When we launched Fairytrail, the goal was to help people explore the world with someone they like.
Today, we’d like to announce… friends mode.
Why We Made “Only Friends”
We surveyed our existing users and found that 68% of our users are interested in making friends. The vast majority of those who answered yes were women who wanted to make friends with other women.
How To Enable “Only Friends”
On the Fairytrail app, to set yourself as looking for friends only, go to Settings -> Edit Profile. Tap the text under the heading Intentions. Then select “Only Friends“.
The other option you can choose is Dating & Friends. All new users are defaulted into Dating & Friends. We don’t have a dating only option because the majority of daters are also open to making friends.
How To Search “Only Friends”
Set your explore preferences as you do normally, go to Settings -> Set Preferences. Select the attributes that you’d like to see in your friends.
For example, if you want a male friend, set your preferences to male. If you want female, set to female. If you want both, set to any.
We took out the optimization for sexual preferences, so if you chose male, then so you will see all male profiles no matter if straight, gay, bi, etc.
You can see what the other person’s intentions are when you view their profile. Here’s an example only friends profile.
Here’s an example of a Dating & Friends profile. (Face hidden because it’s a real user).
Let us know what you think at team@fairytrail.app. We’re always looking to improve, so send us your questions and feedback!
Fairytrail helps people find adventures, friends, and even a life partner. Campfire is a community for digital nomads, world citizens, and world explorers. LittleQuest is the company behind the products. The feature picture at the top is courtesy of @skipwithgrace.
Why a dating app has an entrance fee and the story behind it.
Step into Fairytrail and you’ll soon meet a park ranger …
On Fairytrail, all users are asked to pay a one-time entrance fee after a certain level of usage. Luckily, the entrance fee is only $2.99.
Our app is similar to a virtual national park. You come here to explore and meet awesome people from around the world. We work hard to bring you great people, keep the place running, and provide customer service. Once you buy a ticket to enter, you’re in and can stay as long as you like.
However, we also made the app to be 100% for free for anyone who can’t afford to pay and is sincere. Wholesomeness is at the heart of Fairytrail.
My family was very poor when we first moved to the USA from China. We couldn’t afford much. I wore donated clothes until grade 4 (one of which said Jennifer on it– my name is Taige). My mom worked 3 jobs and the food bank helped make ends meet. I am forever grateful for the kindness in people. One of my favorite childhood memories was attending summer camp– it’s hard to describe how amazing it was to sleep in a cabin, go canoeing, collect the daily ration from the tuck shop, sing by the campfire, and form the purest of friendships. It was all possible because of kind sponsors from the local church.
My life has been enriched by kind people. And as much as possible, I’d like to pass that on. We’re all in this world together. Although sometimes we can only see our own hardships, everyone has hardships. We can intentionally choose to be good to each other and make the world a friendlier place.
If you are not in a position to pay the entrance fee, reply to the welcome email and I will verify you manually to grant you free access. I will do my best to reply to you within 5-7 days.
If you are experiencing technical payment issues, you can pay with credit card here or pay with Paypal here . Also, let us know the email you signed up with. We will manually find you in our system and upgrade you. UPDATE: Quite some people are emailing me about how to pay entrance and support the app after getting verified manually for free and using the app for a while. There isn’t a way, but you can use the Paypal link above to send a donation.
…
If you’re interested in why we have an entrance fee, here’s the story …
Like many world wonders and national parks, Fairytrail started off free. Anyone could come in, explore, and enjoy. However, when we got to over 3,000 users, scammers started flooding into our world.
Even with 3 levels of fraud detection (we’re up to 7 now), it created heavy load for us and almost every day we received emails from people stating they had interacted with scammers. Some had been led on for weeks. Some felt violated. Some completely gave up on dating. They were heartbreaking emails.
Here are some emails with identifying information redacted that marked the arrival of scammers.
After reading many emails like these, we knew we had to fight back.
So we did what most dating apps won’t do– put up a paywall to fight scammers. Scammers would pay $3 and get disabled the next day (it takes some time for our fraud detection mechanisms to work). It was pretty cool to fight back and take money from scammers.
Soon, we saw a massive reduction in scam accounts being created. Emails like the ones above stopped coming in altogether.
We now have over 99.99% real users (based on fake/bad user reported and internal audits).
But it had a big cost for us too.
When we did this, it reduced our growth rate.
Not all real users want to pay. After all, there are free dating apps out there such as Tinder and Bumble. Some people didn’t trust us. Some people weren’t serious about dating. Some couldn’t afford it.
We were considering other verification systems such as phone number verification when we realized the paywall actually created a much better user experience. Perhaps people would want a dating app that has higher quality, more intentional people.
The truth is a dating app’s greatest asset is its users. A party is great because of the people at the party, and a dating app is great because of its users.
Here’s what we noticed:
1. People saved time and had a better experience.
Although we saw fewer users, we saw higher quality users. Since users paid $3, it meant they valued meeting someone (money talks). They completed their profiles. They intended to meet in person.
Users were wasting less time looking at low quality profiles. By cutting out just 10 low quality profiles, we can save a total of 56 hours for our users.
This created a better overall experience— less time spent swiping per match.
One of my philosophies is life is precious so I hate wasting time. (That’s why we do everything we can to get people on life changing adventures as quickly as possible– things like not showing people who already skipped you, who aren’t active, who have incompatible preferences, etc.)
2. It fostered a respectful, caring culture.
When people paid for something, they valued it more. In Yellowstone National Park, tour guides used to give water away for free. Guess what happened? People wasted it and littered. So tour guides tried charging just 50 cents and people stopped leaving half empty bottles all over the place. Suddenly, people cared.
