If you are anything like me, you enjoy dating overseas, these smart tips for dating while traveling are for you! Casual holiday romances are my favourite pastimes. I love getting swept up in the steamy, short love affair miles away from “real life” and just enjoying myself without worrying about where this will go because most of the time it’s just for this moment so why not just enjoy it? I also find that the best sex I have had is when I have been travelling and making the most of a 24-hour whirlwind romance.
But it’s important to be still aware and safe as you take these spicy adventures while you are adventuring. I know I have put myself in situations in the past that I wouldn’t allow myself to be in now, Dating while overseas can be fun and a wonderful experience as long as we put boundaries in place, use common sense and listen to our guts; we can make sure that this is a wonderful experience to enjoy. Below are some tips/ advice I use when dating while traveling that might help you too.
9 Smart Tips for Dating While Traveling Abroad:
- Use Trusted Dating Apps: There are two main ways that I usually meet people overseas, either in person or on dating apps. If you are to use dating apps, make sure to use well-known apps like Bumble, Tinder, or Hinge that offer safety features. Apps with identity verifications help protect you from scammers or unwanted companies. When I am hitting it off with someone from an app, I will ask them for their social media before meeting up with them to help confirm that they are indeed who they say they are, I also like to message on a different platform and send photos (Not Nudes) in real-time and receive them back to know they are genuine.
Apps can be a great way to connect you with more people in the area that you are staying in and allow you to have experiences you wouldn’t have had before. When I first moved to London, I went on many dates with men, they ended up showing me around and I got to experience local recommendations for the area without strings attached.
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Always choose public Meeting Spots: This is so important! I always meet in person, whether it be at home or when I’m travelling, a public location is a must. Depending on where you are staying and what is around, I always like picking somewhere close to where I stay as a base, because it is usually the area that is most familiar to you. If the person you are to go on a date with keeps trying to meet you in a private setting only… Run. Also, don’t get them to pick you up if they have a car, I have put myself in this situation once, and it wasn’t the greatest, they ended up driving somewhere 30 minutes away in a remote area. The spot we went to was beautiful in the end, but the date was not. So please don’t follow in my footsteps.
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Never tell them you are travelling alone: This applies to anyone you meet while travelling, unless it is other travellers who become friends or someone you trust. I will always tell people that I am travelling with friends. This adds a layer of security by making it seem like someone will be expecting you back. Honestly, I do this when I get picked up from the airport or anywhere I am solo and someone asks if I am travelling alone, I usually say “I am meeting up with some friends” or “I have family here”. Definitely can’t recommend this tip enough.
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Share your location & Plans: Every time I plan on a date with someone in a different country, I let someone know where and when I’ll be on a date, as well as the person’s name, photo and contact details if I have them. I had a guy once send me a photo of his passport just to make me feel at ease. Even if it’s a friend you just made in the same area, or a friend or your mum back home, someone must know where you are going to be in case something goes wrong. If you don’t have anyone you can trust with this information, it’s good to just let the people at the hotel or hostel you are staying at, leave them a message.
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Trust your Gut: Have you ever had that feeling where something didn’t sit right with you and you couldn’t exactly be sure why? That is your gut telling you to be cautious. Always listen to it, if you feel uncomfortable or unsure of the situation you are in, leave or try to ask yourself how you could feel more comfortable in this situation, could you walk somewhere with more people? Please trust your gut at all times when travelling.
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Stay Sober & Aware: If you are meeting up with someone, it’s a good idea to not get too intoxicated, where your level of judgement drops and you are more open to making bad decisions. Enjoy a drink or two, but know where your limit is, this is an important boundary to keep in place if you are meeting someone for a drink or dinner. I get if you go out for a night of partying and meet someone, then this is a little different, but still try and keep up your water intake and trust your gut in situations like this.
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Always have an Exit Plan: It’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with transport options in the area you are in if you need to exit. Not every date we go on is going to be great and sometimes we need to come up with a plan to ditch the date. I always like to use the one “My friends asked me to meet them at (this time) for an activity, sorry but I do have to go” or “I need to go talk to the manager of my hostel at this time to fix this problem”, I like to go into a date with something that I might have to do later so it’s not unexpected and gives you the option to ditch that plan if the date is going well.
So always go in with an exit plan and hope that you won’t have to use it, but it’s just important to be prepared.
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Make sure your phone is fully charged: Before going on a date, ensure your phone is fully charged and you have a SIM card to be able to contact people if you need. Your phone is secretly a safety weapon when meeting someone you haven’t met before, to ensure your safety, always charge it before you go and have a local number that you can use to contact people. I like to have the emergency numbers for the country I am in saved into my phone as well for ease.
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Limit Social Media: I know I am guilty of this, always posting where I am at the exact moment, but it is something I am working on. I get too excited sometimes about where I am and just post without really thinking. So this tip isn’t just for you, it’s for me too. It’s recommended that we avoid posting your exact location in real-time and play tagging locations until after you’ve left to guarantee extra security because we don’t know who is watching our stories or content. Let’s work on this advice together.
