Hi everyone - USA father entrepreneur ready to travel & date internationally

[surfsportz]

Just introducing myself.  Lots to learn.  I know there are many websites that cost tons and have mostly fake profiles for women on them, but I also know that many men in the USA have successfully connected online with women & then dated them & married them.  I just received my passport & I am able to travel 18 days/mo to anywhere - so I'm serious about finding a long term relationship, hopefully marriage, this way & am eager to learn from this forum.  Thx

[HoundDaddyLee]

Welcome Surfsportz! There is much information on this forum. Read, read, read!!!! A site that I have used in the past if Fdating.com. I have not been on in a few years, so I am not sure what it is like now.


Good luck in your search,
HDL

[GuppyCaptain]

Welcome. Good luck, and as others will tell you, there's a lot to read and learn on this forum. 18 days a month? Geez, I thought I was the only one working a full-time part-time job. That's a HUGE advantage you have. 

[Faux Pas]

Welcome surfsportz!

 

[Hammer2722]

 

[BillyB]

Welcome to the forum Surfsport. If you can't find what you're looking for reading, feel free to ask questions.

[Willby]

Just introducing myself.  Lots to learn.  I know there are many websites that cost tons and have mostly fake profiles for women on them, but I also know that many men in the USA have successfully connected online with women & then dated them & married them.  I just received my passport & I am able to travel 18 days/mo to anywhere - so I'm serious about finding a long term relationship, hopefully marriage, this way & am eager to learn from this forum.  Thx

Great! Welcome! I had the same purpose when registering here! It is a good experience, cause here you'll find lots of tips dealing with your request. Some will lead you to visit some dating sites. It's ok if you check them out. Do it. Just don't let be scammed or abused! You know, all those sites are good at this!  You may also ask me what's my favorite site cause i am a user too. Anyway, just ask to avoid problems!

[Lance.ATX]

Hi Surfsportz - I am kind of doing the same thing. Not 18 days per month, more like a week every month or two.

Have been on three trips with increasing levels of success. I had not found RWD until recently, I made many rookie mistakes.

First trip, the girl did not show. The second trip I had three first dates lined up to hedge my bets and they all showed. Third trip was a week with my favorite from trip #2. I am planning to fly her to Prague in July so we meet in the middle and she gets a fun trip. Then maybe she visits me in Austin.

I have a blog about the experience so far.

I have custody of three children and my youngest is an autistic 9 year old. As a hobby, I have a charity called blue-halo.org that helps autistic children. To raise money for the charity we have an Expedia travel agency. Full disclosure - I sell travel and manage a meetup called ATX Travel Hackers. We try to get flights to Europe for $750 or less round trip.

Part of this meetup is the "First Wednesday Travel" group. The idea is to go to Europe or wherever the First Wednesday of each month so we have people to travel with. There is a lot of talk but right now I am still traveling solo. Maybe you want to join?

I am headed to Prague the First Wednesday of June (next Wednesday), returning from Budapest. Then Budapest First Wednesday of July returning from Prague. There was a round trip of $612 Budapest to Houston that drove this itinerary. For frequent travel always originate Europe and return to USA. It is normally less than originating USA and flying to Europe. The tricks are on the blue-halo.org site.

My blog is - gasp - AnastasiaDateTravel.org. AnastasiaDate is primarily an entertainment platform with a bad reputation for working in real life, like an on-line nightclub with nightclub odds. Trying to find a real girl in the fog of the nightclub is difficult. It can be done, I managed to do it. The key for me was focusing on ladies 30 or older. They want to get married and may take a chance on guys like us. As ladies get younger, that is the entertainment market. It is great fun but probably not real.  If you want to invite them to lunch that is great but save the dinner dates for 30+ IMHO.

It is a very fun process overall. International dates are wonderful tour guides and they are very nice ladies. Ukraine is an incredible value right now and it is worth going just for the restaurants.

Cheers,

Lance

[JohnDearGreen]

Good luck with your trip, Lance.  You will find many members of this site to be much anti-agency.  But if you are afraid of drilling a dry hole, you are not likely to strike oil.  My experience is over 10 years ago so I won't comment further.

[Lance.ATX]

Hi John - Are you in Austin? Your avatar says Austin. It also looks like you have been married to a Ukrainian for over ten years.

This AnastasiaDate girl, Marina, may be here in Austin around August / September if all goes well. It would probably help her a lot to meet another Ukrainian as this would be a big visit. Of course it could be a big scam too but I am 95% sure she is legit.

As of yesterday she is on Skype. I had to buy her a computer as she has an agency laptop which is completely locked down to prevent communication outside AnastasiaDate. If your wife wanted to Skype her that would be fun and would give me more information first about her legitimacy and second about her fears and concerns.

Marina is visiting an autism center in Kharkiv next week to learn a little about autism. I have an autistic 9 year old which is my big negative. She needs to learn about autism and then visit and see what life is like to make an informed decision about me We will see how it all goes!

It is great to meet your virtually and good to see this process can work sometimes.

Cheers,

Lance

[ML]

I had to buy her a computer as she has an agency laptop which is completely locked down to prevent communication outside AnastasiaDate.

Lance, this doesn't sound good.

[ML]

This AnastasiaDate girl, Marina, may be here in Austin around August / September if all goes well.

Lance . . . have you fallen for the Visa scam ???

[Larry1]

Lance . . . have you fallen for the Visa scam ???

Lance, this doesn't sound good.

I agree; it doesn't sound good.

If her beloved granny suddenly falls ill and needs money for a life-saving surgery don't send it.

[dragonkid]

I think lance managed to get all the possible scams, and rolled it into one relationship. Priceless, i just pray to god you are a troll, if not, lance don't do it, just stop please, i beg you.