Tour guides were able to help people change their mindset and behavior to care by charging a nominal amount.
To end toxic dating culture, we can’t think of people as free anymore. And we won’t because we paid a price.
3. It provided a premium experience and choice for consumers.
It feels good to spend money on yourself so you can have a premium experience. It feels great to be in the company of quality people.
Almost all dating apps are free, so there’s very little choice for consumers who want quality over quantity.
Now for the first time, there is a premium dating app so you can meet quality people. And the interesting thing is women are just as willing to pay as men.
Conclusion
Fairytrail is a place for people who are sincere in their quest for love and adventure. 99% of our active users pay the entrance fee and about 1% opt for the manual verification. It currently takes me 2.5 minutes to manually verify each user, so it does take several days for me to get to people. Thank you for your patience if you are opting for manual verification. I read each of my hundreds of daily emails, so no need to follow up unless it’s been a couple weeks.
I don’t believe the battle with scammers is over. They will constantly think of new ways to infiltrate our world and we will continue to fight them. For now, the entrance fee is working both in terms of keeping scammers out by draining their wallets and attracting sincere, quality people.
I care about everyone on Fairytrail and Campfire (our non-dating, social group). It’s a pleasure and honor to build this community together. Please continue to report bad actors and send me feedback, so we can improve your favorite dating and travel matching app. Our app is great because of its people, so thank you for making Fairytrail such a beautiful and kind place.
Recently, we received an email with some constructive feedback from a kind user who was LGBT. She expressed concerns about the queer friendliness of our app.
We’re a really different kind of dating app and there are many things we do that are not orthodox. For example, we monetize on travel bookings (suspended due to covid and Apple). We charge a small entrance fee to keep our community safe from bots and scammers. We humanize online dating by limiting your active matches to 12. We encourage you to explore the world by recommending places and adventures for you and your match to discover together. We are also a friendship-making app.
Some have called Fairytrail the most wholesome dating app ever.
But how are we supporting LGBT and gender fluidity?
Non-binary Genders
Non-binary is used to describe people who feel their gender cannot be defined within the margins of gender binary. They understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman.
On Fairytrail, you can only choose man or woman at the moment. The reason is all users who use Fairytrail must choose a character. Choosing a character ties to a core Fairytrail mission to make dating less superficial. We want to capture and elevate personality in online dating.
It’s impossible to delineate a person who has needs, values, views, traits, preferences, and temperaments (often which are changing) in just an online profile. Even dating for six weeks can only reveal so much.
That’s why most people are so focused on looks because photos can depict it so well. (We made a video about it.)
That said, we are doing better than most dating apps when it comes to making online dating less superficial. We leverage these characters to give insights into someone’s personality and identity.
All characters are mapped to MBTI and Enneagram types. If you don’t know anything about personality MBTI, these archetypes can still give you cues on people’s personality and identity.
We haven’t quite cracked how to do this with fairytale characters yet, and as a startup, we have limited Product, Design, and Engineering resources to tackle this. If this is an area you feel passionate about, please do reach out to us at team@fairytrail.app.
Any help would greatly be appreciated! For example, which characters should we use? What should be the search mapping? Would you be okay with your sexual preferences displayed on your profile?
Alternatively, it would be super fun to create just a non-binary or LGBT version of Fairytrail. We’ve also gotten many requests for us to make a friends only version and a couples version. There are so many traveling couples! Sadly, we haven’t had the resources to work on those either.
LGBT
LGBT describe people’s sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBT includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.
U.S. adults estimate that nearly one in four Americans (23.6%) are gay or lesbian, and the latest 2021 study find an estimated 5.6% of adults in the United States identify as LGBT.
Historically on most dating apps, they ask you what’s your sexual orientation.
On Fairytrail, LGBT sexual preferences are supported behind the scenes.
No need to tell us your sexual orientation. We can easily infer this based on your search preferences and only show you someone who might like you back. For example, if you’re a homosexual female, you would be seen only by homosexual and bisexual females.
Fairytrail Sexual Preferences Matrix
We try to save people’s time, so try to optimize where we can and don’t like explicitly asking for things we can infer.
So we fully support LGBT and if you have suggestions for improving our LGBT friendliness or want to help, please get in touch with us! We’re always looking to improve.
That said, I do recognize there is a liquidity problem for the LGBT user segment. Some of our few 1-star reviews are regarding not getting enough matches as a queer person. We are working hard to grow awareness for Fairytrail. As we get more awareness and users, the smaller 5% LGBT segment will get more matches.
Want to know what people picked for their first virtual dates?
You’re in luck because we have the data! Perhaps these insights could help you next time you suggest or plan a date.
At Fairytrail, we ask users to choose dates before connecting them for fun and to determine compatibility.
Since the pandemic, we’ve added virtual experiences for people to pick as potential first dates. So what do tens of thousands of date matches and mismatches tell us about what singles are looking for in their first virtual dates?
Cute Couple In Italy – Photo Courtesy of SkipWithGrace
1. Both men and women think Italy is the most romantic place the world.
Out of the many virtual experiences and tours offered by Airbnb and Viator, the top 2 were Venice and Rome. Runner ups were Barcelona, Paris, and London.
Most popular virtual tours & adventures on Fairytrail:
All virtual tour prices were $10-20. American locations didn’t make the top quartile.
2. Museum dates are least exciting.
Virtual dates fall into 3 general categories: travel/tours, cooking, and museum. Men and women both prefer travel first. Cooking classes fell in the middle. Least picked were the museum experiences.
