Want To Get Laid On Your Travels?

In some towns a lot of locals seem to hang out at popular tourist bars. When I lived in Prague there were some Czech girls that could always be found at the places most English-speaking ex-pats and tourists went to. The locals that visit mainly tourist bars are usually quite interested in meeting foreigners, so it is easy to get to know them. Their motives vary. Some are interested in getting to know people from a different country, since they might not have the opportunity to travel themselves, they might want to learn about different cultures this way. Or they might have been abroad and now want to keep in touch with the culture of the country they have been to by specifically seeking out people from there. Maybe they also want to practice their English.

In some cases it might be specifically about sex. In countries where they are seen as "exotic" due to their looks, some women might complain that it becomes annoying to be hit on constantly. Of course not everything we might interpret as a come-on in our country really is the same in another country. A friend of mine complained about how sleazy the men in Romania were. I was confused: While I had been whistled after and hit on there a few times, not always by someone I was interested in myself, I hadn't noticed anything that I would see as annoying. It is possible that she met different men than I did; or maybe I don't seem as interesting as her – though I don't want to think so. On my next travels to Romania I gave some attention to the issue, and realized that I did get a lot of compliments that could be seen as flirty, especially from older men – but I had just put it down to being a different behaviour due to a different culture. In Germany, where I am from, people tend to be quite distant, and it can be rude to say certain things to someone you barely know – these same things elsewhere can be part of normal social interaction. It works both ways of course, so once again, you should know at least some things about local customs when abroad in order to not appear too forward or too reserved.

Still, I must admit there are places, where the constant whistles a woman travelling by herself can get, start to be annoying. For such cases, a few phrases in the local language might help to get rid of unwanted attention, though sometimes it is preferable to not say anything, but rather just ignore them. Of course, the usual precautions apply not only for women, and not only for those that look like obvious foreigners: Don't be too trusting of people you just met, and don't walk around alone at night in lonely or dodgy areas.

Unfortunately, sometimes the motives of locals hanging out in the typical tourist bars might not be what you want, though: In Peru these people are often referred to as "Bridgeros" from the English word "bridge" – they are trying to build themselves a bridge into your wallet or into your country. This doesn't mean you should be suspicious of everyone. You should just be aware of this fact and have an eye on your belongings (and on your drink!) when with people you don't know well – this is true in fact also for when you are with fellow travelers.

In general, I find the topic of "Bridgeros" to be quite a mine field. There are people, who will pretend to be in love, in order to get married abroad. Is that bad? A friend of my family brought home a girl from his travels, he was happy to finally have found love, and half a year later she was gone: with a different guy she met here. However, this happens all the time, also when someone didn't follow someone else to their country. Often there are true feelings, though the passport you carry might help them. In such a case, is it bad? And of course, far from everybody dreams to move to your country. Suspecting these motives whenever a vacation flirt becomes more serious would do a lot of people injustice. If, however, a vacation flirt is all you are after, it is good to make it clear.

Typical tourist hang-outs aren't the only places to meet locals, though. Just be aware that the more you move out of the zone where there are more foreigners than inhabitants of the country you are in, the more you are on their ground and should behave according to their rules. That can be part of the cultural experience. Some of the greatest events of my travels where when local friends took me along to parties – I had a chance to see the local culture from up close, and on some occasions met a lot of people who had never spoken to a foreigner before, and thus had genuine interest in speaking to me.

Advantages

Having a one night stand, a holiday flirt, or a long term relationship with someone from a different culture can be an interesting experience that could help you see your own culture in a different light as well. It is, somehow, something special, at least to me. I must admit I am a bit of a rare case in that I have been with more people that were not from my country than with those that were – though I met not all of them while travelling. Somehow, there is a special kick to having sex with someone "exotic" (though one should be careful with that term, maybe, after all exotic is a very vague concept).

You, in turn, can also be "exotic" to the people you meet on your travels – and that could make them more interested in you. At home you might look like everyone else (of course everyone looks different, but you know what I mean), but just what makes you so normal at home could be seen as different and sexy abroad. Of course this doesn't mean going abroad will make everyone drool over you, but being a foreigner can give you some extra points, though this varies a lot depending on the country you are in and on whom you talk to.

If you are at your travel destination for a longer time, chances are the girl or guy you met there will be there during that time too – unlike another tourist, who might leave a lot earlier than you to go home or travel on.

Disadvantages

Even so, there will come a time when you have to say good bye. If all you wanted was a one night stand, this will be no problem. If, however, your adventure became something deeper, this might be very painful. Having stayed in various countries for extended amounts of time, I had to go through this process more than once, and more than once I was tempted to let everything be and just stay. I never did, though instead I cried the whole flight and then some more on the lonely evenings in Germany, where it always seems to be cold and rainy anyway...

The danger of misunderstandings due to different cultural background is of course higher. And maybe you don't even speak the same language. So maybe you are very sure you made it clear you don't want more than a fling – but has the other one really understood? The rules around dating and sex-etiquette can vary even within the same country depending on your circle of friends, or from city to countryside, or from more to less conservative background. That's even truer when it comes to other countries.

Conclusions

Combining sex and travel is fun. You are on vacation, you want to have a great time, so why not. However, don't set your mind onto that you must have sex on your vacation. Don't plan your travels around it – if it doesn't work out you might be quite disappointed. Instead, just have fun.

Now, you might ask, but where are the most beautiful women? And where are the best looking men?

You can probably already guess my answer – nowhere and everywhere. I am not a big fan of this question, because it is bound to stir feelings of national pride (yes, quite a few countries pride themselves with having the "most beautiful women"), jealousy, and rejection...

In the end, beauty is a matter of taste, and if you are into blondes you might prefer Swedish women or men to those from Brazil, but someone else might be of a completely different opinion. And in the end each of them might find the most beautiful person in the world in the country they least expected them in.