I’ve liked Carina ever since she wrote me to say how much she liked my book. Flattery is such a good start of a friendship. But even so, it may seem a little bit extreme to book a trip to the USA without ever having met.

It happened like this (the conversation takes place on Facebook):
She: “I’m going to Minneapolis to attend some seminars. Wouldn’t it be fun if you came with me and spent your days driving over to Iowa?”
Me: “Sounds lovely, but unfortunately I don’t have a driver’s licence for cars.”
She: “I might have a meeting in New York on the following Tuesday, so I could take two days to drive you to Iowa.”
(My own business meetings tend to take place in cities like Örebro.)
Me: “You know I’m the kind of person who could take that seriously?”
She: Silence. More silence. Eventually: “How… nice.”
Me: “So when do you know if you’re going to NY?”
She: “I’ll… be in touch.”

So there you have it. Two days later we booked the tickets, and another week later we met for the first time to find out if the other one was a complete psycho. So far so good.