Solo Traveler Hacks Dating Apps for Travel Tips, Accidentally Makes 50 New Virtual Friends

KEY POINTS

•Ilze Vītola uses dating app Hinge to crowdsource travel tips from locals before her trips.
•While in Kadıköy, Istanbul, she received recommendations from more than 50 locals within an hour.
•She applies usual dating safety measures and often keeps interactions on the app or as Instagram friendships.

Ilze Vītola, mastering the art of solo travel like a pro Tinder anthropologist, uses Hinge not to find love but to crowdsource glowing local tips. Before her Istanbul trip, she set her location to Kadıköy and within an hour gathered over 50 locals eager to pitch their favorite food spots, parks, and hidden gems — all without a single awkward rendezvous unless she felt like it. Her profile cleverly asks for 'best cocktails' and 'favorite food spots,' like a digital Yelp powered by dudes and dudettes who happen to know a guy with a secret bar crawl. Remaining cautious, Ilze follows dating safety rules and often keeps these flings virtual or Instagram-friendly, scoring discounts and party invites instead of heartbreaks. It’s like Tinder meets Tripadvisor, except with fewer fake reviews and more real-life hangouts — or at least, the promise of them.