International dating is on a surge. With the world at our feet, we can get anywhere in the world within a day. And with the rise of low cost carriers, a trip to the other side of the world does not even need to cost much. It sounds so idyllic and romantic. However, international dating still has a lot of challenges. After all, it is not just a trip that you are going to undertake; you are trying to see if your match is the love of your life. We are going through the struggles of finding an international date, and in this case finding an date online.
“I’m not telling you it is going to be easy- I am telling you it is going to be worth it.
Art williams
When it comes to international romances, some of us are lucky. For example, they found their match during a holiday and were able to spend some time together already. With the interconnectedness of the Internet, there are increasing cases that people have not met each other yet in real life upon introduction.
Finding an international date; the less lucky ones
Of course the World Wide Web has its merits. It lets you explore places that you normally would not be able to explore so easily. When it comes to finding a match, you basically can look for someone in any corner of the world. Whether you are interested in a specific culture or looking for a specific type of person; the Internet is there to serve you. There are designated websites and applications available. For example, AsiaMe (for Asian), Kiss Russian Beauty (for Russians), and LatamDate (for Latin).
Whatever website or application you decide to engage with, it starts with creating a profile of yourself. After that you can start finding a match; either you get recommendations from the service or you go on a search yourself. Without any kind of interaction aside of seeing a picture and maybe a short description that sparked interest, you need to judge whether you want to invest time.
Do I get your attention?!
As with all encounters, online (international) dating is a two-way practice. The challenge is to not only to find someone you are interested in, but the person of interest needs to show interest in you as well. Whereas in real life you have numerous tools to make an impression, the online space only allows for a picture and a description.
Once you have matched with someone, the first interaction is most likely a digital “hi” or “hello.” What follows are lengthy investments of time and effort to get to know each other better without being able to meet each other in real life. A lot of chatting and texting will happen to get to know each other better. Of course there will be opportunities to also engage in a video chat, but does that contribute to the feeling of getting to know each other?
Should I stay or should I go?
You talk and talk with your match and you feel that there is a real connection. The feeling of getting on a plane to meet each other increases by the day. However, you also realize that you have never really seen each other. At least not in real life. Hence, there are uncertainties building up at the same time: is it all going to be worth it? What if it does not work out? How will this person be in real life? Are we still going to have the same connection? And then there also the practical questions: a flight might be very expensive and maybe you need to arrange a visa to enter the country as well.
All in all, there are a lot of uncertainties and questions that arises before taking on the next step in meeting each other in real life.
fondly comes to the rescue
A major factor that plays a role in getting to know each other is to have experienced each other in different (social) settings and contexts. However, interactions have been either via text or a video chat at home. It is rarely that you can experience each other throughout the day in different settings and contexts.
At fondly, we encourage you to take your match on a date as we believe that this is the only way to make that big decision to make that trip easier. You do not even need to waste time on deciding what to do and how to pay for it. This is all arranged by fondly. All you need to do is to focus on your date!