We are living in the online romance era. Many people meet their significant others online, or they can always find a fling there in a pinch. At the moment, many people are willing to start dating again, as the pandemic is not as prominent of an issue now as it has been for the past year.
Even if you are fully vaccinated, though, and you know the person you’ve been talking to online has been as well, you might feel hesitant about traveling to meet them for the first time. It’s one thing if they live in the same city as you, but it’s something else entirely if they live several states away or even in a different country.
Let’s talk about whether traveling to meet someone is a good idea and some of the common negatives and positives that go along with it. We’ll also cover some safety tips, so you don’t land yourself in any trouble if you decide to move forward with this first-time encounter.
Maybe They Live Somewhere You’d Like to See for the First Time
Source: clubvillamar.com
We’ll start with the potential positives about traveling to meet someone you’ve only known online up to this point. For one thing, maybe they live somewhere you’d like to visit. That way, even if you meet up with them and you don’t feel the magic for which you’d hoped, you won’t feel like you completely wasted the trip.
For instance, if you find out the person you’ve spoken to online lives in Maui, you can get a vacation out of it, and if things work out with your online buddy, that’s just the cherry on the sundae. , For instance, at bluehawaiian.com you can book a Blue Maui Helicopters tour before you leave and enjoy some of the fabulous seafood restaurants along the beach.
You Might Make a New Friend if Not a Romantic Connection
You also might take off for a different state or country and feel like this person is your soulmate. When you arrive, though, perhaps the physical chemistry is not there like you hoped.
However, that does not necessarily mean the trip is a bust. Maybe the two of you can be platonic friends. If you are both not feeling romantic vibes, and you’re on the same page with that, perhaps you can remain in touch and visit each other again.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with being in the friend zone. You might make a lifetime connection that happens not to be romantic.
You Might Find Out They’re Not Who They Said They Were at All
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You might also talk to someone online for months, and at last, you feel like you’re ready to meet them face-to-face. Plenty of people online like to catfish unsuspecting individuals, though.
One way to avoid this is to never send anyone you have not met before any money. If you’re trying to set up a place and time to finally meet with them after months of flirting, and they say you have to send them money for a plane ticket, that’s an enormous red flag.
The best move is to travel to see them or meet up with them in a neutral territory somewhere, neither your city nor theirs. Maybe if you live an entire world away from each other, you can meet somewhere in the middle. If they won’t agree to this, and they demand money for travel expenses or something else, you’ll know they’re probably not who they claim to be.
You Find Out You Don’t Get Along in Person
You also might travel to their city or country to meet with them, but then once you’re together, you find that you have no romantic or platonic connection. Sometimes, meeting someone and spending time with them in person is completely different than your online crush would lead you to believe.
One tip is to stay at a hotel or a hostel instead of traveling across the world to meet with them and staying in their place when you’ve never met them before. Even if they agree to do this, you’ll both be uncomfortable if you find you have no real connection with each other.
Tell Someone About Where You’re Going
Source: betterhelp.com
One further tip if you’re trying to decide whether to move forward with this first in-person meeting is to always tell several people where you’re going and what you’re doing. You might give family and friends all of this new person’s contact information. Tell your family or friends where you’re staying, when you are going to meet with your online crush, and where that encounter will take place.
If you’ve seen the “Taken” movies, you’ll know that meeting someone in a foreign country does not always work out so well. That’s an extreme example, and perhaps the person you’ve been talking to turns out to be exactly who they say they are. They may have no nefarious motive, and you might have a love-at-first-sight situation on your hands.
Still, it’s best to try and go about this meeting as safely as possible. Try to meet them in a public place first rather than a private residence.
You should also try to have a Skype or Facetime session with this person before you meet with them. If they are real, they should have no problem doing that. If this is a catfishing situation or something along those lines, they will probably want to show you a few pictures but never have a real-time phone conversation.
Traveling to meet your potential love in an exotic location sounds romantic and amazing, and perhaps it will work out that way. Technology and the world’s current connectivity make these things possible.
You still must use a little common sense, though, and try not to let your feelings run away with you.
Even if you feel like this person completes you after talking to them a few times, try to be practical to avoid putting yourself in any danger.