3. Older people like museums more.
As age increased, the museum category increased in popularity. For people older than 30, the museum category was in the medium popular segment. For under 30, it was in the least popular segment.
4. Paris is very romantic for women. Not so much for men.
The most polarizing virtual destination was Paris. 15% of women chose it given the chance but only 7% of men. Over 2 times more women than men wanted to go on the Paris experience as a first date. Men preferred places such as Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
5. Young people are more open to virtual experiences.
People under 30 are 75% more likely to choose a virtual date option than people 30 and older. It seems like kids are faster at adopting technology, digital experiences, and new trends than adults are.
6. Introverts are more interested in virtual experiences.
Since everyone chose a character mapped to their Myers Briggs Personality Type , we noticed that introverts had a 56% higher chance of choosing a virtual date over an offline date. This is a good reminder to be considerate of people’s comfort levels and preferences for a first date.
These data were collected over a span of 6 months during the continued COVID-19 pandemic. We hope these psychological insights can help you choose a great first date experience whether it’s virtual or in person. Leave a comment if you have any questions or want us to delve into anything specific.
Big news! We’re the first dating app to offer people the ability to match and go on virtual adventures powered by Airbnb, Walk, and Viator (part of TripAdvisor).
Here’s how it started.
The Coronavirus is lockdown is really getting to me and everyone on the Fairytrail team. Many of us are feeling like we’re going crazy– gaining more weight and developing more anxieties from the lack of social support and interaction.
This is unlike normal remote work conditions. As a remote workers, we could go to to the beach. Hang out with friends. Go out on dates. Go to the gym, fitness classes, and church. Travel.
We’re not alone.
With travel restrictions and shelter-in-place, nearly half of Americans report that the coronavirus crisis is affecting their mental health. And an alarming projection from the national public health group Well Being Trust estimates that 75,000 Americans could die from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide related to COVID-19. “You’re having feelings of isolation and loneliness like you’ve never had before,” says psychologist Dr. Kevin Gilliland.
Virtual travel dates.
Viator launched live virtual tours a few weeks ago as a way to keep travel alive in some way.
At first we were hesitant, but reviews from people who have done it reminded us that travel isn’t just about seeing the site and taking photos. It’s also about the stories, history, meeting people, and experiencing cultures.
Here’s one review from a person who went on a virtual tour:
“This was my first ever virtual tour and I had no idea what to expect. It was essentially a super-interactive conference call with a super host. Lula was very energetic and knowledgeable guide. Although you are just sitting in front of your computer for the whole thing, he kept the experience very engaging and informative. Great value for money and a really nice way to spend an hour.”
– Mairt, Magic of Film Themed Virtual Tour of London
Could this be a novel way for people in lockdown to connect, be entertained, and build a relationship in this challenging time?
These virtual adventures allow us to learn new things, meet people from different cultures, and experience something live and fun with people we like. They start at only $6 and are available worldwide.
So we decided to add it to our app. Video call dates are great, but can just talking all the time can get stale, especially for those who have been talking for weeks.
How our app works.
Single people make a free profile on Fairytrail and match with each other (just like on Tinder or Bumble).
Once users match, Fairytrail recommends different virtual tours to them from Viator and Airbnb based on their profiles. Users aren’t able to talk at this stage. They simply choose the tours they like.
If there’s overlap in the tours picked, Fairytrail connects the users to talk and show them the cheapest matched tour. They can message, video call, and even book the matched tour.
Examples.
Pick adventures from this screen.
When you tap an adventure, you see the details.
We’re excited. Looking forward to you guys trying it out! Let me know your thoughts. Download the app here.
By the way, you can still match on destinations for future travel. We haven’t removed that function.
Today, Covid-19 was officially designated as a pandemic by WHO.
We strongly advise not to travel for your own safety, to minimize the disaster impact, and to be considerate to those who are most vulnerable.
Here’s some basics:
Coronavirus can stay in the air for 30 minutes
People can infect each other from over 14.7 feet (4.5m) away
Coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for 3 days (the flu only survives for 24 hours)
Incubation period is typically 5-14 days but can be up to 27 days
Why do we care?
At Fairytrail, we have been following COVID-19 daily since it started in China. Companies such as Microsoft, Twitter, Google, Warner Brothers, and many others have asked or required their employees to work from home. The world is adjusting to quarantine, and many people are experiencing remote work for the first time.
Most popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel are very old school, connecting people for offline dates which isn’t safe nor healthy in the Coronavirus period.
People are now more isolated and in need of meaningful, loving connections than ever before.
As a startup, we don’t have that much money to donate or pathology expertise, but we do have a video dating product and a social community which helps people with their romantic and social needs.
We’re designed for remote workers, people who are isolated. We allow them to connect with other people in the same situation, so they can develop meaningful connections and loving relationships. Dates happen over video chat.
Fairytrail is a video dating app.
Since the Coronavirus started, we’ve seen a significant reduction in travel. Planes are flying nearly empty. Conferences and festivals cancelled.
We’ve even seen a reduction in our app usage.
This is because many users mistakenly believe they need to be traveling or travel to use the app. This is untrue and probably due our our travel-focused marketing.
Travel is not required to create connections.
Our main value comes from video chat. The truth is users will spend most of their time video chatting with people they like. They may go on 5-10 video chat first dates before they feel enough conviction to start thinking about meeting on a trip together. If and when they meet is completely up to them.
The biggest value we add to people’s lives is to connect them to like-minded people they like but would otherwise never meet.
We allow users to conveniently date from anywhere– living rooms, airports, Ubers, hotel rooms, and conference rooms.
