I was recently approached about doing some promotional work for the online dating service, ChristianMingle.com. My initial inclination was to decline the offer because I just didn’t see how anything about online dating would appeal to an audience that comes here for food, travel, and adventure. Besides, I’ve been married to my soulmate for over 30 years. How could I promote a service with which I have no experience? I met my wife before the internet as we know it even existed, much less online dating.

But after some serious thought and a little research, I began seeing ways that an online dating service like ChristianMingle.com would be extremely helpful to the single travelers in our audience. So here are four reasons to use an online dating service for finding romance and companionship while traveling.

Increase your chances

One of the reasons that you’re still single could be because that special someone, who is just right for you, lives in another city. Using an online dating service to broaden your search to include your travel destinations will increase your chances of meeting Mr. or Ms. Right.

Compatibility

An online dating service can prescreen potential candidates and connect you with someone who shares similar interest, morals, faith, and values. Your travel time is limited so why waste precious time in bars looking to see who’s not wearing a wedding ring and then figuring out how you’re going to break the ice?

Tour guide

One of our top travel tips is to ask the locals. Nobody knows a destination better than the people who live there. So why not make a date with one of your profile matches who would be willing to be an informal tour guide and show you around? Talking about a destination, its history, its food scene, its attractions etc. is a lot better than making small talk about the weather over dinner. By the end of the tour, you should have a good idea as to whether there’s a connection. Worse case, you have some good suggestions for places to eat:)

Easier to be yourself

Because you live in another city, expectations for anything beyond a casual relationship are generally low. With lower expectations each of you will find it easier to be yourselves and you won’t feel pressure to continue the relationship beyond the time that you are in town. It’s so much easier for the two of you to get to know each other when there is no pretentiousness. Of course if there is a connection you’re free to pursue a long distance relationship to see where it leads. Who knows, you may end up buying a time-share in the destination, or quitting your job and moving there!