Starting in January of this year my wife had the idea to start an invitation only hiking group called Hiking and Conversation. We happen to live in an area that has a plethora of hiking options so this was a good option for us.  We organized ourselves through an online invite system, www.paperlesspost.com and began by inviting a group of friends and acquaintances to join us the last Sunday of the month for a two to three hour adventure.

Each month we choose a different destination and shake it up a bit.  This month we did a beach walk instead and a stop at a fun venue to get some healthy refreshments.

What is great is that friends invite their friends and each month different people come expanding our community.  It has become a very global group and people are taking it home to their communities/countries to create similar type events.

Even if you don’t live near mountains or the beach, I am certain there are monthly activities you could do where you live that would allow you to gather friends and acquaintances.

We establish some guidelines whereby we break up into groups of two or three at a time.  We get to know one another and converse for up to 10/15 minutes and then move to another pairing.

The reward for us is that after every gathering, people share information and make plans to visit at a future date.

And – there is no cooking, no cleaning.
Only good fun and stimulating conversation!