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Author Topic: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?  (Read 2170 times)

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Offline shoot8

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Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« on: December 05, 2015, 12:15:02 AM »
Hi,

I am new here (and still young) and have been reading some trip reports and find them very interesting. Moreover I have been active on some dating sites and have gotten a lot of attention, but usually things fade due to the distance. There is a huge difference between western dating sites and eastern european ones as for attention - but you all know that.

I am not the type of guy who will sign up for a marriage agency, socials in Ukraine or jumping on an airplane to meet 5 girls in 1 week staying in a strange hotel in a strange country. It is too fast paced for me.

For me it is important to travel "with my heart" and don't have the pressure that this indeed is a dating trip with a very determined outcome. I would feel too much pressure.

I have the possibility to do an adventurous roadtrip with my campervan (sleeping in it to save hotel costs). Start in St Petersburg, going South through all the Baltic countries, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and back again - to see the countries and meet the girls.

1. How would you assess such a trip from a security point of view?
2. Will the success rate be low because I have not established contacts on the internet before?
3. Are all the attractive girls in the big cities and small towns are vacuumed because all girls went somewhere else? As you see, I prefer to experience small-town Ukraine or small-town Belarus - must be much more interesting compared to big cities.
4. I have no idea on how to plan such a trip with a slight dating agenda mixed with roadtrip tourism - but staying in a hotel in Odessa preparing for girls every day is certainly not my style.

What is your view on such a trip?

shoot8

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2015, 12:57:49 AM »
I think yours is potentially a great plan! I think you'd be safe in Belarus and Baltics, not so sure about Ukraine and Russia. (I wouldn't dare, but your mileage might vary.)
More attractive / proactive people of both sexes do flock to big cities, those equally attractive who stay in small towns are usually already married while teens.
If you are in your 20ies, why wouldn't you meet people via hobbies and interests you have? (Gaming, collecting of something, music/ movies or whatever it is that you are interested in.) Your advantage is that younger people speak ENglish and are also willing to learn it, you could look for potential language partners before leaving. (Learn some Russian by all means!) If you have 1 or 2 friends who'd travel with you and you generally keep on the safe side, i think it could be an amazing adventure  :)
Best of luck & do keep us posted if you go for it!
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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2015, 01:23:29 AM »
Hi,

I am new here (and still young) and. . . ur view on such a trip?

shoot8

Welcome to RUA

Amusing and interesting.

A number of members have driven to Ukraine and beyond. (They even returned!), I would note that 'small town' girls are still women. They are smart and can sense BS quickly. I wonder about your goals. There is indeed a difference between Western dating sites and those in East Europe. But why do the Eastern European sites attract you?

What are your goals?

My guess more details would help us.

For myself even though there are some grumpy guys present your plan is interesting and I hope you will continue to post.



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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2015, 03:08:39 AM »
Where are you from and where is your campervan from?

The reason for asking is that there are limitations upon what one can do in terms of your desired adventure if one has to import a vehicle from outside Europe. Inside Europe and traveling into the Eurasian continent is much easier.

Fun idea though.
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Offline msmoby

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2015, 09:26:50 AM »
Welcome, shooter 8

I like the idea - did the west coast of USA IN '88 in a camper van...Seattle to Mexican border.. But, I'd be VERY wary of taking a non-FSU registered vehicle into Russia .. if only because you'll likely be stopped by every checkpoint. They are located at the entrance / exit of most towns / cities.

I think you'd learn Russian, quickly

I would consider it - if I had a national with me..  but then, that's your plan  :chuckle:

Good luck
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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2015, 09:30:48 AM »
I have the possibility to do an adventurous roadtrip with my campervan (sleeping in it to save hotel costs). Start in St Petersburg, going South through all the Baltic countries, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and back again - to see the countries and meet the girls.

Its a great idea from a travel point of view, not sure how effective a method it will be to meet women.

1. How would you assess such a trip from a security point of view?

With common sense, you should be OK.

2. Will the success rate be low because I have not established contacts on the internet before?

I would say yes unless you speak Russian.

3. Are all the attractive girls in the big cities and small towns are vacuumed because all girls went somewhere else? As you see, I prefer to experience small-town Ukraine or small-town Belarus - must be much more interesting compared to big cities.

Plenty of attractive women floating around smaller towns too.