[JohnDearGreen]

Lance, it is good that you are even enjoying the failures.  That is the way it should be.  There are ways to deal with the less than good web sites.  Going to a foggy disco party was not one of my choices.
As I said you must be willing to drill a few dry holes.  But use logic and research to determine where to drill...  Spread your risk across a few different web sites.

One of the Ukrainian high-roller bachelors was fond of beauty queens and starlets.  He even invited Paris Hilton to come party with him......and she went to Ukraine to meet him.  (I don't know who paid for the trip). So nothing wrong with going for a long shot now and then, but use sense in how much to invest in each venture.

I'm not sure how much of a gambler you are.  But it is usually best to stick to her home area for at least a couple of meetings.   There isn't much of a backup plan available when you are both in a remote city.  Based on what you've said, it sounds like you've only met about 4+ ladies.  Some succeed on their first meeting, but most take a few more than 4.


 

[treadmilldude]

Lance, first of all, Aggie Graduate here, so I have to tease you about being from Austin, home of that "other" college.  Did you go to UT, or just live in Austin?

Lance, I want to let you know I have a tremendous amount of respect for you for being a loving, caring Father to 3 beautiful Children. I look up to you and I consider you to be a far superior man than me, as I have never been blessed yet with Children. I hope to be as blessed as you are in the near future, though.

God bless your autistic son, as well. He is a miracle, and if that girl from Ukraine cannot tolerate you having having an autistic son, well then, to put it as nicely as I can, it is her loss, not yours. Your son is a gift and I wish him the very best in life. 

[BillyB]

Lance, most women in the FSU are able to communicate with men without the need of marriage agencies. They aren't living in the dark ages. They have mobile phone and computers at home. We've seen it far too many times guys come here and say the girl needs help. If they're saying it to you, they are saying it to every guy. Sincere women don't want your money.

Sure you've factored in the cost of communicating with the lady at ADAte vs. buying her a computer. You think it's cheaper buying her the computer and keeping her away from the agency so she won't communicate with other men. You met her but it's obvious she hasn't thought enough of you to invite you into her home to meet the family. If she invited you into your home, you would've probably already seen she has a computer. Most girls don't go to the agency to talk to guys. They have their own computers and the agency asks them to write letter and talk to the men on chat in their own homes.

She's coming to Austin to meet you? Who would reject an all expense paid trip to another country? I bet she already has a visa or can get one because she's been on many vacations in Europe already. That's one of the benefits of her job at ADate. Guys are too eager to spend money for the women there. For her to get a visa to America, she's got to show she has money and assets to get here and back on her own. If she's got money, she doesn't need yours to buy a computer. If she's really poor, she's not coming to Austin.

We recommend guys not take care of their women like a wife until they have a relationship with them. You can't go wrong following good advice but you can go wrong with what you're currently doing. Many guys have wasted months of their lives and tons of money chasing the wrong women. Can I ask you if you bought a computer and sent it to her or sent her the money to have her buy one?

[Gator]

Lance, this doesn't sound good.

Lance . . . have you fallen for the Visa scam ???

At first glance, I agree.   However, he had met this woman and liked her before buying her a computer.   And he will see her again in Prague before she comes to America. 

The computer enables Lance to speak to her daily on Skype.  If Lance has ample discretionary income, I consider it merely a tool to build communication.  If she is communicating daily and having ever more serious talks, it is worth the small expense.  Their communication to date has prompted the woman to research autism.  Most FSUW would shun men with three children, especially a child  having special needs. 

In summary, I would not consider this as someone trying to buy love.    Nor does it seem Lance is on a shoestring budget where chasing FSUW is depriving his three children of something.

Good luck Lance and welcome to RWD!!!  Lance, do you have shared custody of your children? Does your woman have children?  Want a common child (wanting a common child is good indication)?

[Trenchcoat]

I'm with BillyB on this one, Lance you need to be careful before spending any money on RW. Meals out is fine and some inexpensive entertainment. Anymore than that and she could well be taking you for a ride. It's not about whether the cost is nothing to you but about the time you'll waste on someone who is only interested in the money/freebies. RW will go for free holidays, that as I have found is what many of them are on dating sites for - though fortunately for me it was just a short holiday in Kiev, but shows you how little they will have a guy on for. Sure she'll look up Autism or whatever the topic of conversation is if a guy is sending her money/gifts it costs her nothing to do so and how much more might she get - more money/holiday in America by the sounds of it. If she's coming up with stories where she needs something to resolve it chances are she is trying to scam you into sending money without asking for it (as too obvious a scam). I had it with my last girl her father was apparently retiring so she had to get a second job, not implausible but a set up so the guy offers to send her money to make do without actually asking him for it. I of course was not going to since she had shown no real affection when we met. I would suggest not sending a girl anything besides flowers if you have not had any physical affection from her.

[Trenchcoat]

Also and stipulate on your profile that you are 'seeking a genuine committed relationship only, not there for free holidays, shopping or money' or similar. Now some might say this won't stop scammer and some it won't but I wouldn't mind betting it would stop many as if they think your aware/on your guard many will move on to easier territory or if everyone did it give up I would suggest everyone using FSU dating sites do this, it would help a lot I think for sure.

[oso]

Lance....UIA has a once a week flight from NY to Kyiv for $400 rt.....You know she could Skype from her smartphone

[ML]

When I saw Gator's post where he mentioned the guy had already seen the gal once . . . I have to backtrack somewhat on my caution to him regarding buying her a computer and her checking into visa to come to USA.

Due to my incomplete reading . . . I thought they had not yet met.