Is Tinder where it's at aboard?
When you put a plan into focus such as traveling solo. All the reasonable things come to mind like where will you physically stay either a loft, hotel airbnb or hostel? What about the neighbourhood to stay in… like do you want artsy, quiet, busy, popular and/ or chic? Food, Transportation, etc. Now once you get there what are you going to do? Do you want to meet people or stay solo the entire trip?
Once I figured my plan out, I thought to myself I love spending time not talking to people ( I bartend so sometimes quiet is the best thing in the world) but only for so long. I want to meet people and absorb the culture. I mean, Why not?
In France, I did have a male friend that I had met years prior in Dallas through the tinder app. I remembered what a great date we had. For years I had assured him I would come and he would return the favor. I took somewhat of five years, but I made it happen. Now being an independent gal I knew he wasn’t going to want to spend every sing day while I was there with me so I turned on my tinder app and made sure I made more friends. It did the charm, it worked. I went on a few dates with my special friend but I got to meet so many people in addition. We went to a dive bar by the Republique name the “le petite garage”. After conversations and drinks at the bar, we walked around, it’s refreshing to meet people in bathrooms and outside having cigs and make wonderful connections. my actually first tinder meet was for coffee he was this IT professional and we talked about his adventures all around the world before coming back home to settle in France. He took to one of the oldest coffee/pub/cafes in Paris called Cafe La Perle. I sat and took in all that Paris had to offer and wow. I had to thank tinder twice for introducing to people that opened my eyes and my experience.
So naturally, when I went to Italy I used it again. This was an experience! you see this wasn’t a bad tinder experience this was just different. I didn’t need tinder in Italy. Italians are hardcore romantics and flirts. It’s their language. You walk into a store, a cafe, on the train you will meet people. Let me rephrase this, people that you may meet really want to “date” you for the time you are there for. It can get a tad overwhelming. Not for me but I can understand why turning off the app is okay to do. Going to bars are easy tasks, you just sit down and conversations will emerge. Women are a bit standoffish but mainly for different reasons. Maybe competitive or maybe the woman stand together isn’t a thing, or whatever. However, once you make an Italian woman a friend, she is a companion, and it’s for life. My friendships are so genuine and natural, they are so warm and the men are so romantic. So different methods work in different ways depending on location. When I did meet up with a tinder date he was very hands-on and it felt a tad rushed and somewhat too much pressure. more like let’s get naked quick and instead we had lunch talked and went our separate ways, the second one was different it felt like I was in a romance novel. I was whisked off my feet almost instantly ….we did the “I don’t want to say goodbye long gesture” and I got on the train and wished I had more time. That was so nice. It was exactly what I wanted. A bit of a fairy tale to end my Italian vacation.
This is just my opinion but If you trust yourself and your gut when you are on a solo trip take a small but safe risk and make friends. You never know what you can gain.
Try:
Tinder
Hinge
Meetup
Bumble
Hostel app as well
Facebook has a great group you can interact with other travellers and locals.
(Groups on facebook I adore; Travel meet up- the solo female traveler, WanderLove(girls LOVE travel), Travel Meetups, The Blonde Aboard Travel Tribe, Girls LOVE travel, Travelettes, Black Girls travel too, and many more.)Top ways to meet people aboard when traveling solo
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