4. I have no idea on how to plan such a trip.....

A couple of old topics you may enjoy reading:

Driving in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic's

You can read some of my driving tales (including bribing traffic cops) here: Manny's road  trip report to Estonia. (via Poland, Lithuania & Latvia)

You can also read a little on driving in Russia (not to mention Russian women getting fatter) here: The changing face of Russia – musings and pictures from Togliatti

A few photos of cars we have driven out there can be seen here: American truck On FSU tour

A British guy rode his motorbike from the UK to Ukraine for charity: UK 2 Ukraine and back again by motorbike in 7 days

2012 addition: Road trip from the UK to Estonia - again
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2015, 09:43:29 AM »
Thanks for adding your country of origin!

So, no real problems with running around the place with your camper van.
You'll need to make sure that you are insured and, depending upon where you are going that'll maybe mean buying border insurance in addition to any insurance you have in Denmark.

But that's just minor admin stuff. For USAians it is a nightmare. Bringing a small camper over is not too expensive but the paperwork to enable driving around over here with US plates on is well nigh impossible. I was reading a saga of a bloke from the US planning to bring his combi over from the US. He had it priced up and it was, at face, worth doing. As I recall he ended up in Europe (Netherlands) with documentation to enable him to import it there but he chose to disregard the notion that driving freely around Europe was not an option with the papers he had. I dunno what happened to him after his report of having arrived in the Netherlands...

Will you be making sure that you have contingency plans in place in case of serious breakdown, theft of vehicle and/or contents etc?
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Offline Volshe

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2015, 09:55:00 AM »

Will you be making sure that you have contingency plans in place in case of serious breakdown, theft of vehicle and/or contents etc?

This.

Manny is an angel for sharing all those links, and i think what Andy warns about is really among the main points. Let's hope all is great, fun and safe, but if you go for it, please imagine the worst case scenario: the vehicle has broken or something else happened, far away from a big city...  You must have a plan for that scenario too. (Hope for the best, prepare for worst, as they say) It had happened to my parents, they made it by the skin of their teeth, never mind that both speak Russian close to native's level/ can easily pass as FSU and that they had more than enough money on them.   :duh:
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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2015, 10:10:38 AM »
My car was broken into in Spain, it cost a fortune to repair delayed me by almost two weeks and almost cost me my business.

These days I am ultra careful when driving away from home. The stress and cost of dealing with such an issue outside of one's home area should not be underestimated.

These days I always make sure that, if necessary, I can walk away from the car in case of breakdown, accident etc. Just get on a bus, or hire another car and say sayonara!

But I love having driving adventures when I have time and opportunity so I say, as long as all the ducks are in a row then, go for it!
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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2015, 10:28:04 AM »
Hi,

I am new here (and still young) and have been reading some trip reports and find them very interesting. Moreover I have been active on some dating sites and have gotten a lot of attention, but usually things fade due to the distance. There is a huge difference between western dating sites and eastern european ones as for attention - but you all know that.

I am not the type of guy who will sign up for a marriage agency, socials in Ukraine or jumping on an airplane to meet 5 girls in 1 week staying in a strange hotel in a strange country. It is too fast paced for me.

For me it is important to travel "with my heart" and don't have the pressure that this indeed is a dating trip with a very determined outcome. I would feel too much pressure.

I have the possibility to do an adventurous roadtrip with my campervan (sleeping in it to save hotel costs). Start in St Petersburg, going South through all the Baltic countries, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and back again - to see the countries and meet the girls.

1. How would you assess such a trip from a security point of view?
2. Will the success rate be low because I have not established contacts on the internet before?
3. Are all the attractive girls in the big cities and small towns are vacuumed because all girls went somewhere else? As you see, I prefer to experience small-town Ukraine or small-town Belarus - must be much more interesting compared to big cities.
4. I have no idea on how to plan such a trip with a slight dating agenda mixed with roadtrip tourism - but staying in a hotel in Odessa preparing for girls every day is certainly not my style.

What is your view on such a trip?

shoot8

Driving in the Eastern countries is much, much different from Western Europe.

I drove through Ukraine twice, look up my tripreport to evpatoria in my signature.

I wouldn't recommend doing it , unless you are very comfertable in busy traffic of super-cities (traffic-wise) like Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid...

Amsterdam especially comes to mind, because of the heavy biking/pedestrian traffic that do not take any road-rules into account.

Mark.
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My road trip to Crimea: Roadtrip to Evpatoria

Offline Volshe

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2015, 10:43:34 AM »
My car was broken into in Spain, it cost a fortune to repair delayed me by almost two weeks and almost cost me my business.

These days I am ultra careful when driving away from home. The stress and cost of dealing with such an issue outside of one's home area should not be underestimated.

