Where do you girls even find dates?

Well religion is a lot more 'freedom centered' in my country because pretty much all Church communities here have been pressured to accept 'modern values' (or die). Literally most Churches have been discontinued, turned into museums and homes and business venues. Very few Church communities still remain active. And they want to maintain members. That's why religion in my country is a lot less strict. So I do tend to clash with foreign Christians from more conservative countries and areas. As for fast marriage I couldn't really get that because I wasn't dating anyone in the first place. How do you marry when you don't even have a date? Whom do you then marry? It's unclear to me. I've had some relatives and friends of relatives tell me when I was younger: "why aren't you married yet?" I always fired back with: "well who am I supposed to marry then?" Radio silence. They had nothing to say in response to that.

But isn't hiking just the same thing as a walking date? Only 10 times more exhausting. Same with dog parks really. (And personally I'm not a dog person: a guy having dogs is a complete turn off.) I certainly wouldn't naturally spend more time than I have to, just on my own, in a dog park.

I'm also aware of my own safety. When a stranger approaches me in the woods, or in a park, crowded or not, I don't just allow them into my personal space. A man has randomly tried to "run into me by accident". I hit him in the chest with 2 fists, keeping him at a safe distance. More specifically: I timed it so that all I had to do was turn around and stretch out my arms. He ran into my fists. He was shirtless and his chest was fully shaven. So that must have hurt. The man was handsome, but I did not appreciate him "running into my personal space" like that. Especially when this happened on a wide area where there was a lot of space around. He could have easily avoided me. He ran into me intentionally. I don't know if that was his way of "flirting". But after I punched him, he let out a long string of curses, calling me "crazy". I wordlessly showed him the middle finger. Then he ran away (literally: he was out jogging). So yeah.... I guess I don't feel that safe meeting random men in the park.

Same thing for travel. I don't talk much to strangers when I travel. For my own safety. And when I do meet men at holiday places like beaches, I try to keep the conversation light and neutral. Because it's highly likely we don't even live in the same area. Long distance relationships tend to not work. And most likely he's only looking for a short hookup while his vacation lasts. Vacation romance tends to be just that. As a teenager I met a lot of cute boys on vacation, and even when exchanging email addresses, it never went anywhere. Same thing now. Also the men at the beach who tend to approach me... at least one of them I know for sure was married. And I'm not about that. So I don't know about traveling to meet men.... Seems too much of an investment. I don't believe in the idea that "your perfect soulmate" could be "on the other side of the world". Because I think we tend to get along better with people who live close by, have more in common with us, and face the same challenges. This why local people are more relatable than foreigners. There's a lot of things foreigners just don't understand, and things I don't understand about their culture.

Also ultimately if anything serious happened between me and a foreigner, one of us would have to abandon our entire support network to go live abroad. I am unwilling to place myself in such a vulnerable position just to get a man. I have seen the way men treat their foreign spouses. I have decided to not be a foreign spouse. So if a man wants to move here just to be with me, that's cool. But this will be difficult for him, and for us in general. It's easier dating locally?

Our country is very small. So there is no in-country air travel. The only travel warranting any planes is abroad oversees to exotic locations. I wouldn't even use a plane to go on holidays most of the time because most beautiful affordable destinations are at most 1 day travel by car. So that also removes the option to meet others while traveling. The fuel stations along the road are not the safest nor the best place to socialize and meet people. So I would have to travel somewhere truly exotic (a different continent) to even need a plane...

It's just that there's a lot of cultural differences between where you and I live. I can see how this advice can work in some places.

Okay I can try the yoga classes. Thank you!

It’s the same for me. I’ve had so many men either on OLD or IRL asking me for my real phone number only for them to… never contact me again. Wtf? I’ve never understood this. Are you just collecting phone numbers like Pokemon or what?