I never realised that this was a thing, but now that its been brought up, this is a big issue that I've been facing at work for some time. I'm not a programming rockstar but I am the only programmer at work. And I can't seem to find any other programmers in similar fields in this town. I only found out recently that going to conferences for programming was also a thing, although they seem hugely expensive. I just discovered user groups too, but there isn't one within 100s of miles of me. Still, now that I know these things exist and why people go to them, I have something to work towards.

Add IRC and friends who are way better than you working elsewhere too.

That helps but nothing like having a 1-1 face to face interaction with some developer you meet everyday.