Do you live in a small town? Or is the city you live in so large, you feel alone? Does it seem like you never get a chance to date someone interesting because you don't know where to go?

Many people say that where they live, there is no one to meet. Confined to a small town or lost in a big city, either way, they don't know how to find someone. They are sure that if they just lived somewhere else, they could find their love.

No matter what size the city is that you live in, you may be surprised at how many opportunities there are right in your own backyard. Small town or large, there are ways to meet people you may not have thought of.

Before you run out the door to meet someone in a faraway place, consider the following:

Change your daily routines.

Most of us have a simple route to our daily destinations. Without thinking about it, we usually go to the same spots on the same pathways, to do the same things. There is comfort in the familiar, so we stick to it.

Change your routes.

Take a look at the places you visit. Most people never alter the five or six places they go to as they travel down the same streets every day. When you keep going to the same places in the same ways, never venturing out of the known, it is hard to find a new adventure in an old setting.

Change your destinations.

Isn't it strange how we keep doing the same thing with the same people in the same places and somehow...expect a different result? Make a concerted effort to go to a new spot each week. If you go to Barnes and Noble for your coffee, try Starbucks. If you go to McDonalds every week, try Wendy's for a change. If you get invited to visit a new group in a new setting, GO!

Stretch out of your comfort zone.

If you would like to meet other singles, find more dates, and look for a potential relationship, go to places you have never been to before. Try going to a city council meeting, public hearing, bookstore, library, museum, flea market, or political party meeting. Attend reunions, funerals, family parties, neighborhood gatherings, religious celebrations, county fairs, gallery openings, and concerts. Watch your local paper for the news of upcoming events. And finally, volunteer your services at the nearest hospital, nursing home, children's shelter, recreational facility, or charitable organization.

Someone is waiting for you. But you need to get out of the house so they can find you.

Visit http://www.tonjaweimer.com for more tips, skills, and insight on dating, relationships, singles, and love. Subscribe to our F*r*e*e Savvy Dating Newsletter from master single's coach, life coach, and syndicated columnist, Tonja Weimer. Copyright 2006, Tonja Weimer. (Please note source if reprinting this article.)