Expectations vs. Reality

[msmob]

I don't think you should choose a western chain to first date

If you are in a regional RU city - not Moscow / Piter / Sochi central hot-spots ( centres) - prices are very reasonable  - esp at the current exchange rates

I'd check out places on search engines Google / Trip Advisor

[BillyB]

I would hate to waste an entire vacation in an old industrial city to find that out when I could be golfing and game fishing in Hawaii

A guy can minimize his risks by communicating a lot with a lady before deciding to visit. I've read a lot of trip reports where a guy visits a girl and she's incompatible, can't hold a conversation with her, or completely different than what he thought. Common theme among those men are they never called or Skyped with the woman before making a decision to visit. They exchanged a couple of messages and liked the girls photoshopped photo and decided it was worth a few thousand dollars to meet with her.

Just as you had a discussion with a woman at Starbucks to determine compatibility, You can determine certain things about a woman overseas before spending more than a few bucks. When I was on the phone with a lot of women, some conversations went smooth and others didn't. Some women were excited to hear my voice and others were not so excited. Over time, I could determine if I have the same beliefs and goals as the women I'm calling and if I and her are both excited to talk to each other. If I determine a woman overseas to be high quality and compatible, then it's worth a few thousands of dollars to meet with her.

[ML]

Just told wife about some of the costs of meals, dating, etc.

She reminded me that last night we had thin pork chops which cost about $1.75 for two.
The rest of meal was 'almost' free consisting of our own fresh garden items; snow peas, carrots, radishes, baby potatoes, leaf spinach.