No; there's no need to pay. There are a load of free dating/friendship sites. I got onto a couple about 10 years ago and made friends from dozens of countries.

No; there's no need to pay. There are a load of free dating/friendship sites. I got onto a couple about 10 years ago and made friends from dozens of countries. Learnt Spanish cause I liked the Latin Americans I met so much. (Still friends, now old friends, with a few of those original people from 10 years ago.) That just changed my life, never had so many awesome friends. Also later I joined a free language-exchange site, where you're matched with appropriate people and teach each other your native language—another very good way of making friends. Sure, it's not great for real hugs, but apart from that :-)