However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. When I discuss such matters over Sunday lunches with my astrological twin i. Then I do another dating app detox. Yeah, I download them again. For a lot of usβsingle and nonmonogamous, business travelers and solo backpackers, swinging couples of all generationsβdating apps have become the digital tools we use, reluctantly or eagerly, to connect with people while traveling.
Sure, holiday hookups and the potential partners you could meet abroad remain big draws. But the apps have introduced users to fleeting travel encounters too. The evolving landscape of dating apps continues to influence travel behaviors. But the hope for serendipitous connection also comes with the frustrating baggage many users report on the apps: concerns about addictive and time-draining user-experience designs, the drag on our mental health, and the real risks of scams and danger.
As soon as smartphones took over the world in the s, upstart dating platforms began fundamentally reshaping how certain demographics of travelers explore the world. It all started with the humble hookup app. When Grindr debuted on the iOS App Store in , it became the first successful GPS-enabled dating app; it put a virtual gay bar into any willing pocket.
Four years later, straight people began doing it too: Tinder launched in , and lo, dating apps and hookup culture fully entered the mainstream. By , Tinder was processing a billion swipes a day. A crop of competing apps made it easier to connect with strangers nearbyβBumble, Hinge, Scruff, and the rest of themβand travelers began logging on as soon as they touched down. As the apps influenced how we met people on our trips, travelers in return influenced the apps, which tracked the growing number of millennials who were swiping their way around the world.
By the early s, most major apps had some premium travel features locked behind a paywall. According to representatives of several apps, swiping on the road has become an established norm for a significant share of users, whether via freemium or premium features.
