what I do is rather solitary so it's wonderful to be able to meet folks in person, compare notes and end results, and just make friends who speak the same language.

I thought I was a pretty good veteran of how online relationships (of that sort) worked.....til Master found me. In just a few months' time it progressed from friendship to a deeper friendship (all just chat and email) to coming out about BDSM...and then it really took off. We met in person 7 months after our first online contact. Oh, and for the record we only exchanged pix a few weeks before meeting, so we knew who to look for at the airport. Neither of us ever owned a webcam. But I bought my first cellphone because of him.

That first r/l meeting was not quite 5 years ago. Since then we've both rearranged our lives significantly, moved in together 2 years ago and are getting married soon. I guess you can say it was pretty intense.

I think what's made it work so far was honesty and realizing that communicating primarily online required very clear communication. We shared not just our fantasies and dreams but a good deal of the "harsh realities" of our real lives. Once in a while I miss the old days of hot IM's, phone calls and occasional visits, but even though we don't have wild 3-day scening weekends anymore, 24/7 with him has been better than I ever imagined.

So where's the chat?