This year, many of us have had the time on our hands to think about what is really important to us in our lives. Some of my friends have had the revelation that long-distance relationships and hours on the road or public transport aren’t actually something that they’re looking forward to once things slowly start getting back to normal. I can relate to this feeling well – long motorway drives to see your beau really do get tiring after a while.
So if you’ve come to a similar conclusion, what do you do?
One of my older friends has been started on a journey of becoming more and more environmentally friendly in the way that he lives his life, and as a result, has decided to give up his car and reduce his public transport use. He decided that he would specifically try and date locally from now on, reducing his environmental footprint on the earth. He recommended to friends this Merseyside dating site that specialises in connecting people in his local area.
His recommendation stirred a surprising response amongst friends on Facebook. Many wondered if he was narrowing his dating pool too much. Would he really find his perfect eco-friendly and adventure-loving date on such a niche website? Both he and I think it’s more than possible, so we got together and made a list of our top tips.
5 Tips for Finding Local Love
Find the right dating site.
My friend found his dating site by putting the phrase dating agency Merseyside into a Google search. Once he was there he checked out the features and made sure that it offered everything he wanted in a dating site. Spending time to find the right site can really pay off in the end, and is better than scatter gunning lots of different sites.
Create a great profile
Let’s be straight – nobody will meet you if you have a terrible profile. Be honest about your likes and dislikes, but perhaps leave out anything particularly odd – that’s the kind of info best saved for the second date! And make sure you have a clear photo that shows you smiling. People really react well to photos of other people smiling – it actually makes them feel happier!
Be honest about what you want
My friend stated openly and honestly that he was looking for someone local who was as passionate as him about leading a more eco-friendly lifestyle. The result has been that he’s chatting to a couple of people who have the same interests as him! Being up front really does weed out many people who would otherwise be completely incompatible with you.
Start talking
In these strange times we’re getting quite used to chatting online for extended amounts of time. Video calls, phone calls, messaging apps – we’ve got them all! But if you’re not up for a Zoom call (or anything else) with your date then explain your boundaries clearly. If your date doesn’t respect your wishes then they’re not for you.
Be prepared to take it offline
Lockdown will end. Hopefully soon. And when it does, be prepared to meet up offline. It can be quite anxiety-inducing at the moment for many people to go out and meet new people, but we must start to get used to the fact that our lives have been irreversibly changed. If you’re nervous about meeting up then explain this to your date – a good person who is right for you will always understand.
