International dating

The majority of people who start Internet dating just assume that
there is no other option than to meet someone locally, and never
give long distance relationships a second thought.
Only searching for people within your local area (for most people
that would involve a 1-2 hour car ride at most) does limit the amount
of people you can meet. However, if you include your entire city as
your local area, which most people do, you should have no shortage
of people in major cities.

Most people stick to their local area for several reasons:
• It’s too inconvenient to meet people outside of your area. At
least one of you must make the effort to get to the other person.
• It can be expensive if you are talking about air travel.
• The odds really are quite low that that person is the ‘right one’
for you. Internet dating is after all effectively a blind date.
Travelling half way around the world for a blind date is not
everyone’s idea of a smart thing to do.
Many people will be naturally frightened by the prospect of
meeting someone from outside of their local area, and it really does
take a special kind of person to be able to do this.
Here are the pros and cons of trying to court long distance via
the Internet:

Disadvantages
• The likelihood is quite low that you will find the person of your
dreams. That’s just the statistics of Internet dating, so putting
all your eggs in one basket is risky.
• You are away from the safety of your friends and family if you
are the one travelling. It’s also expensive.
• If the other person is coming to you and you don’t like them
but they like you, they are naturally going to be a bit more upset
than someone who lives next door. It may be difficult to get rid
of them, in which case you can expect the big guilt trip − “but I
paid all this money and came all this way to meet you.” It can
get nasty. Be prepared for the worst.

Advantages
• You can make some great friends with whom you can stay with
and show you the local sites while travelling. This can make for
a cheap holiday.
• You will have a much wider range of people to choose from,
greatly increasing your chances of finding the right one.
• Because the two of you will have gotten to know each other pretty
well before taking such a big step, the chances of it working out
can be potentially higher.
• Because you have both gone to so much trouble to meet each
other, you are not as likely to ‘nit pick’ and find faults with the
other person. This is what typically happens when you just meet
someone from around the corner where they are a dime a dozen.
In general though, stay well clear of long distance virtual
relationships unless you are experienced at this sort of thing, and
know exactly what you are doing. You are setting yourself up for a
big fall should it not work out. There is also the possibility of the
person simply vanishing of the face of the Internet, it happens, and
it’s common.
Remember that long distance relationships don’t work at the best
of times even for married couples and those in long-term
relationships. Imagine how difficult it will be with someone you
hardly know, or have never actually met.
The best time to look for people overseas is if you plan on visiting
there and you want people to meet, stay with, and to show you
around. This is a great use of Internet dating; it allows you to form
friendships with people from every corner of the globe. You can
also stay in constant touch with them via any Internet machine
anywhere in the world.
It’s not uncommon to find profiles of people who are not in the
country yet, but will be visiting very shortly and are looking for
people to meet up with and show them around. This can be great if
you are planning on travelling solo.

By David L. Jone