How to Date Abroad: How’s, Why’s, Challenges, and Benefits
Finding a partner can be difficult for a lot of guys. Some never actually find a partner and just go through life without one.
Others decide to be more proactive about it and decide to expand their dating pool by going to a foreign country and hoping to find their soulmate on the other side of the world. The only rub is that a lot of these guys don’t know how to date abroad.
Meeting someone overseas isn’t usually something that just happens to a person, after all. It’s a deliberate choice. But once the choice is made, a lot of guys don’t know what the next step should be. Should he fly out immediately?
Should he learn how to get a foreign girlfriend online before he books a plane ticket to fly out to meet them?
There’s actually a few things that a guy should know before he starts looking for romance abroad. It’s not just about reading a few international dating tips and then hoping for the best.
The Mindset for Dating Abroad
The first thing a guy needs to do is to be sure that it’s exactly what he wants. It’s no small feat to go abroad and get a girlfriend. You are willingly putting yourself outside your comfort zone. What’s more, it’s a commitment, not just to a potential relationship, but also to the act of finding one. It’s not just some hobby that he can do in his spare time. It’s something intensive and he’s going to have to put a lot of time into it.
Not to mention, traveling can be costly. Flying abroad to her country, flying her out to his country, international matchmaking services, hotels, and all of that aren’t cheap.
So before looking for a girlfriend abroad, a guy has to be absolutely certain that it’s what he wants because it’s going to take a lot of time, resources, and mental energy.
He also needs to be open-minded. This doesn’t just mean being receptive to a foreign culture or language, it’s also about being open-minded to possibility. No matter how prepared a guy is to date, he will inevitably face some form of rejection.
But he can’t let it get him down. He needs to keep his mind open enough that he sees the possibility that the next girl he courts will be the one for him. And he needs to keep this mentality up until he turns the possibility into a reality.
How to Date Abroad: What Needs to Be Done
Once a guy commits to falling in love with someone from another country, there’s a lot of things he needs to do in order to make that happen. But what exactly are these things?
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The first thing that needs to be done is research. Presumably, a guy will already know which country he wants to go to in order to find his bride, so he’s going to need to learn all that he can about that country and its culture.
Culture informs the things that a woman wants in a man and it’s going to shape the way a woman wants a man to court her. So a guy is going to have to do a lot of research if he wants to find any romantic success abroad because it’s not like he’s going to step off a plane and have the pick of the litter. He has to know what rules he’s playing by in a new country if he wants to win.
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That’s not all he has to research about the new country, either. He also has to research the climate, the cuisine, and the area in which he’s going to be staying so he’ll know what he needs to do and wear to stay safe and comfortable.
A guy will also have to research the language. It’s unlikely that he’s going to learn the language enough to be fluent, not unless he gives himself years to study before flying out, but he can learn a few important phrases that should help him get around.
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But it’s not just the foreign country that a guy will have to research. He’ll also have to research on his own. Specifically, he’ll have to research what his country’s laws are regarding their citizens marrying foreigners.
While marrying a foreigner and the legality of the marriage shouldn’t be a problem, what will be a problem are immigration laws. Some countries will have a lot of red tape that will make it difficult for a guy to bring a foreign wife over. Other countries will make it so easy that there’s little to no red tape at all when it comes to migration, such as free movement within the European Union.
So if a guy sees himself as being successful with dating abroad, then he will also need to see what kind of laws he’ll have to deal with when bringing a woman over to his country.
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The Challenges of Dating Abroad
However, red tape is not the only thing that’s going to make dating and potentially marrying a foreign woman difficult. There’s a bunch of other challenges that will make it difficult. But if a guy wants to know how to date abroad, then he’ll need to know what these challenges are and how to overcome them.
Cultural Differences
While a guy can learn about a woman’s culture before flying out to a foreign country, living within that culture or integrating it into his daily life are two different things entirely.
If he brings a foreign wife over to his country, then she’ll likely be trying to integrate aspects of her culture into their daily life. If he chooses to move to her country, then he’ll have to acclimate to the new culture in which he’s immersed.
So, how does one overcome this? Well, pretty much the only way to get through cultural differences is acclimation and understanding. Two people will have to get used to each other’s culture. Once they’re used to it, they can begin the process of understanding that culture. Showing respect for other people’s culture is important.
The Language Barrier
Related to cultural differences, there’s also linguistic differences. Communication is the cornerstone of any strong relationship and it’d be hard to communicate with a language barrier.
There’s a few ways to get around a language barrier and one can be used until the other is ready. The first method is to use translator apps that can bridge the linguistic gap between two people.
But translator apps should be a temporary solution and they can be an effective one until two people learn each other’s languages. Communication will be so much easier when the language barrier isn’t circumvented, but taken down.
Long-Distance Relationships
There’s also the potential for long distance. Tourists typically aren’t allowed to stay indefinitely, which means that if a guy does go to a foreign country and find a girlfriend, he’s going to have to leave eventually and either end the relationship or continue it from a distance.
Dealing with distance in a relationship will take a lot, such as regular communication, seeing each other, and having a set point in time wherein the couple aren’t going to be long-distance anymore. Long distance also requires trust from both sides to succeed.
The Benefits of Dating Abroad
While there are challenges to dating someone from a different country, those same challenges can provide unexpected benefits.
While cultural differences can be difficult to deal with, the process of dealing with them can expand someone’s horizons. It can make someone more appreciative of the differences between different kinds of people and make them more open-minded when it comes to things with which they are unfamiliar.
Cultural Appreciation
Learning a new language also comes with a few benefits. First of all, there’s no downside to learning a new language. It’s a skill. It may or may not be one that’s used all that often, but it’s still good to have it just in case.
Learning a new language is also great for mental fortitude as it can help sharpen memory and help prevent cognitive deterioration.
Language Exchange
Speaking of learning a new language, participating in a language exchange program is a great way to meet someone from a different country. A language exchange is when two people practice their languages with each other. They do this by speaking to each other in their respective languages.
How to Date Abroad
What about ways to meet foreign women other than language exchanges? Well, there are plenty of websites that specialize in bringing men and women together despite them coming from different countries.
What’s more is that many of these websites don’t just make introductions. They offer tips, translation services, facilitate face to face meetings and even help streamline the process of getting past all the aforementioned red tape that makes it hard for foreign-born people to migrate into their partner’s countries.
Lots of people find love abroad. Sometimes, it’s by complete accident. They go abroad for a business trip or for a vacation or to move there and they meet someone and sparks just fly. But, other times, it’s not an accident at all. A person gets fed up with their local dating scene so they decide to learn how to date abroad and face all the challenges that come with it.
Either way, dating abroad is not as hard or as problematic as other people might think them to be. All you need is an open mind and determination to give something unfamiliar a try.
