For ten years, I've lived in a town of 20k people in the rural south. I'm essentially a foreigner here, having grown up in Los Angeles. In that time, I've had one LTR, who was also a "foreigner", and a handful of hookups. It is extraordinarily difficult for me to meet women here. If I go on PoF and search within a fifty mile radius, I get about ten pages of active results, and they're all the same. "Single mom of three kids looking for good country man who loves fishing, football and Jesus!" In other words, not me.

It has, however, been a great place to monk out. I'm in the best shape of my life, approaching 40. I've been reading voraciously. I've been practicing social skills. I've improved my financial situation and saved a lot of money.

I'm sure you old veterans could come to a place like this and be fucking the wal-mart cashiers within minutes, but for a guy like me with limited experience and poor social skills who doesn't fit in at all with the local culture, it's a barren wasteland.

This week, I'm moving to a real city, for the first time since I left LA. I'm scared but excited. I looked within 5 miles of my new zip on PoF, and there were literally thousands of pages of active results. There is more than one type of girl in the universe, hallelujah! There are intellectuals, there are progressives, there are girls who would rather go to a museum or a university lecture than a bar, there are girls my age who don't have kids yet!

I'm thirsty as fuck, not just for sex, but for the company of people that don't suck ass. I've been surrounded by jesus freaks, tweakers, and trailer trash so long I forgot other people exist. The first things I'm planning on doing are making pof/okc/tinder accounts and joining groups related to my interests.

I was wondering if anyone out there had any stories they could share of similar situations, or perhaps some advice or words of caution for me. Thanks guys.