INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

I was in London for the weekend to watch the marathon on the Sunday. The plan for Saturday was to visit a friend who lives in Dorking and go walking around the area where she lived. Unfortunately a couple of days before I got a message saying she had to go back to Tenerife for a family emergency. So I looked on meetup and there was a walk going that day in the same area so I joined the group as a one off and met them at Victoria station. We got the train down to Leatherhead where I discovered that this was a very popular area for Londoners looking for an escape from the world of concrete. Now I'm very fit but it was obvious the organizer was a very strong walker who does this kind of thing all the time. As there was 50 of us we strung out a bit but there were plenty of people to enjoy random conversations with as you went along. The highlight was Box hill after the stepping stones which wasn't too difficult to climb despite being close to the end of the walk. N...

The second meetup had more or less the same format as the first. Met at 45 west again this time with around 20 people instead of 12. This time was a lot more comfortable as there was the familiarity of knowing several people I met the first time round. We only went one other place Après Lounge which was pub like in the front but had a room with a dance floor out at the back. Again it was a great night, this picture was taken just before we left. By this point it was clear that meetup was going to be a regular thing, this time some were moving on to a club. I headed back on the last bus. I now had to plan the logistics of getting home from city centers such Leicester after midnight. 

After 2 months I finally bit the bullet and attended my first ever meetup. Headed into Leicester to a upmarket looking bar called 45 west . Within 10 minutes of arriving I was recognized by the organizer Ben and was soon joined by everyone else. It was his first meetup with the group he has just created so most of the dozen people were complete strangers. We all seemed to get on well as it was as good a start as I could have hoped for. After a couple of hours we moved onto the next pub Brewdog which I had been in once before. By this point drinks and conversation were flowing well and I had this "why didn't I do this years ago feeling". Finally we headed to Firebug , a bit more of a rough and ready type pub so we did a fairly good variety in just a few hours. By this point time was ticking down and some were calling it a night so I got the last bus and headed home.

Joined meetup after reading about it on an online forum. Signed up and joined a load of groups without reading too much into them. I have done loads of solo foreign travel so the concept of doing sightseeing, meals and nights out on the town with random strangers is nothing unusual. I live in a village where my social life has long become stale and repetitive revolving around the same handful of pubs. As I headed towards middle age getting people to leave and do something else has become nearly impossible. Meetup looked just like the thing I was looking for…..