So far this year, I've spent 40 days and nights away from home. It's not that I love travel - in truth, it wears on me and I'm happiest when I'm home. Despite living here my whole life, I'm completely enamored with Seattle and the life that I have here. So why spend more than 1/5 of the year to date away? Why log the hundreds of hours in the air, waiting in airports, driving rental cars and sleeping in hotels?

It's because meeting people in person is so incredibly important. When I sit down with a potential client, address a crowd of folks in person or just spend time with people I'll be working with in the future, it builds a relationship that lasts and creates a bond that enables far greater communication. Once we've spent time together face-to-face, both parties feel both a connection and obligation to one another, and I've been lucky enough to spend time (almost universally) with people whose company I enjoy.

Here's a list of cities I've visited since March of this year (not counting the ones I've passed through):

• Philadelphia, PA
• New York, NY
• San Francisco, CA
• Vancouver, Canada
• Twin Falls, Idaho
• San Francisco, CA
• Toronto, Canada
• London, UK
• Munich, Germany
• Como, Italy
• Milan, Italy
• Venice, Italy
• Nashville, TN

While it looks like a lot, it's nothing compared to guys like Mike, Joe, or Danny. And, in that time, I've met people at all different types of companies and organizations:

• Serial Entrepreneurs
• Financial Analysts
• Film Producers
• Venture Capitalists
• Private Equity Investors
• Dozens of SEOs, SEMs, Web Developers, Designers & Support Folks
• CEOs & Executives at companies in
  • Fashion
  • Online Auctions
  • Wikis
  • Email Spam Detection
  • Network Security
  • News Portals
  • Online Job Boards
  • Web-Based Identity Creation
  • Non-Profit Assistance
  • Medical Device Production
  • Online Social Communities
  • + dozens more
• Real Estate Developers
• Analytics, Usability & Information Professionals

I know that I'm incredibly lucky to have the ability and privilege to build connections like these, but I can't recommend it enough. Not only are in-person meetings excellent for relationships with clients, they're also valuable for anyone that you might be working on a project with (say, as SEO & web developer) or simply people who share common interests & goals. Many of the most valuable trips I've taken didn't produce direct business for months, but the ties creates from direct contact have no equal.

On the flip side of this - every serious problem we've had as a company with a client has come from people that I haven't met in person. We have several contracts with folks overseas or even here in the states that we haven't yet met, and not all of them have created problems. But, of the three times in the past 2 years that we have had contract disputes or the antagonistic issues, all three have been with clients I've never sat down with.

What about your experiences? Do you travel much? Where have you been in 2006? Do you find that strong bonds can be built without in-person meetings? Have you had trouble with "faceless" contracts?