Scheduling and logistics are much easier when you don’t need to commute to the date or wait until you’re in town again. It’s like Netflix, not TV– it works around your life. And it’s free. And it’s safe.
The future.
The Coronavirus pandemic is real and serious.
If you feel alone, isolated– don’t despair. There’s people who are like you out there. There’s no reason why you should have to feel emotionally isolated just because you are physically isolated.
On Jan 4th, 2020, Maggie from New York, NY and Jun Xiang from Sunnyvale, CA traveled to Denver, CO on a Fairytrail Adventure supplied by Airbnb. The Glacier Hike and Geothermal Cave Pools experience was led by Tyler, a local tour guide who started his tour company in 2019. The travel group size was 7 people plus Tyler.
A few words from the adventure leader.
“We arrived at the glacier and the weather couldn’t have been better. This was one of my first tours I carried sleds up to the top of the trail and all the guests seemed to love it. The whole group kept engaging in dialogue. It was one of the best groups I have had.”
— Tyler DeVries, Airbnb Experiences & TripAdvisor travel guide and Owner of Adventure Colorado Tours
The story as told by software engineer and world explorer Maggie Chan.
Part I. Connecting
Jun Xiang was my first match on Fairytrail after liking each other based on our dating profiles and then overlapping on a mutual interest in the adventure package to Quebec City. I broke the ice once the chat option opened up to see how this new app works and started a conversation with Jun Xiang.
We followed the encouraged protocol of setting up a video chat and connected on Facebook Messenger. This new way of approaching online dating was interesting to me and I wanted to see where it would go.
On our first virtual date, I went to a cafe in New York City with my laptop and met Jun Xiang streaming from his bedroom in California.
The first thing that stood out to me when he spoke was his accent. Honestly, it was never something that even crossed my mind going into this experience, so it was a wonderful thing to learn about him before meeting him in person.
I immediately felt like my world was broadening and it was an incredible privilege to be able to connect with a real human being on the other end of the stream.
He looked just as cute as his pictures. I immediately felt like my world was broadening and it was an incredible privilege to be able to connect with a real human being on the other end of the stream. I think this type of exposure to one another was critical in the beginning to form trust and a relationship with Jun Xiang. I felt like it was a good match because we were both on this app with the intent to both travel and date as single adults. You definitely need to be of a certain mindset to be open to this kind of unique experience.
As we began researching what it would cost to travel to Quebec City, we became a bit discouraged when the cost of flights during our mutually available travel time was over $1000 USD for each of us for a flight on such short notice. Fortunately, the creator of the app, Taige Zhang, reached out to us to ask if we had any questions or feedback. When I told him about the issue, he explained that we didn’t have to book the adventure we matched on, and that it is only a suggestion to get the conversation started. He encouraged us to choose any destination that would better fit our constraints.
We decided to narrow down a location within the US that we both wanted to explore. We settled on Denver, CO for an Airbnb Experience package that included a glacier hike, a local pizza stop, and a trip to the local hot spring caves. It sounded like an awesome adventure that neither of us had experienced before. Looking forward to this adventure together gave us both something to bond over and keep in touch about before our trip.
Fairytrail added a level of intentionality that required both parties to be actively involved from the beginning, and connect on a visual/audio/human level before ever meeting in person.
Part II. Previous Online Dating Experience
Prior to trying Fairytrail, I had been using Tinder to browse the local singles during my travels to Asia, and Hinge to find dates in my hometown when I returned to New York City. It was exciting and fun for me to connect with people on these apps, but more often than not, conversations would get stale and interest would wane before we ever settled on a meeting date. Fairytrail added a level of intentionality that required both parties to be actively involved from the beginning, and connect on a visual/audio/human level before ever meeting in person.
A change of pace from the half-hearted swipes on every other dating app that doesn’t prioritize actual human interaction over chats and match stats.
The people you come across on Fairytrail are of a certain mindset, probably very similar to yours: Single, spontaneous, travel-bug-bitten adventurers looking for a new experience with a new travel partner. I love that these connections are two-fold: romantic interest and adventure-based. If the sparks don’t fly with your match, at least you have one person to join you for a new adventure, and possibly a new friend for life. Definitely a change of pace from the half-hearted swipes on every other dating app that doesn’t prioritize actual human interaction over chats and match stats!
Jun Xiang and I chose the most interesting adventure we could find in Denver, Colorado: A hike up a glacier mountain, local Colorado pizza (I didn’t know there was a Colorado style!), and a visit to the hot spring caves.
Part III. Booking The Trip
Fairytrail was the intermediate between Jun Xiang and I for the trip booking experience. Each of us added Travel Money to our Fairytrail accounts to cover a majority of the Airbnb Experience package cost ($120). Fairytrail generously covered the remainder ($30), as we were one of the first couples to reserve a trip through the app.
By putting our funds into Travel Money, Jun Xiang and I each made a financial commitment to our meeting and trip experience.
After each of us deposited the money into our Travel Money accounts, Taige and the Fairytrail team took care of booking the reservation for us. By putting our funds into Travel Money, Jun Xiang and I each made a financial commitment to our meeting and trip experience. This gave us both reassurance that we were both interested and invested in this new unique experience. Jun Xiang even had his airfare booked through Fairytrail while I took care of my own.
Part IV. The Adventure
Our experience on the glacier hike adventure was awesome! We met our tour guide, his sister the designated photographer, his friend who assisted as a driver, and other fellow adventurers at a Whole Foods in downtown Denver. Other people on the trip were a solo female traveler and a mother and daughter.
