From SL to RL

I was just wondering how many people take their SL partnerships to RL. I met my SL partner 10 months ago and after HOURS spent in SL and Skype and Gmail IM's we decided to meet in RL for 10 days in Daytona Beach, FL. He is from Holland and I am in So. Cal.
We had 10 wonderful, romantic and fun filled days. The last evening he proposed to me and I said YES! Now I am going to Holland in a few months to spend with him and his friends and family for 3 weeks. We are also working on his immigration as he wants to come here to live in the USA. We can't be the only ones that have met in SL and taken it to RL.

We spend almost every weekend together on Skype webcam together, every morning (his time, evening my time) we Skype just before he goes to work, and when he gets home from work, I am just getting to work and we IM all day long.
A lot of time spent online, but it is the only way we can be together at this point.
SO, my question to the class is...Who else has taken it to RL and what is your experience?

-Blu-

blah..

/me grins

congrats

Is that a comment on the post or a comment on your experience? Hahahaha.

My best wishes to you, Blu. I hope all goes as smoothly as possible with immigration.

I know two couples (and know of a few others) who began their relationship in SL and moved it to RL. afaik, all are very happy.

TY very much. I am very interested in finding more people who have a similar experience though. Anyone out there?

-Blu-

Congratulations on finding love and Best Wishes for you upcoming marriage!

And to think....It never woulda happened without MSN...LOLOL..I read a story about a woman who bought a sim, built the SL house of her dreams, only to have age players move in next door. She was very disturbed and wanted the RL police to assist! Then the story went on about a supposed rape, and a robbery. Of course, me being the curious type HAD to check out what kind of place online that could be. I came to SL looking for debauchery and sin in every possible way...and ended up finding love. Hahahaha...go figure.

-Blu-

Yes, there are more and some are forum regulars. Be patient. They will post when they can.

Until then, we will bump the thread with best wishes. =)

Congrats. Cherish your love together. I know how hard a cross-ocean relationship can be. And may your love always run as deep as the ocean you have crossed.

I must have been AFK that night

TY all for your warm wishes! We are VERY, VERY happy.

I STILL haven't found the debauchery or sin....well, ok...depends on your particular morality I think. lol. But I keep my eyes open. hehehehe

-Blu-

I never meet anyone that comes here for debauchery either.

Did I say debauchery? Oops, I meant de BAKERY...love them cupcakes...hehehehe

I met and married my SL sweetheart in RL, our RL wedding anniversary just went by

OOO! Congrats! I LOVE to hear that! Hopefully I can report the same in a yr...unfortunately, it might take that long before he can actually come here to live though.

-Blu-

wish you the best of luck with it all

Oddly enough, I met my RL Fiancee online. Not in SL though. It was one of those Yahoo Group Chats.

She mentioned something happening locally, and I asked if she was from around here. We clicked.

A few months of chat & emails and we met in person.

Well..... 7 Years it will be, as of May 16th. And I don't regret any of it.

In case yer wondering: We decided to not bother with marriage, considering we've been together longer than most people are married.

There are quite a few regulars on here who have taken SL or other online relationships into RL, I could probably name half a dozen without thinking.

I met my SL partner last March, visited her in the US in October and January, she's coming to the UK in a couple of months, and with luck by the end of the year I'll be there to stay, and we plan to marry around this time next year. Your description of spending time together is very similar to ours, on a good day we're together all the time I'm not at work or sleeping, see each other before I go to work and she goes to bed, see each other again when I get home and she gets up.

That's wonderful news Blu and I'm sure both you and your partner will have a very happy life together here in SL and in RL...

It's inspiring that happiness such as this can be found in both worlds...... and I'm so glad that it has happened to you. You may not remember, but when I first got to SL, yours was the first class I attended and you were so helpful and patient....you gave me a gorgeous white gown to wear and I will always remember that....

Nice guys don't always finish last......

Congrats to all.

There is no reason why a good online relationship cannot progress beyond SL (and other online worlds and forums) providing there is good will and honesty between the people concerned.

Of course, the first couple of meetings should be in a semi public place, ideally with a few real life friends, in the UK an ideal place would be perhaps a Pub. On that vein, I also correspond with folk on a financial BB where we debate real life stock markets and other economic issues. Sometimes the conversations can become quite intense, especially if one party is short and the other long on the same share.

But some of us meet up now and again at an Xmas party organised by the information provider, and now and again on an ad hoc basis for a curry and pint etc. Quite rewarding to put a face to a text conversation and you can gain value from it in the right circumstances. There has never been any trouble or concerns, even between posters who can be (in print/online) quite intense with their views. Most people are genuinely decent in the flesh. I have also chatted via real life telephone with several well known folk within SL as well once I figured out how to be 100% per cent certain the avatar I was talking to in SL was also the person I was talking too in real life.

On that point, how many people who have formed a business relationship within SL have met up in real life? Interested in feedback on that.

I don't think this is necessary these days because we now have webcams and so we know what we're getting. My partner wouldn't have minded if I had taken her down a dark alley and boinked her on the first date. The attraction was established long before the first meeting.

Yes, and great so far 15 months later. We have it slightly easier though because there's only 120 miles between us and we get to meet most weekends. I'm looking at moving up there though, when a suitable job becomes available for me.

Nice to hear of SL > RL successes.

Yes. It's been interesting too.

The people behind the Virtual Worlds Forum (http://virtualworldsforum.com/) have been organising some monthly get-togethers in Central London which I've been to, and have come across some interesting people that I knew in-world but didn't know they were there until I saw a name badge with their avatar name on it.

The attraction may be established, but I still think John's advice is good. Even though you may think you know through webcam what you are getting, I don't believe you ever truly know until you meet.

In our case we had 3 weeks of hotel rooms booked before we met for the first time and neither of us had any doubts about where we were going with the relationship, but for all she knew I could have been a mad axe-murderer who was putting on a good front. For that matter so could she.

We met at the airport and knew instantly that we felt the same in RL as we did online. I was sure before we arranged anything, but I was still quite aware when I got off the plane that if it didn't click in person, I might be spending 3 weeks on my own. It worked out wonderfully for us, but I would give the same advice as John to anyone who was contemplating meeting an online friend or lover for the first time, you don't truly know what you're getting, and better to be safe than sorry.

Yeah, I suppose meeting them in a pub will give us time to check whether our partner has got an axe hidden in their jacket.

Aw Blu that is really wonderful!!!

I am not partnered SL because I have a RL love.....but, as irony would have it.....I met my RL sweety over the web too. Mine was not an intentional thing.....long story....was not looking for romance......but he was over seas (US citizen but working over seas) and we communicated, finally met after 5 months (in Rome, hehe) and we have been together ever since.

I think that a genuine connection with another human being is possible in any medium. Whether it's romance or friendship......we find our soul mates in so many different ways and the web has only made the world smaller for us to do that. I do have my opinions which I keep to myself most of the time because what I witness in others so often is naivete and lack or ability to assess the character of others. This results, unfortunately, in a lot of heart ache and bad vibes, especially over the web.

But, for those that are able to see through the muck and really, truly, connect in their hearts.... it is wonderful....and I wish you guys the best of luck~!!!!