Poor Caroline and Brad. I made them go swimming in cold waters in Victoria. They're Queenslanders. Their version of cold is opening up the fridge or putting on a long sleeved t-shirt. But to their credit, they were up for it. I mean, why not go swimming with someone you've only met in real life five minutes ago?
If you'd have told me ten years ago I'd be going swimming with randos I met on a crypto powered part of t'Internet, I would have laughed. Hell, even five years ago I would have shied away from meeting folk I only knew online. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's built a virtual persona which can be hard to reconcile with your IRL persona.
In fact, the last time 
I'm a bit shy and self conscious, believe it or not.
But then things changed. I realised that people if people dig you onchain, they'll probabbly like you in real life too. And if they don't, maybe they're just not your people.
No, that's not a moomoo, that's my post swim towel - I'm not ready for Hive to see my in my bathers just yet thanks very much.
There's plenty of people on Hive that ARE my people - people who travel, who love the natural world, who are open minded and generous and intelligent. Hive has brought us together. Sure, some people you scroll past as you don't like their politics or their attitude, and some people are just obvious dickheads, but if we didn't like other Hive folk, we wouldn't have stayed around so long.
Brad and Caroline are solid Hive folk. They love it for the same reason most of us do - it's an opportunity to connect to cool people from around the world, stepping out into a much more global landscape than can be in our own backyard. They like connecting with people. They love the potential of Hive, even if they don't fully understand the tech side (who does?) and they can't imagine life without it.
If I couldn't catch up with those kind of people in real life, well then I would have missed out.
I even invited them around for breakfast, burning toast and dropping scrambled eggs on the floor but still, I got there in the end. We sat out in the sunshine and talked about Hive and all the cool folk there (yep,that's you!), about travelling in other cultures (and how Hive can fill that void even if you're not able to travel), about the difference between being homeless and house free and privileged to have mobility and freedom where others may not, about family obligations, about crypto as a damn good alterative to fiat systems, about the amazing things being built on Hive, and many other things.
Had I not had to leave for my specialist hip appointment, I would have made them lunch as well, and maybe not burnt it.
Thanks Caroline and Brad, for being the generous, open minded, warm and adventurous people you are. You remind me that cool people just aren't on Hive, but they are out in the 'real' world too.
PS I realise this wasn't my first real life meet up. I met someone years ago who popped past my house. It was okay. He left Hive shortly afterwards and has never been back, so he doesn't really count.
With Love,
Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here