You're listening to lifekit from NPR.
Hey, everybody, it's Marielle.
If you've ever done online dating, you know that it can be exhausting.
The endless swiping, the conversations that go nowhere, the weird interactions where it feels like somebody's just on a different planet than you.
Like you've exchanged two messages and suddenly they're sending you naked pics.
Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of really vibing with somebody on the app and then getting to the date.
And it's just nothing.
Nothing there.
It can make you want to stop dating entirely.
But there is another option.
It may not seem like it, but you can meet people to date in person.
If the apps are not feeling good anymore, then I would suggest folks like, all right, let's try other ways that do feel good for you.
Jada Suwanese is a sexuality and relationship educator now.
Dating offline is a mindset shift.
You don't instantly get the information that you would from someone's online profile, like whether they're available or interested in your gender or what kind of romantic connections.
They'Re seeking in the offline space.
It's often a little bit challenging to know if someone wants to be approached or if someone is looking for that type of connection.
But that's not an insurmountable challenge.
It just makes dating offline more of a long game.
When we're dating offline, it's just how do we open up all these different avenues of people coming into my life?