Long-distance Love – Broadening Your Search

One of the most common reasons people give for not signing up to internet dating sites is that there’s not enough people in their area, but when asked, this area can be as small as 5 miles square! I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to travel further than that to do my weekly shop.

When it comes to finding country singles, your perfect match could be just outside your current search criteria, so take a chance and try expanding your search.

Here are a few common reasons to why people don’t want to date long-distance, with a few suggestions on how to overcome them:

“I can’t move, I’m tied down”

If you are tied to your business, or have family commitments in your local area, make it clear in your profile that you’re happy to meet people from a broad area, but are unable to travel or re-locate yourself. The right person will be willing to travel to meet you, and some people who do not have ties to a particular area will relish the opportunity to move to somewhere new if everything works out.  After all, lots of our members dream of upping sticks and moving to a remote farm to live the ‘good life’.

“I only want to meet local people”

Although people may list their location as one place they may spend their spare time in another place; for example a member may work in London during the week, but spend their weekends with their family in Gloucestershire and hope to move back home at some point. By searching only within your local area, you may be dismissing people who spend their weekends or weekdays in the same area as you and enjoy spending time in your local area.

Try expanding your search to include neighbouring counties and then look within the profiles to see if the people you fancy spend part of their week close to where you live.

If you spend your week in more than one location yourself, select your primary address for your profile details, but explain your situation in your introduction.

“I travel for work and don’t have time to travel for dating as well”

If you travel for work, meeting someone from the local area for friendship or for a date is a great way to make overnight stops away from home more fun and you never know, it could lead to something more.

One of our earliest success stories came from a couple (Jane and Duncan) who finally met up thanks to a work trip. Duncan from Kent joined the site in 2007 and had set his radius to “within one and a half miles of [his] front door”. So he was a bit wary when he received a message from Jane, who lived more than 200 miles away.  However, when Jane, from York was sent down south for a business trip she took the chance to meet Duncan in person and five years later the couple are now happily married.

Why should you consider long distance dating?

Although living on opposite sides of the country can cause logistical problems, people can always move!

We’ll be discussing how to make arrangements to meet up with a long-distance date in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.

How far would you travel to find love?  Join the discussion on Facebook.