Katie Taylor wanted to see the world. At just 23 years old, the California native decided to throw in the towel on Tinder and try something a little different. What she chose was the dating site MissTravel, and since then her life has been a whirlwind of traveling and adventures.
With over half a million members, MissTravel is the dating site that matches people who want to travel, but not travel alone. Members can either meet up with fellow travelers, travel to where a member is or, for those members who want to spoil a someone rotten, members can pay for a whole trip. Basically, you can travel the world as someone’s companion and not spend a dime ― just imagine the places you’ll go.
Katie wanted in on the action. Since January of this year, Katie has traveled extensively in the U.S. and abroad, hitting up seven countries so far one date at time. With stamps in her passport for places like Ireland, Barbados, and even India, Katie is just getting started on fulfilling her desire to see the world as the companion of, I imagine, some pretty interesting people.
As a fellow world traveler, I knew I had to get Katie’s insight on exactly how to pull this off and what it’s really like to jet off to a foreign country to travel with someone you’ve never met before.
Here are seven things about Katie’s experiences with MissTravel that you should know or use as inspiration to call in sick next week and jet off to Thailand.
1. Why She Thinks MissTravel Is A Better Fit Than Most Dating Apps
“Travel is such a huge interest and central part of my life right now, so I was really attracted to the idea of narrowing my dating scene to men who shared the same passion and could facilitate opportunities to travel.”
2. How She Manages To Travel And Keep Up With School
“School is still very important to me and traveling wasn't meant to be a replacement, rather a supplement to my educational pursuits. I was a part time student last term, enrolled in online classes, and am back to full-time this term in a combination of online and classroom courses.”
3. Why Travel Is Good For Education
“Traveling the world provides a different perspective and has helped me better chart my educational path and choose my major.”
4. The Expectations She Has For Her Companions
“I personally haven't had any issues because ― like on any other dating site I've used ― I'm clear about my expectations and ask the same from anyone I plan to meet. If someone makes me uncomfortable through messages or over the phone then I don't meet them. Though it's never happened before, if someone made me uncomfortable in person, I would simply leave; I have the means to buy a one way flight back from anywhere in the world.”
5. How Her Traveling Experiences Play Out
“It depends on the person and nature of the trip: there have been times when I wanted to be around my date throughout the entire trip, other times when I felt comfortable separating for parts of the trip (especially if it was a business trip for my date and he was busy with meetings), and some dates even involved group activities (vacations where we met with friends of my date).”
6. The Importance Of Communication
“Again, it's very important to communicate your expectations before meeting anyone from online. If someone was adamant about being together/alone 100 percent of the time I probably wouldn't go on a trip with them unless we had traveled together before and clicked well.”
7. As For The Future...
“My original intention with this site is to meet similar people with a passion for travel who want to do the same things as me. Meeting people who facilitate travel opportunities is a huge perk and can be a lot of fun with the right person. I'm not in a desperate search for love, but I'm definitely open to finding it!”
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Images: Katie Taylor; Giphy (7)
