Mare, I can sympathize with your lack of "BSB buddies". It's a bit strange; my BFF and I are both MASSIVE BSB fans, but we are the ONLY ones out of our larger circle who have ever liked them. Everyone used to rag on us for liking them in high school, but they've come to accept our obsession now. HAHA Actually, I think our mutual love for the guys is what solidified our friendship in elementary school. I'm not sure why we've never tried to branch out and meet other fans from online as the online fandom is pretty large. I guess we're just content to do all of our BSB stuff as a two-some. However, this is now posing a slight problem as neither one of us has anyone to go with if the other can't!! Vegas is a good example as it would have been slightly easier for me to swing the trip now that my daughter is two. My friend's son is only six months and she's still exclusively nursing, and it's impossible for her to leave him with anyone else.
To be honest, I was under the impression that a lot of you ladies that post on here had met each other in real life in order to attend cruises and concerts and stuff. From what I've seen, it appears to be pretty common for BSB fans to meet online and then eventually meet in real life. Is that not true? Maybe I'm just crazy!
I went for like 7-8 years without having any BSB buddies because all my friends who liked BSB back in junior high when everyone liked BSB moved on to other bands, which left me with no one to go to shows with except my parents or whoever I could drag along. I have real life friends now who would probably go if they didn't have to travel far, just for the fun and nostalgia of it, but they would never do Vegas or VIP or a cruise or anything crazy like that.
All my BSB buddies nowadays started as online friends. I've met quite a few online friends in real life, mostly on the cruises or because they only live a couple hours away from me. It's never been a bad experience, and it's always better going to shows and stuff with real fans. If you ever want to do something like Vegas or the cruise and have no one to go with, just say the word - you'd always be welcome to join us! One of my two main concert buddies started as an online acquaintance who I only knew a little because she'd left me feedback on my stories. I found out she was going on the 2011 cruise by herself, so I invited her along to a pre-cruise group dinner that some of us from AC had set up. We clicked and ended up hanging out together the whole cruise. She lives in the same state as me, so now we go to shows together every tour. She's one of the girls I'm doing Vegas with.
And Mare, I know you don't really live close to Philadelphia, but that is on my list of places I'd love to visit, so if it ever works out that they tour there in the summer when I actually have vacation time, I would absolutely come to PA and meet up for a show if you wanted to!
I would love to go to Canada sometime too; I've never been!