We briefly got to know each other before breaking up into two cars to make the trip to St. Mary’s Glacier for our hike. There was unexpected traffic and we arrived at our starting place an hour and a half behind schedule. Luckily, none of us had obligations after the scheduled end of our day trip, and we proceeded with the original itinerary.
Our tour guide supplied us with crampons (traction chains with spikes for hiking) for our boots, water and a snack and we set off on a slow and steady paced hike up to the glacier area where a lake was frozen solid. We stopped every few minutes so that everyone could get acclimated to the elevation and not get sick.
Our guide purchased new snow sleds to try, and after we made it to the frozen lake and snapped some photos, some of us climbed a ways up the mountain to sled down and skid freely across the frozen lake.
It was exhilarating! It was definitely a unique experience that I’ve never had before, and quite beautiful to take in the sights. Jun Xiang and I took some fun photos in the snow and enjoyed romping around on the frozen lake.
After the hike, we piled back into the cars and backtracked a bit back towards Denver and stopped in Idaho Springs for Colorado-style pizza (thin bottom but thick and fluffy crust!).
This part was not covered by our adventure package, but was a great break in the itinerary to try the local cuisine. The restaurant was nestled among very cute town shops that we were able to browse for souvenirs before and after our meal.
Jun Xiang and I rode in the same car together and our tour guide was aware that we were on a unique trip together through Fairytrail. When we were separated during the hot springs time, both of us were asked about our experiences using the app to book our trip together! Jun Xiang and I also bonded with other people on the tour and shared our favorite music and hobbies with each other over the car trips and lunch. The time we spent together was very fun and tiring. Being together at the end of the day, we grabbed tacos and drinks and kept our weekend long date going.
It was like we were almost an established couple, partnered up and taking on this new city, positive and open to new experiences and discoveries.
The next day of our trip, we wandered around Downtown Denver on foot to explore the shops, restaurants, and street art on our own. It was like we were almost an established couple, partnered up and taking on this new city, positive and open to new experiences and discoveries. I felt quite close to Jun Xiang and we mutually agreed that we got along very well as travel buddies. My Fairytrail Adventure was definitely worth it!
Part V. The Fairytrail Experience
Prior to going on my Fairytrail Adventure, I shared my plans with some friends who were incredulous but supportive! I’m definitely the more outgoing and adventurous one of some of my friends, so it was exciting to be able to try something new and continue to recommend to my friends!
I feel incredibly lucky to have matched someone like Jun Xiang that I felt very comfortable with and was easily able to build trust with, as we are both honest and straightforward people who also happened to work in different aspects of the same industry. I definitely would not have randomly met him outside of the app, as my typical dating location range is still within my own city, and Jun Xiang lives across the country.
Our hobbies are different but our personalities complement each other. I would encourage any adventurer friends of mine to give Fairytrail a try if they are looking for their next spontaneous trip and are open to meeting a new partner!
These are the magical words of Maggie Chan. If you would like to share your story, contact us.
Tired of underwhelming coffee dates and telling people about how many siblings you have? If you’re frustrated by the limited dating pool in your city, it’s time to shake up your routine by adding adventure and excitement.
Try replacing your usual date script with the unknown— find someone you get along with, and go travel together. Read on to find out what experts have to say about why traveling together can help you find the chemistry you’re looking for.
You Can Uncover Each Other’s Lifestyles, Values, and World Views
Just by choosing an adventure together, you’re already setting yourselves up for success. According to personal development consultant and New York Times bestselling author Mark Manson, it’s important to distinguish between compatibility and chemistry. He says, “Compatibility is about the long-term potential of two people. High compatibility between people comes from similarities in their lifestyles and values.” If you two are traveling together, you already share something hugely important—an interest in seeing the world, in expanding your horizons.
If you two are interested in the same kinds of adventures, all the better. Even by wanting to go on the adventure together, you and your partner have already established some major compatibility.
You Can Feel More Natural And Comfortable Around Each Other Modern Love Editor, Daniel Jones, said in an interview: “My best suggestion for a dating app? Go on a trip abroad, or on a backcountry excursion, with 10 people you don’t know. I bet you’ll fall in love with one of them.” You can avoid the usual awkward pitfalls of dating—lulls in conversation, overly-scripted questions, and the weirdness of not knowing what to do next—by doing something truly exciting together. As dating coach Eric Resnick told Bustle, “Good dates are interactive. Do something where you are both on your feet and moving around together… The point is that you have something to focus on other than the date. This gives you both a chance to breathe and be yourselves. It also provides you with built-in things to talk about if the conversation hits a dead spot.” Traveling together hits all the marks: getting you on your feet, giving you opportunities to be yourself, and offering something exciting to talk about.
Your Excitement Will Spark Chemistry
When you go on adventures together, you’re getting out of your comfort zones and, no innuendo intended, arousing your bodies. Why does that basic, physiological response matter when it comes to building chemistry? According to psychologists, when your blood pressure is up and you’re feeling short of breath, your brain doesn’t always know why. So, if you’re with a partner, and you’re both feeling excited, you and your partner might attribute that excitement to each other. Basically, your brain takes the excitement from whatever you’re doing and turns it into chemistry with the other person.
Photo Courtesy: Grace Chen
So, if you want to feel the sparks flying, do something exciting together. See a new place with gorgeous scenery. Try unfamiliar foods or exotic gourmet. Visit museums and art galleries. If you really want to use psychology to your advantage, get your heart racing. Go climbing or dancing, surfing, or horse riding.
Basically, if you’re looking to really feel a connection with another person, travel is an amazing way to start.
If you don’t want to sift through hundreds of profiles to find someone who is as passionate about travel as you, give the recently launched Fairytrail app a try. It’s a wholesome dating app that lets you match with a traveling partner on a fun, safe adventure.
