If a love of the great outdoors and a concern for the environment are two important things to you, find someone who shares your outlook by joining a Sierra Club trip. Find a trip that emphasizes your favorite activity, whether it is bicycling, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, sailing or backpacking. There are also service trips in which participants volunteer for trail maintenance in national parks or assist archaeologists on a dig. You can choose a variety of destinations throughout the US or abroad. Many singles sign up for these trips. You may find yourself forming a bond with someone near a campfire or while watching eagles soar overhead.
Don't hide your sci-fi "geek" status. Celebrate it with other fans of the genre. There are a wide range of sci-fi conventions held annually. Many conference attendees find romance with like-minded people by attending focus group events and costume parties with fellow lovers of "Doctor Who," "Star Trek" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." One of the biggest annual events is WorldCon, held in a different city each year, but there are other, smaller events throughout the year in many locations around the globe. Some events cater to a broad spectrum of sci-fi tastes, while others focus on a particular segment, such as comic books, anime, role-playing games, steampunk or feminist science fiction.
For anyone who identifies, at least in part, as a hippie, punk, pagan or simply outside of the mainstream, Burning Man Festival offers a celebration of everything countercultural. Held annually in late August/early September in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, this participant-driven event allows you to express your artistic skills through costume, art, music and a variety of other ways among other people who identify as left-of-center cultural creatives.
Hone an old skill or develop a new one alongside others who enjoy creative pursuits by attending one of the many classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School in the North Carolina Mountains. Choose from a variety of courses: basketry, beading, blacksmithing, broom making, soap making, lace, quilting, doll making or stained glass creation. If your creative itch is more for performance than making things, the school also offers classes in dancing, storytelling and playing traditional Appalachian musical instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, musical saw and autoharp. Courses are available year-round. You can come for a short weekend offering or sign up for a longer course.
