As someone traveling abroad solo for 8 months, [1] I can relate. I had romanticized such travel for years, in part because of the connections I'd seen travelers make. However, I was basing a lot of this on people who studied abroad when they were half my age. Or at least working in an office. If you're working from home, it's way harder, even if you attend every expat meetup there is. As others have said, a lot of the connections there are superficial, or "professional," which is often the same thing. Dating helps, but the pool is rather limited if you're not fluent in the local language, or they know you're a short timer.

Another misconception is that traveling solo takes you out of your shell, and maybe I'm wasn't that introverted to begin with, but I don't feel any more extroverted. I was always comfortable chatting with people at a tech function or dinner party, but a generic cocktail mixer in a bar feels like hitting any meat market in any city, and it's still not something I'm comfortable with.

1. Details for the curious: http://philip.yurchuk.com/2012/12/07/basically-im-just-gonna...