Could you personally visit each of your Facebook friends in 2012?

Thirty-nine flights and 13 countries later, Chicago’s ArLynn Presser had met 288 of her Facebook friends as of December 1. By tomorrow, New Year’s Eve, she expects to have met 292. Thandi Fletcher (@thandi_fletcher), a reporter with Canada’s Postmedia News has a great story in The Province this morning about the former practicing lawyer’s 2011 new years resolution to meet and spend time with each of her then 325 facebook friends.

That’s a pretty big resolution for someone who has been dealing with panic and agoraphobia for 30 years. Presser, reports Fletcher, rarely ventured outside the confines of her home, let alone her hometown (Winnetka, Ill), for most of her adult life.

I had real problems leaving the house, and leaving my community. At the beginning of the year, I was terrified of flying and could not get on a plane.

Presser learned through each handshake and hug that there’s is no social networking substitute for real-life, face-to-face bonding. “…I wanted to go out and see who they were.”

You can retrace some of Presser’s footsteps in her video blog. Here’s also a clip summarizing her journey and how she conquered her fears.

Happy New Year!