In today's society, the world really is getting smaller. As we leap from one technological breakthrough to the next, we find that within micro-seconds we can transfer information from one side of the earth to the other. We can live on one continent and be employed by a company on another. Air-travel means that many people are part of a global workforce that commutes around the globe attending meetings in every international outpost of the company.

This minimizing the world is filtering slowly down through the professional world, and into our personal lives. No longer are we of the mind set that we will one day grow up and marry the boy next door. It happens, but it's just as likely to marry the boy in the next State, or next country .or the one who lives on the other side of the world. The Internet is probably the biggest influencing factor on current day international dating.

Throughout history there have been mail-order brides. From the women who were sent to the colonies, to the women who answered small ads from ranchers out west, and more recently, the Russian (and I'm sure other nationalities) who place ads of their own looking for a partner outside of their homelands. Despite this history, finding a mate through some form of media has maintained a "desperate image - as if the person seeking is unable to find someone to have them locally. The Internet, even with its reputation for "adult sites has somehow managed to remove some of the stigma, and there is now a healthy and steadily growing international dating scene.

The big question is always "Can international dating lead to anything permanent? The answer to this is a resounding YES! Many people are prepared to take a chance on love, and move themselves and their lives to be closer to their overseas loved one. Those who do this find that they are suddenly face-to-face on a daily basis with the name they've been typing too for a period of time, learning how to co-habit with someone who is physically a stranger, whilst at the same time learning how to handle living in a new country. By far the worst of this is being removed from family, and taking the place of communicating with your partner online, you now spend your time communicating with your family online instead!

There are still many people who regard international dating as desperate, and deem any relationship that comes of such an enterprise to be a failure waiting to happen. Ok, so it might happen, but there are never any guarantees in the love and romance game. Even if you shared a sandbox with the partner you marry, there's no guarantee that the flame wont go out and one day you'll wake up and find you have nothing in common with the person who shares your life, your home, your bed. In the best of situations, things go wrong. If the relationship came from an exercise in internet dating, the fallout is messier because then someone is left in a strange country with little by way of personal support system. They then face the situation of either toughing it out in their new country if the local immigration laws permit, or they can return to their homeland and face unemployment amidst the "I told you so looks of friends.

For every naysayer on whether international dating can turn into a permanent loving relationship, there are two people who can stand together and say "It can work. We are proof of it!

Whether you're looking for a long-term relationship, or just a little cultural difference, internet dating can offer you the opportunity to meet up with potential partners who may just be the person you've spent your life seeking!