Dating Information

Meeting Your Online Date in Safety


Here are some common sense safety tips for meeting your online date in person. Your instincts will play a strong role in keeping you safe too, so listen to them and take action if you feel uncomfortable or alarmed at any time. Remember, there's also a good chance that your date is perfectly genuine. Tread a sensible line between optimism and caution and your date will be safe and enjoyable.

Meet when you're ready:

Don't be pressured into meeting your online date. One of the big attractions of online dating is that you can find out the important stuff - be sure there's a real possibility for a relationship - up front, so take your time and make the most of it. Your offline date should confirm and enhance your feelings, not lead to disappointment, or nasty surprises!

Meet in a public place:

Hopefully most of you are yawning at this. However, when you've built up some trust online, and happen to share an interest in lonely country walks, say, a lonely country walk might seem like a great idea for a first date. Give yourself a severe reality check when arranging a first date. First dates should always be in well-populated, public places.

Meet in a familiar or well-known area:

You need to be able to find your way home, or back to your hotel room, quickly and easily. Don't travel into unfamiliar neighborhoods and if you've traveled to an unfamiliar city to meet your date, choose a hotel in a central area that's well known to taxi drivers and locals.

Meet in a place where you're not well known:

For first dates, avoid favorite hangouts where everyone knows you and your business. Your date can return to pry information out of your favorite bartender or friends, or turn up uninvited - bad news if you decide not to pursue the relationship.

Travel independently:

Revealing where you live, where you're staying or getting into a strange vehicle puts you at risk. Be sure to make your own way to and from your date, and don't be persuaded otherwise. If you make your travel arrangements ahead of time, you'll have a good excuse for refusing any offers to pick you up or drop you home, and if your date's half the person you think they are, they'll respect your independence and caution.

Make your own arrangements:

Don't let your date take over and make all the decisions about where you go, what you do, and, if you're traveling from another city, where you stay. Make your own travel arrangements (I've said this already, but it's important), book your own hotel, and make sure you and your common sense get to play a big role in deciding when and where your date takes place.

Tell a friend or relative about your date:

Make sure someone knows who you're meeting (their full name and phone number), when, where and at what time you expect to be back.

Take your cell phone:

If you don't have a cell phone, borrow one. Arrange for someone to call you at a certain time to check up on how your date is going, and how you're feeling about it. Agree beforehand on some phrases that will let them know, without giving the game away to your date, whether it's going well or whether you need to put a pre-arranged escape plan into action.

Don't drink too much:

Sure, a drink can calm your nerves but be careful not to overdo it and lose your ability to make safe and sensible decisions.

Leave if you feel uncomfortable:

You're excited about your date, you want it to go well, to give it every chance of success but (and it's a big but) don't let this tempt you into ignoring or excusing the fact that something doesn't feel right. If it doesn't feel right it probably isn't. Trust your instincts, admit it and get out of there. If necessary, enlist the help of a waiter or manager or some other person that can help you make a get away, perhaps feigning a call from home or showing you an alternative way out of the building. Remember though, it's not necessary to explain yourself to your date. Simply leave.

Watch for strange behavior:

When you meet offline, dating should fall into a natural, comfortable pattern. Stop dating if it doesn't. For instance, if your date always wants to meet some distance from where they live or work, is reluctant to introduce you to friends or family, or has strange rules about how and when you call each other, something's very wrong.

Copyright 2004 Caroline Mackenzie

Caroline Mackenzie is Co-Owner/Webmaster of The Dating Muse, a guide to online dating services and personals featuring reviews of the top online dating sites plus tips and ideas for finding friends, dates, soulmates and sexual adventure online. You can visit her site at http://DatingMuse.com and subscribe to her newsletter at http://datingmuse.com/subscribe.htm


MORE RESOURCES:

ABC News

Toyota, Honda US Slump Ends Gains Dating to Mid-90s
Bloomberg - 15 hours ago
... than a third in December as the recession and weak consumer confidence ended annual gains for Japan’s two largest automakers dating to the mid-1990s. ...
Video: Chrysler, Toyota, Lead Declines in Auto Sales AssociatedPress
ECONOMY | US automakers lag foreign sales Chicago Sun-Times
GM’s 2008 US Sales Dive to 49-Year Low on Recession Bloomberg
all 1,690 news articles


TVGrapevine.com

'Momma's Boys': Dating sabotage via helicopter
Entertainment Weekly - 2 hours ago
What I don't understand -- aside from Mrs. B's overt racism -- was what exactly she was expecting from a dating show that surrounded her son with so many ...
'Momma's Boys' simulate the holidays Zap2it.com
all 5 news articles


Mate1 Dating Site - Holiday Coupon Code - 3 Months FREE!
CRN, NY - 22 hours ago
Mate1 Dating Site - Holiday Coupon Code - 3 Months Absolutely Free! Mate1 boasts a membership of over 16 million online daters with a ratio of 50% men and ...


ABC News

Protecting Teens From Dating Violence
ABC News - 35 minutes ago
But when a group of teenagers from South Kingstown, RI, was recently asked how many knew someone who was a victim of dating violence, each one of them ...


Online Dating Sites Flirt With Record Growth
Forbes, NY - 14 hours ago
The recession may be biting into profits for most, but singles looking to save money are boosting the online dating industry. With the current downturn in ...


Bodog Beat

Carrie Underwood Dating Hockey Senator
PerezHilton.com, CA - 5 hours ago
... with Carrie and Mike's sister going out for some pre-pAArty pampering, indicating that Carrie and Mike have been dating long enough to get familiar. ...
Carrie Underwood Dating NHL Senator Mike Fisher Bodog Beat
Senators Center Mike Fisher Apparently Has No Problems With Tony ... FanIQ
Mike Fisher, Carrie Underwood romantically linked Ottawa Citizen
Hollyscoop
all 21 news articles


Find True Love in 90 Days--Really! Revolutionary Dating Book by ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 15 hours ago
Psychologist Dr. Diana Kirschner helps women answer these questions once and for all in her new dating book, Love in 90 Days: The Essential Guide to Finding ...


ABC News

Lindsay Lohan And Gal Pal Sam Still Dating
Ontario Now, Canada - 1 hour ago
It’s really annoying to have all of your friends emailing you saying, i saw, i read, etc… NOT TRUE.” The same-sex couple admitted they were dating in ...
Morning Mix: Lindsay Lohan Denies Split from Samantha Ronson Washington Post
Lohan denies split with girlfriend Samantha Ronson Press Trust of India
Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson: Fight! LimeLife
X17 Online - ABC7Chicago.com
all 627 news articles


Newsday

Facebook dating tips
Staten Island Advance - SILive.com, NY - 11 hours ago
STATEN ISLAND, NY -- Facebook rapidly is becoming a popular way for lonely hearts to meet and date, especially among younger users. ...
Facebook turned little black book? Whitney Casey thinks so! National Post
Whitney Casey's new book is perfect Man Plan Houston Chronicle
How to get men, Whitney Casey tells women HULIQ
all 11 news articles


Spike in Internet dating
MSNBC - Jan 4, 2009
FORT MYERS: While some businesses are sinking in the current economy many Internet dating sites have seen smooth sailing. Evelyn Plog is one of the lucky ...

Dating - Google News

home | site map
© 2006