This seems to be the only thing anyone who contacts me has in common, they are all from very, very far away, at least several states, sometimes in other countries altogether.

What is the general opinion people have of this? If someone contacts you and they're on completely the other side of the country, do you even give them the time of day?

My thing is, did that person even take the time to realize that I'm over 2000 miles away before they sent me a message? Did it not ever cross their mind that it might be just a tad difficult to form a relationship with that cumbersome gap between us? Or am I just so appealing a specimen that they would walk that distance just to meet me? Maybe I'm just a bit jaded because the last two people who were a significant distance away that I actually began having serious conversations with ended up trying to beg me for money, but honestly, what else could come from someone whose profile says they're so far removed that a nuclear explosion or giant earthquake wouldn't be felt by both of us simultaneously?

If they seem interesting I respond to people no matter where they are from. Chances of ever meeting in person are slim but I am a people person and love getting to know others and don't worry about where they are from

How much mail do you get? You are a beautiful woman, I can't imagine you having the time to answer it all. When I get mail from a beautiful young woman, I just laugh. Most of it has spelling mistakes, that makes me think they can barely speak English.

Dude those who message you from out of country or very far away are Scammers

^^^^^^ This is a great answer...And Op, so what if they start asking for money....just cut off contact with them at that point.
I certainly wouldnt cease contact with anyone far off just because of a bad experience or two...

Even the ones supposedly in the country! I have had a number of messages from gorgeous young women. Not one of them could carry on a conversation about what it's like where they supposedly are living.

Now a days it doesn't cost per mile for postage stamp...

I do get my share of emails but it is really easy weeding out the scammers especially by the way the email is written and by looking at their pics, if they have one.

Scam don't fall for it

What you are describing (far away people begging from money) is most probably scammers, though there are scammers whose profiles say they are actually not so far (but you can tell they are scammers because of some other signs--a too perfect picture, bad English, trying to drag you off the site in the first or second message etc.). They are really not worth any time....

Yet, there are also a lot of people from far away countries who are not scammers, but would like to "date" you because they may actually believe in long-distance relationships....and they would try to make you believe, too...;) There's nothing bad or wrong in that, but there is a question of being realistic. I'm quite a down-to-earth person and have once actually experienced how difficult it is to bring a long-distance relationship even to the first meeting, so now i'm a bit wary of long distance messages..:), yet i'm still open-minded and curious enough (about possible friendship) to answer some of them, but i guess i will not put too much emotions and expectations into that communication until it is supported by real life experience--i have become that wise...
Wish you a lot of wisdom in your decisions, too....

I don't mind talking to folks from far away, met some very good people that way. But if their first e mail asks me to go to yahoo or g mail or to text them, "so we can get to know each other better", it's DELETE and move on.

Not everyone who live miles away us after your money
Perhaps they read your profile and find you interesting or are interested in the country you live in and want to learn more.

people move all the time perhaps some people mailing have considered moving if they become serious about someone who lives some distance away

I recommend to install an addon called "who stole my picture". It exist for Mozilla Firefox, and probably most other ones as well.
After install, right click on a suspect picture and choose "Who stole my picture?" and chose "Open all in tabs", and you'll get 3 different searches right away.
This way, you stop the (d)evil far away.
Sometimes it does not work, and somewhere along the ride, you'll get their e-mail (if they want to share, tell them to give their to you), and you'll check it at spokeo.com. That site offer paid services, but without paying you could get a clue. Most people is on any, or some, of the social medias... and will show up there... with a picture.
If the picture does not look like in the profile, probably hacked e-mail (I had one, from here, today). If it looks plausable, or if it turns up empty (with the "search this email on 63 networks" (pay!), it could be an email only for scamming - but no guarantee.
Take the email-address to datingscams.cc and get a free account. There you might find some very useful information.
So far today, and in Sweden it is 9 in the evening now... and I had a slow start... I have found and reported somewhere in the region of 15 scammers today. First I only used the ones that wanted to go directly to e-mail, but then I started with "search who's online" and just picked the most "model-looking pictures", and was able to get some identity-thieves removed.
The Who stole my picture? takes only a few seconds, and is surely worth the time.

Lars, from Sweden... tired of wasting time to copy & paste-scamming scum.

PS. Take a picture of yourself, in front of Mingle2 (your profile, or just any Mingle2-page)... and upload to your photos here, and then you have a verification that you are the one on your pictures... even though that is no guarantee for if we are good or bad people.

If I ever get a message I jump up and down with excitement.

Not all people are bad. Granted there's scammers lurking in the midst, but most of them are easy to see through.

I like talking to people from other places. Broadens the horizons.

Great thread! im new and have been asked four times already to go to other sites. Not interested. Learning.

How have you guys been doing after the big earth quake a while back?

Big game on Saturday.

I thought NZ was hot. What's with the hat, or is that en vogue

Pretty generalised statement this...
Sure there is plenty of scammers...
Actually since I've been back I think more than ever...
Keep in mind....this an international site...
Over the last 18 months I have chatted to scores of overseas women...
And they have all qualified as being real...
<--- Especially this one....hehehe

Not everyone who writes from far away is a scammer. I was writing to someone from England for 10 months and we talked about meeting. We never talked about money. He abruptly stopped emailing me so I figured he got scared or met someone where he lived and didn't want to tell me. I don't know, but I decided to move on. I never felt he was trying to use me in any way and I was wasn't looking for anything except companionship and mutual feelings.