—
Written by Clara Olshansky
Writer at Travel + Leisure, world traveler, and frequent online dater. After graduating from Yale, Clara taught abroad in two different countries, lived with five different host families, and traveled to 32 towns/cities: 4 in Japan, 17 in Israel, 2 in England, 1 in Germany, 7 in Greece, and 1 in Turkey.
Fairytrail is a travel adventure dating app that connects single travelers on group journeys and activities. Its mission is to help people explore the world’s cultures and places with someone they like.
So what do people love the most about Fairytrail? Here’s a short summary of why travelers love Fairytrail.
1. Biggest EVER Olympic-sized dating pool.
We have one dating market instead of tiny fragmented markets. This means more efficiency and choice. Instead of only being seen in your city, you can be seen in hundreds of other cities in your country, and even other countries! That’s a 30X dating pool increase.
2. Most time savings.
Commuting sucks. Fairytrail lets you video chat from the convenience of where you are. Value your time by vetting your dates before investing in a date. No commute. Plus it’s safer.
3. Save money big time.
Traveling to a first date can be very pricey. Uber can cost $10 each way and drinks around $10. That’s $30 just to see if you like someone.
4. Date while on the road.
Most dating apps are location-based which means you can’t actually go on dates if you’re traveling or always moving. Luckily on Fairytrail, people are open to dating with video chat, so you can date from the hotel, airport, office– anywhere.
5. Find like-minded people.
If you are passionate about travel, curious about other cultures, and want to explore the world, there is no better dating app than Fairytrail. Couchsurfing, Airbnb, and Instagram are pretty cool, but they’re not dating apps.
6. Explore the world without leaving home.
On Fairytrail, you can meet people from other cultures and places without leaving home. It’s like getting that magical human part of travel even when you don’t have time to travel.
7. Dates are more fun.
Have adventures with someone you like. What could be better than that? Make the most of your time and have memorable life experiences instead of forgettable coffee dates.
8. Higher chance for love.
Going on an adventure together lets you spend quality time with the person to determine chemistry and compatibility. Furthermore, going on a journey is a bonding experience, so you’ll have a higher chance of developing a relationship.
9. Be pickier about who you want to meet.
Fairytrail allows you to filter for age, personality, nationality, and more, so you can date who you want, not just who’s down the street. More filters to come! That’s why travelers love Fairytrail.
All our adventures are in groups and lead by professional guides (expect the cruises). It’s safer than being an Uber with just the driver. Plus we’ll verify the identity of you and your match during the booking (just like Airbnb does) and won’t purchase tickets until both parties have paid, so no one is on the hook.
11. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Fairytrail is all about the alignment of user interests with business interests. You want to have amazing adventures/dates. And we’ll do everything we can to help you with that. One dream. No tricks, no fakes because you can’t go on a date with a fake profile. We’ll even help you pick our your best photos. One dream.
12. Gateway to your next adventure.
If you don’t know where to travel or where to live next, this is the perfect app to help you find your next adventure. People are the doors to opportunity. Fairytrail brings the world’s people to your fingertips. Another reason why travelers love Fairytrail.
What matters when it comes to relationships and compatibility is your partner’s identity and personality. We allow people to filter for the Myers Briggs types they’d most like to meet using our fairytale character representations. And nationality because that is highly correlated with a person’s identity.
Conclusion
We hope one of these reasons applies to you.
Our mission is to help people explore the world with someone they like. Our focus is on safety and fun. We value our community which means you .
Fairytrail is a travel adventure dating app that connects single travelers on group journeys and activities. Its mission is to help people explore the world’s cultures and places with someone they like.
My parents met in the university through a mutual friend. My dad had just graduated from the Navy Academy and had started working as a merchant marine. My mom was becoming a medical doctor and doing her residency at the hospital. Both were living in Dalian, China at the time.
After a mutual friend introduced them, they dated for 2 years mostly on the weekends because they were very busy. After meeting each other’s parents and they decided to get married.
My mom had many men chasing after her but chose my dad because he didn’t have any bad habits like smoking, gambling, and drinking. He was well-educated with a master’s degree (which was rare in China at the time and why Chinese people obsess over education now because they saw how education could lift people out of poverty). And lastly, he wasn’t wasteful with his money, which was a value that appealed to my mom.
Their relationship was mostly long-distance even after they got married and had me. He was on the ocean for 6 months at a time and my mom would be busy working and teaching at the hospital. When I was three, my mom left to study in Manchester and Cambridge which made seeing each other even harder. Every few months, she would call home by spending a fistful of her hard-earned golden coins (8x£1) to make a one-minute long-distance phone from the UK to China just to hear our voices. This separation lasted for 3 years.
We were united around the time the Berlin Wall fell.
It was only then when we all truly started living together and seeing each other on a regular basis. Growing up with them, I came to understand how vastly different two people can view travel.
My mom views travel as a positive. To her, it’s exciting. It makes her feel alive. It is what makes living beautiful– to see the world, to explore new places, people, and cultures.
Just take a look at her. I think this picture says it all.
A Photo Of My Mom
My dad, on the other hand, has absolutely no desire to travel. He would always say “pay money to endure hardships.” To him, happiness is to sleep. It’s to lie in bed all day.
There is no right and wrong, just two different perspectives. They both worked really, really hard. My mom had 3 jobs at one time: scientist (9-5), hotel maid (weekends), and overnight caregiver (nights). My dad would collect coals that fell off trains along the railroad tracks after work. So I don’t think it’s a matter of being too tired to travel.
