Most people would love nothing more than to quit their jobs and travel the world, but they simply lack the courage, and most importantly, the funds to do so. A young woman from Alabama has managed to do it though, by meeting rich men on the internet and having them pay for dates in some of the most exotic places on Earth. She’s now in a serious relationship with one of them, and he might just turn out to be ‘the one’.

It all started in December 2014, when 25-year-old Monica Lynn decided that her life was too boring and lacked adventure. So she quit her high-flying job as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch in order to find something more interesting. Soon, she stumbled upon MissTravel, a website where people search for partners to go on holidays with.

“I came across Miss Travel in an article about weird websites,” Lynn explained. “I thought, ‘Yes, that sounds weird – but also kinda cool. This website attracts very successful men who don’t have the time to date in the normal way, so this allows them to accelerate the whole thing. They’re going on trips anyway, and they can afford to search through profiles and afford to bring one they like with them.”

Lynn claims that she did have reservations about the whole thing initially, but she signed up anyway and started chatting with a few guys. Within a month, she met a 31-year-old managing director who took her on a week-long holiday to Barbados in February 2015. He paid for everything – her flights, stay at a five-star resort, cocktails, and even gave her gifts including silver jewellery.

Lynn realises that people might get the wrong idea, but she explained that it’s just like regular dating, except in an exotic location. She stressed that there’s no pressure or expectation that she would have to sleep with her sponsors on these trips. “That depends on the person and how you behave,” she said. “It’s like any other dating website, it’s just there’s lots of travelling involved.”

In any case, she’s actually only dated three men, even though she’s been to nine different countries. There was no sexual connection with the first guy – they became friends and are still in touch. “It wasn’t awkward – it was just like a regular date which didn’t really sizzle, except you were on a Caribbean island. We had fun but there was no sexual connection.” she said.

The second person Lynn dated was a man who took her to San Francisco, but again, there was no spark. Things were different the third time though, with the guy who flew her to Italy for a date. “He’s Italian, he’s 28, and really gorgeous,” she said. “He runs several successful online businesses, and also works in import and export. We had a connection before we even met, and that continued.”

Since then, she’s been on seven holidays with the same man to various exotic locations, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Mexico, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Costa Rica. They’re now in a committed relationship and have decided not to use MissTravel any more. “After about six weeks, we decided to be exclusive to each other,” Lynn said. “My lifestyle hasn’t changed, though. Any time he goes on a trip now, he invites me. The way I see it, I found a guy I’m really serious about through online dating – with a lot of travel.”

Naturally, Lynn’s mother was concerned about her plans to go on holidays with strangers. But Lynn was thorough with background checks, and now that she’s in a serious relationship, her mom is happy for her. “She even makes comments about when me and ‘the Italian’ are going to tie the knot,” she said.

Lynn really hopes the relationship will work out, but if it doesn’t, going back to regular dating would not be an option because she’s already had a taste of ‘dating on steroids’. “Dating is dating, and there’s nothing wrong with a guy taking you to the cinema,” she said. “But if I end up single again, I won’t be dating any other way. Traditional dates would just be too boring for me now.”

“Without MissTravel, it would have taken me five to 10 years of working to do all the things I’ve done in this year alone,” said Lynn, who now works for a mobile startup in the time between trips. “Before I found this site, I’d never been outside the US and now my passport is starting to get full – it’s opened up the whole world to me.”

Photos: Monica Lynn/Miss Travel

Sources: The Mirror, Daily Mail