If someone you’ve met online offers you a hotel room for one night with them do you accept? The wonderfully imperfect teething problems of a first date outside your comfort zone are what make it worth every penny. Think normal dates are boring? The destination date could well be your fabulous solution.
It had only been a case of an exchange of mobile numbers and then light banter over text before he invited me to pack up my best self and stay in Sydney with him. It was a genuine invitation and I kind of liked the guy despite the fact we had never met face to face. A destination date, rather than an awkward bar meet up. This is what rom-com dreams are made of (isn’t it?!)
“No funny business.” I replied.
His reply.
“Well I can’t guarantee I wont try ;)”
Despite being in my 20’s I could not stop the giggling teenager inside me from marvelling over the fact that a gorgeous, very tall, dark-eyed, prime specimen of the opposite sex was asking me on a date. This wasn’t going to be any usual first date. The two of us, alone, in a hotel room.
“Don’t be worried.” He said over message. “It’s only me.”
“Yep,” I thought, “Only you, a beautiful stranger.”
We’ll be alone in the city. In a hotel room above thousands of people oblivious to the fact that two strangers are trapped in each other’s company. No escaping if he is awful at keeping a conversation. What if he doesn’t like me? Is it obligatory to have sex with him? Do I give him money for the room or does that class me as a de facto sex worker?
Oh my gosh what if he traps me in the room forever and I become the next case on the desk of a missing person unit? Olivia Benson on the hunt. My Facebook profile picture probably splayed across the news and tabloids, everyone looking for me. How can I trust him? Or what if he can’t trust me? What if I turn up and he doesn’t? Should I do it?
I want to be one of those people who forget about all the initial ramifications and the excuses to where I’m going and what I’m doing. It’s not everyday you get an offer such as this.
I shoot him a text.
“If the offer still stands…then yep I’m in.”
There is undoubtedly no other feeling quite like being spontaneous. It is the spontaneous moments that create memories and thus the reason why a destination date is a must do. The things you’ll uncover about your date in a space of a raunchy rendezvous in a hotel for the evening or a weekend away in the tropics gives you a years worth of insight into the person you could potentially be dating in as little as 72 hours. Here’s just why it’s marvellous.
#1 There Is No Incubation Stage
In a short amount of time you have to become comfortable with each other. There is no time for small talk or warming up, because you are stuck in their presence. This is awesome, you are free from formulated opinions or assumptions often made in classic first date locations such as what drink they order at the bar or their Dad jokes. It’s the ultimate icebreaker, if it turns out you’re not at all compatible then don’t fret you won’t have the burden of seeing them so intimately in the same location again. What happens on holidays stays on holiday’s right?
#2 You Will Be On A Time Schedule
Whether it’s a plane you have to catch or a hotel room departure time the two of you will not have to decide who leaves the date first or who declares the finalisation of the date. Having a schedule forces you to stick to it. No awkward goodbyes, score!
#3 True Colours Will Be Revealed
The way your date interacts with the location, the hotel staff and the time schedule you are both tied too will determine what type of person they are. If online their profile says they are adrenaline junkies and they are freaking out as the two of you are scooting around helmet-less on a moped, alarm bells. At least then their true personality will be on display one you wont have to discover over a series of dates.
#4 You Can’t Avoid The Unavoidable
Chances are you will arrive dishevelled from a long plane trip, or decidedly damp from your adventures in the hotel pool. You’re date will see you truly at your worst. Although it’s only the first date there isn’t always sunshine and rainbows in every situation so handle it like a boss. No time for maintaining that first date facade, you can cut straight to the compatibility.
#5 Spontaneous Trip = Trial Relationship
Ever considered if you sleep talk or dribble on your pillow at night? Which way the toilet roll should be kept? Well I don’t think there is anything quite like sharing a bathroom with a complete stranger or a bed even for that matter. Your trip will be a testament to where a potential relationship of living together could pan out.
So as you consider all these things before you board that plane or check into that hotel take every experience as it comes. Have a feel for what you like and what your date likes, explore and take risks, be spontaneous yet safe. And please, please, please don’t organise a destination date without following through because take it from experience, no one likes to be led on. Or left with a false hope and a bag packed with nowhere to go. When it’s ditching a night away instead of a dinner, the stakes and excitement is considerably higher.
