By meet someone I mean in a romantic or possibly romantic way. Attempting to post a poll lets see how it works.
ETA Oh and I mean for the first time. Someone you get to know some way other than face to face.
I said comfortable driving distance, but I’d still rather be the one the other person is coming to. I hate travel.
The reason for this poll is because in a few days I am taking a 2.5 hour flight to meet a woman. Something I never thought I would do. Lets hope this doesn’t turn out like Catfish.
Comfortable driving distance, depending on the size of the metropolitan area; 30 minutes to an hour at the very most.
When I lived in the Cleveland area, my cross-Cuyahoga relationship was apparently quite out of the ordinary. I lived in the eastern suburbs, while my GF lived in the western 'burbs.
A comfortable driving distance for me is a few hours. I wouldn’t spend that long driving to meet someone romantically for the first time (mainly because I can’t imagine having romantic thoughts about someone I haven’t met yet). I would spend maybe 20-30 minutes.
I sure as hell wouldn’t fly anywhere. If I wanted a long distance relationship I’d just fantasize.
Yes, especially for a west-sider to travel to the east-side, it’s like crossing an ocean.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet someone unless he’s really someone special, someone I have some strong feelings toward. In that case, no distance is too far. If it doesn’t work out, at least I’d be able to experience a new place.
Been there, done that. My wife and I conducted a long-distance romance for a couple of years before we wed. She’s from Boston, I’m from SoCal. We tended to meet in places beginning with an “S”: Salt Lake City, San Antonio, St. Louis…
I’ve done the GU thing before. Never again.
GU?
Curious, how did it start?
Flew from Columbus, Ohio to Las Vegas. I’m not sure how many miles that is, but I’ll call it a long flight (around 4 hours, I think).
I met my late husband here on the Dope and flew from Detroit to London to meet him for the first time. We had been talking for hours every day for a few months by that time. It was the craziest thing I had ever done in my life, and the thing that worked out the best. If it turns out to be the love of your life, what is distance?
We met on a Buffy board. Introduced by a mutual fried (Hi, Eeyore!). Hit it off in chat, started talking on the phone, she flew out to meet me in 2002, we got married in 2004.
An ex-girlfriend of mine once few to New Zealand to meet a guy.
They still chat from time to time.
Short answer: First-meeting flights in my experience have ranged from halfway across North America to all the way across North America and the Atlantic. Long answer: is long.
Exactly. 
Long flight, sure. Have done so in the past and did not regret it.
Traveled from Cleveland to Chicago to meet my fella.
4830 miles.
I’ve hopped a bus from DC to NYC for a first date, and a few more besides. Relationship never really took off, alas - but I wouldn’t blink twice at taking that sort of trip again.