Courtesy: Sarah Anderson
I was thinking about this recently because sometimes people would tell me Fairytrail is stupid. Why should I date someone farther away when there’s people to date near me? To me, that sounds like my dad. Why should I leave this bed of mine when I can be so comfortable AND save money?
Then there’s people like my mom. She sees the world as a gift and something to be experienced and appreciated. I am largely in this camp. When I meet incredible people and have amazing experiences, it makes me feel alive and in love with life. Sure, it’s more effort and cost more money, but isn’t that what makes life beautiful?
We are only on this planet for a while, so for me, I’m going to be kind to people around me and enjoy myself while I’m here. I’m going to appreciate those who love me and cherish all the fragile, beautiful moments that life brings me.
Fairytrail is a travel adventure dating app that connects single travelers on group journeys and activities. Its mission is to help people explore the world’s cultures and places with someone they like.
Why do we have characters from folklore on Fairytrail?
Fairytrail uses widely-recognized characters mapped to Myers Briggs and Enneagram types to help people get a sense of personality before meeting in person. This can help you find compatible travel partners, friends, and even romantic relationships.
1. To elevate personality.
It’s very hard to know what someone is like as a person from their online profile. Who someone chooses as their character on Fairytrail says a lot about their personality and identity. Each character is mapped to MBTI and Enneagram types.
2. To help you understand who you have chemistry with.
Characters also help you understand which personality types you have chemistry with. Had a great interaction with someone? Check their character. Hmm… Robin Hood. Maybe you get along better with people who prioritize doing good.
3. To help you search more effectively.
Many apps let you search for people based on age, ethnicity, etc. but what about the thing that really matters in a relationship, your partner’s essence (identity + personality)? On Fairytrail, you get to search for that.
Who should you choose? Read about our the archetypes we use in our app.
Lastly, we love culture and fairy tale stories are rich in culture.
They are seen across nations and cultures: Native American folklore, Chinese myths, Icelandic legends, African fables, and German fairy tales. At Fairytrail, we are intensely curious about people, places, and cultures. Fairytales, folklore, fables, parables, and stories are what make us human.
Fairytrail is a travel adventure dating app that connects single travelers on group journeys and activities. Its mission is to help people explore the world’s cultures and places with someone they like.
Maybe it’s best if I start with my principles first, then I will talk about why I made a dating app for remote workers and travelers. After all, why anyone does anything in life starts off with their beliefs and world views.
I don’t believe the goal of life is to be happy.
It doesn’t really make sense to optimize for happiness, money, fun, etc. No matter how high you get, you can always get higher. No matter how rich you get, there’s someone richer. The only thing that truly matters at the end of the day is, are you doing what you find meaningful?
Happiness is just a shadow that follows us when we are grateful and have great relationships – I don’t really think about it. Instead, I focus on my values and what gives my life meaning. Because that is what gives me consistent satisfaction and self-fulfillment– there’s nothing better than when your life is consistent with your beliefs.
Chasing meaningfulness is something that may be hard or even painful. But to me, it is much more important than pursuing money or happiness. Fairytrail is meaningful to me.
Here’s why I decided to make it.
1. Our world is beautiful and magical.
Having lived in five countries and countless cities from Winnipeg to London to Shanghai to Berlin to Palo Alto, I am in awe of the world and its people.
Seemingly casual moments like longboarding next to an abandoned church past a crowd of Turkish people and several prostitutes in West Berlin to meet my Chinese-German friends for late-night Turkish tripe soup was truly extraordinary upon reflection.
The world is such a wondrous place. To live in one place all my life feels illogical. Like having a big house but only using one room.
Having walked the streets of Marrakech and lived in Agadir with a Moroccan college student with nothing but two mattresses and a chair in a room next to a goat pen, I learned so much about Muslim people and how their lives can be so vastly different from mine in a beautiful way.
A German girlfriend showed me that in her world, people don’t rinse the detergent off dishes. That also completely blew my mind…
My mission is to help people experience more of the world because it’s the most beautiful thing to me– to see all its wonders, to appreciate all its cultures, and to cherish its fragile moments.
I must say the first time I saw a flying fish from a boat in Greece, I thought it was the most remarkable thing in the world.
Under the desert stars. Photo courtesy of @skipwithgrace
Or maybe it was the night stars in the Sahara Desert and how they seemed to shine brighter than any club I’ve been to in London.
Or the fireflies dancing outside the window of our cottage on the Amalfi coast. Life felt magical. That feeling of awe and wonder is a feeling that I constantly chase.
To explore the world and its people brings me so much joy. For a period of my life, I would only date people who spoke a language I didn’t speak. Maybe I’m greedy to want to experience all that life has to offer. To live life to the fullest. To appreciate our awe-inspiring world.
But chasing happiness, it’s a losing game. What is more meaningful is helping people discover the beauty of our world. To help them feel truly alive and connected.
At the end of the day, I don’t want to just suck out all life has to offer and take all the experiences I can get. I want to give back and contribute to it.
The first movie I saw, Lion King, said that “there’s more to see than can ever be seen” and since that day, I have been lucky to see and experience so much. I want to share that feeling of wonder with the world.
Family Vacation To The Great Wall Of China
Building towards a family and Fairytrail are what gives my life meaning. Exploring the world makes me who I am.
So why build a dating app for remote workers and travelers? Why not just build a travel buddy app, VR travel solution, write a book, or create some travel documentaries?
2. Online dating is a disliked solution to a real human need.
I’ve worked in consumer electronics, social gaming, FinTech, B2B SasS, ride-hailing, marketplaces, on-demand delivery, and health tech. So why something as dirty as dating?
