From my home in New York City, I can look in nearly any direction toward good friends who live beyond the horizon. Armed with assorted email addresses and three instant messaging services, I maintain connections throughout the world that mean the world to me. Many of those connections began online — often through Match.com.

In 1997, I met Vibeke, a Dane then living in New York and now returned to Copenhagen. She got in touch with me in response to an article I wrote, and we were fast friends.

When she invited me to visit Copenhagen, I decided to see Stockholm, too, and on impulse searched Match.com for Swedish writers. That quick search led to an epic correspondence with Karl-Erik, now one of several friends I have in that lovely city and my dinner companion for three of my five nights there.

Will it last?
Can you maintain a friendship with people on another continent? Of course! Vibeke and I each crossed the Atlantic once in the past year, and we will again. Better yet, my next trip to Europe likely will give Vibeke a chance to meet Natalia and Valerie, two friends in Barcelona whom I “met” online. Reunions with far-flung friends just add another element of happiness to the pleasures of travel.

Back on home turf, more friendship — and romance — awaited. I met Rob from Dallas, and a long-distance relationship was born (and was great fun while it lasted). Next I met fellow New Yorker, Raghu; though we didn’t click romantically, he’s now one of my best friends.

Being online even helps sustain one of my oldest friendships. From opposite coasts, my college sweetheart Matthew and I stay in touch electronically as well as by telephone and cross-country visits.

Is it real?
Anything can be the seed for a new friendship if you’re open to it, which can lead to a lot of happy surprises. The last thing I imagined when I traveled to Ecuador was that I’d wind up with a whole crew of friends in Chile, but that’s what happened. I had discovered the music of Chilean singing star Alberto Plaza and fell completely in love with it; that love led to a whole series of online conversations with new e-friends in that long, skinny country. Eighteen months later, I still correspond with Francisco and Pame, and if I get to Chile next year as planned, I’ll have friends to welcome me there.

Are these friends real? You bet! I heard from every one of them at least once on September 11, and there was nothing “virtual” about the love and concern with which they held me up on that terrible day.

I haven’t found true love yet — on or off the Web — but one look at my social circle tells me how much richer my life is for the connections I’ve made online. And as long as I keep finding friends on Match.com, I’ll keep searching for romance too.

Search for local singles and make a friend — or more — today!