These days I always make sure that, if necessary, I can walk away from the car in case of breakdown, accident etc. Just get on a bus, or hire another car and say sayonara!

But I love having driving adventures when I have time and opportunity so I say, as long as all the ducks are in a row then, go for it!

+ 100

Have i mentioned to you that couple, friends of mine from UK who travel like that across the Europe? (I mean, if i did, it could be in context that he's a famous poet and she is a known collector... Anyway,) they stayed with me here for some time - at my home of course, but normally they sleep in their mobile home. It's the first time i saw something like that in real life, (it's not common in Eastern Europe) was quite impressed. Also, turns out they can't park just anywhere (i mean, it's logical, it's that i haven't given it a thought beforehand), in Podgorica they could leave the vehicle at the airport. What they paid for parking, was more or less the price per day for a flat, had they rented it. (They travel like that for the sake of it, not for budget concerns, so it didn't matter, but it's one of the things that i guess should be checked in advance.)
They had me here, so had something happened, i would have found a way to help them, but i wouldn't want to imagine something went wrong, people don't speak the local language and don't have friends they can ask for help... Mind you, Monte is tiny, safe and tourist-friendly. From the cousin/neighbor who owns the rent-a-car i know in what kinds of crazy situations tourists find themselves, in the summer he and sis-in-law don't sleep most of the nights because they have to run to the rescue of some of the clients  (:)
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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2015, 10:53:40 AM »
For USAians it is a nightmare. Bringing a small camper over is not too expensive but the paperwork to enable driving around over here with US plates on is well nigh impossible.

Actually, not so much. There is a straightforward process or importing vehicles temporarily from the US, and one can use US plates. The difficulty arises with motorhomes from the US that due to the size and gross weight and towing capability of some of them, they are regarded as HGV's (trucks basically). And if the owner isn't licensed to drive trucks, the vehicle he is licensed to drive in the US he cannot drive in Europe.

I am licensed only up to 7.5 tons gross weight, I was looking into hiring one of the snazzy American motor homes a while back to do a Europe tour. But the rental was astronomical.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2015, 11:51:35 AM »
Yes, you are right. I found the original link, it might be worth a read for shoot8 even though he is European, just some things to think about in the context of his peregrinations around parts not EU. CLICK HERE!

As it turned out it was visa issues that were the sticking point for the bloke. He was having problems with understanding how Schengen worked. Forgive me, it was years ago that I read the piece. ;)
And the bugger never finished his story!

Shoot8 is going to need to set up some form of schedule for his drive if he is crossing borders so that he will be visa'd up, yes? No worries in the EU, but elsewhere?

By the way, can I perhaps suggest that shoot8 think about tinting the windows on the van. It is going to be very hard to keep all your goodies out of sight and thus the vehicle is going to be thief bait. Tinting won't make a lot of difference but it will render the interior slightly less obvious and give a little extra privacy - I guess there's blinds or similar for night time use?
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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #13 on: December 05, 2015, 01:53:25 PM »
There is a book titled "Travels in Siberia"  written by Ian Frazier.

He described cross country trips by car about ten years ago. You might pick up some interesting insights.
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Offline Borsch

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #14 on: December 19, 2015, 02:43:24 AM »
Camper van and meeting girls can't go in the same sentence  :chuckle:

I'd say the only girls who wouldn't care about that are those that travel on a budget like girls staying at hostels - primarily from Western Europe.

Assuming you can meet girls normally, I think the conversation will go south very quickly as soon as you mention where you are staying lol. It would make you seem poor/low social status which is undesirable. They'd probably even think you were sleeping in the back of a car  ;D

If you already had a girl and she was open to travelling around Europe in a camper van then that's a different story altogether.

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Re: Dating: Campervan roadtrip through Eastern Europe?
« Reply #15 on: December 23, 2015, 02:55:39 AM »
Camper van and meeting girls can't go in the same sentence  :chuckle:

I'd say the only girls who wouldn't care about that are those that travel on a budget like girls staying at hostels - primarily from Western Europe.

Assuming you can meet girls normally, I think the conversation will go south very quickly as soon as you mention where you are staying lol. It would make you seem poor/low social status which is undesirable. They'd probably even think you were sleeping in the back of a car  ;D

If you already had a girl and she was open to travelling around Europe in a camper van then that's a different story altogether.

I agree with that , a great idea and would be a great experience. But the minute you tell any girl where your staying "She's gone"  :laugh:
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