Dating has had a bad reputation. Maybe because like gambling it’s too easy to prey on the needy. So you have all those horrible fake dating apps. Maybe because there’s still this idea you can’t find someone in real life, so you need to turn to the online world.
But that’s fading fast as we turn to online for everything from food to bus schedules to Thai massages, all at a tap or a click.
Online dating is now mainstream. In fact, online is the number one way couples in the USA meet as of 2017. Currently, 39% of new couples first meet online and experts predict that to increase to 70% by 2040.
But dating is still difficult. Ask anyone. Even people who get a bunch of matches need to sift through and find the right person. And the actual dating experience can be emotionally draining, often feeling like a chore.
A loving relationship is a huge human need. Finding the right person isn’t easy. Maybe we’re too picky now in a world with movies from Hollywood, furniture from Scandinavia, songs from Korea, and tomatoes from Spain. Whatever music, food, and goods that we want are available to us. So how can we suddenly be less picky about our partners when we can be so selective about everything else in our lives?
And it’s not a bad thing we have a choice and are pickier.
Because finding a partner is truly an important decision. That person will have more of an impact on your life than any other relationship going forward.
What dating apps do now is great because they expose you to people you otherwise would almost never meet in your city.
But it’s flawed in four painful ways.
1. Diversity: Every city has its own type of people. Do you expect to find the same types of people in Atlanta as Shanghai? They have different world views, beliefs, and values. For example, there are many ethnic groups in New York, yet the vibe of the people tend to be the same. Where can you meet your most compatible partner? Which city would you thrive in? Be the happiest? What if you’re living in the wrong city?
2. Numbers: Did you know that the median population size of the top 300 largest cities in America is only 165,000? The biggest city in Maine only has 66,882 people, which translates to 31 eligible singles (calculation). And only 55% of the world’s population lives in cities. What’s someone who doesn’t even live in a city to do?
3. Experience: Dating apps currently don’t care about your dating experience. They care about getting you matched, not what happens after. They don’t care that guys get stressed about planning dates. Or girls feel like they don’t have a say in what those dates are. And both are frustrated with the laborious coffee date to vet attractiveness, creepiness, and chemistry.
4. Conflict of Interest: Dating apps don’t have your interest in mind. When you want to reply to your potential partner’s messages, you’re shown more matches. An endless queue of beautiful people is waiting to meet you. They want to keep you dating. They want to keep you swiping. Their $6 billion dollars is tied to you being single and using their app. Their interest is keeping you glued to their screens when your interest is to find someone so you can get on with your life and have amazing adventures together.
I want to build a product that addresses these points. Wouldn’t it be better if the dates were more fun and safe? What if you could be exposed to more and different types of people who could show you the world in ways you never knew? What if the dating app’s interest was aligned with yours?
3. People are becoming hyper mobile.
I’ve had long-distance relationships before and many of my friends are currently in healthy long-distance relationships. It always struck me as strange that people do it even though it sucks.
It even seems more common than before. Why is that?
I. Remote and freelance work are on the rise.
“More than one-third (36 percent) of U.S. workers are in the gig economy.”
Think about your Lyft or Uber driver. The designer you hired on Upwork. How easy is it for them to move somewhere else?
Then there’s aspirations to be truly remote. MBO Partners found 38% of Americans with traditional jobs have an interest in becoming a digital nomad in the next 3 years. Already more than 4.8 million American workers describe themselves as digital nomads.
68% of millennials are more interested in a job that can be worked remotely. Google Trends tells a similar story of growing interest in the digital nomad (DN) movement.
III. Political mobility. Immigration is at record levels. In 2017, the USA has an immigration rate 3 times that of the 1970s. Germany more than doubled its immigration rate since the 1990s.
IV. Peace! The world is actually more interconnected and peaceful than ever. See the nice steep decline? That’s where we are!
Source: Our World in Data
There’s a strong need for a dating app for remote workers.
4. People are choosing to date online more. And just more.
Booming Global Travel And Tourism Is Driving Economies And Job Growth – The travel and tourism sector grew more in 2018 than all other economic sectors but one, adding a record $8.8 trillion to the world’s combined Gross Domestic Product – up from $8.3 trillion in 2017 – as well as 319 million new jobs.
That’s why the world needs a dating app for travelers and remote workers.
Conclusion
What does that mean for dating?
We will have more choice in who we date. Just like in almost every industry, we’ve got more choices over the years. Dating won’t be limited to local anymore.
We will have more fun dating. We’ll actually get to explore the world, try new foods, and see new places and cultures– with people who intrigue us.
We will be more interconnected. The world is vastly different but as we meet and date more types of people, people from other cultures, we’ll build bridges to form a more empathetic and unified world.
So that’s why we’re building Fairytrail. We are building an app to help single people meet their partners. We are building an app for people who want to embrace what the world has to offer. We also have a product for couples coming out soon.
Fairytrail Castle. Photo courtesy of @skipwithgrace on Instagram
Our simple mission is to help people explore the world with someone they like.
Life is short, so we don’t think it should be wasted doing the ordinary. Nothing is better than being on a journey with someone you love. Make life and dating special and memorable.
Choose experiences that make you feel alive.
Life holds amazing possibilities. We’re here to help you discover those through new people and world exploration.
Fairytrail is the future of dating. And if we can unite the world along the way by creating caring relationships across countries, creeds, cultures, races, and classes that is something to truly be excited about.
Fairytrail is a travel adventure dating app that connects single travelers on group journeys and activities. Its mission is to help people explore the world’s cultures and places with someone they like.
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