New to a city?
Visiting a new place for work?
Looking for something to do on a Friday night?


After the dawn of the internet, a new world of connectivity was launched where you literally have the World At Your Fingertips! I'm not going to talk about internet dating because my feelings on such a thing are still mixed, but the internet has become riddled with social sites that can really fill your time!

1. Meetup.com (free)
This is the best social site I've seen in a long time. It isn't about wasting hours on end updating your profile or spying on your friends. It's a vehicle for connecting people who have common interests. And the best part: you actually go places! You can look at this site as a "what's happening soon" site. Basically, people make "groups" and other people can join the group. When the originator schedules something fun to do an e-mail goes out to all the members. So far, I've joined groups called "I love Sushi," "Italian Language," "San Antonio Women's Social Group," and a few others. Since then my schedule has been packed trying new restaurants, speaking a new language, going to Book Exchanges and attending comedy shows! And since new people join these groups all the time, everyone at the events EXPECTS to see new faces so it's never uncomfortable to "not know anyone."

One other huge advantage: If you only have a few days in a new city you can join a group or two to see what's going on and check out the local life!

2. Yahoo.com, Google.com, Bing.com, and any other search engine (free)
Very few people today take advantage of internet search engines for anything other than looking for airline tickets or the answer to a question they have. Start searching for special interest groups in your area and you would be surprised how many people are interested in the same thing as you! It's quite simple to get what you need, and the answer lies in WHAT you type into the search engine. For example: if you type "biking," there will be billions upon billions of hits that don't mean a thing to you. But if you try: "San Antonio Road Cycling Clubs" a whole new world opens up. And you don't even need to make complete sentences: "Cycling San Antonio Road Local Events."

I'm sure you can find quilting clubs, swimming clubs, golfers, scrapbookers, play groups...just about anything. Just start with your interests and there is no telling what you may find.

3. Local City Pages (free)
Just about every city out there has their own web page these days. Normally filled with a calendar of events! I like to use these site to find new things I've never heard of before. I've been to Boll Weevil Festivals, Wii competitions, and concerts that I wouldn't have even known existed if it weren't for city and state websites!

Now go out into the World Wide Web and find something to do other than stare at this computer screen!