Travelling Your Way to Mr or Ms Right

I spent around 15 years overseas. A number of years wandering through various countries in Asia before nearly a decade in Australia. In that time I had numerous relationships, fell in love, got engaged, broke up, fell in love, broke up, fell in lust… you know how it goes.

A few years ago I ended up back in blighty, met a girl in West London, fell in love and got married earlier this year.

It struck me as ironic that after so much travelling and so many relationships it would take returning to the place of my birth to meet ‘the one’. Until, that is, my now wife pointed out that had I not spent so much time overseas I wouldn’t be the same person and we probably wouldn’t be married today.

So what is it about travel that causes such changes in the way we approach the world? And is it necessarily the act of travel that is important or is it more a state of mind - a desire to explore and learn?

The saying goes that travel broadens the mind. Surely though, there is a difference in the way the mind is broadened between riding yaks up a mountain and getting high in Ibiza. This isn’t a judgement. Each experience has value. I’ve done both and as I approach an age I’m not going to disclose I know which I would choose if asked right now.

Perhaps then it’s more the desire and the will to escape our comfort zone that informs the way we approach the world. Conversations between a person with such a desire and someone with no interest in travel whatsoever is always difficult. It’s manageable but generally revolves around the more mundane aspects of day to day existence. Again, this isn’t a judgement. It’s simply that while opposites may generally attract there has to be some base level of similarity for any conversation, let alone relationship, to get off the ground.

This is why we’re stepping things up a bit in the speed dating game. We’ve experimented with lots of different formats but have so far failed to find a better way for people to meet. Up to 20 dates for four minutes each is the perfect amount of time to figure out if you’d like to see someone again, but not too long if they’re not quite your type.
Where we’ve changed things is in the theme of each event. We still run straight forward speed dating. There’s going to be a demand for some time yet. But as people begin to turn away from apps and online dating and back to face to face introductions, they’re also looking to meet people who have that base commonality I described before.

And this is where we come back to travel. An interest and desire for travel is broad enough to avoid excluding those who haven’t yet had the opportunity to journey beyond this green and pleasant land, but narrow enough to ensure a great ice breaker and topic of conversation without that awful realisation that you have NOTHING in common and the next three minutes 30 seconds is going to really drag.

So to the advert. Please welcome Travel Bug Speed Dating.

Yup, it’s a standard speed dating format but specifically designed for those with an interest in the world around them. Swap stories, dream destinations, that perfect secret beach, or that time you got eaten by a dinosaur. The possibilities are endless. It’s a journey of discovery after all.

So the question is, will a weekend retreater meet a 3 week hiker? Or an Ibiza beach bum click with an alpine adventurer? There’s only one way to find out.

Book now for what promises to be a busy night. Who knows where you’ll end up?