Facebook fan fights fear of open spaces by travelling globe to meet online friends

A FACEBOOK fan has turned her hundreds of online friends into the real thing by trekking the globe to visit them. At the same time, ArLynn Presser, a writer from Chicago, USA, has conquered her morbid fear of open spaces.

This time last year she made a new year’s resolution to overcome her agoraphobia by spending a year meeting in person her 325 Facebook friends. That meant taking 39 flights to 13 countries, including Ireland. She previously had an acute fear of flying.

Her trek took her to Canada, the Philippines, Germany, Italy, Dubai, India, and Ireland, among other places.