Being single as an expat in a foreign land can be a time of fun and joy.
You have the freedom to do many different activities on this special day to make it less lonely and more enjoyable. Here are some suggestions for activities just for you on the special day that commemorates love.
Go out with friends
The easiest and most fun activity is to gather some single friends – expats and locals – for a meal, drinks, or even a romantic comedy movie to celebrate the love of friendship.
Valentine’s Day is hard for some singles so you may not be the only one dreading this day. Buy a rose for all your single female friends and you can take joy in seeing their faces light up with happy smiles. A gathering with friends is a guaranteed good time and who knows, you may meet “the one” since love is in the air!
Join the expat community
Find out from fellow expats in your circle if there is a local expat community in your city. Alternatively, log on to internations.org to search for fellow expats in your city. Joining an expat community has its benefits. You will have friends who have been in the country long enough to have contacts for every possible issue you may face. For example, your expat community may know lawyers to help you out should you face immigration issues or the number of a good plumber should you need one.
The main reason to find the local expat community before Valentine’s Day is that the expat community may have a Valentine’s Day special activity organised which you can take part in. You can make more new friends and maybe even find love. Sometimes, you may meet someone from your home country and you will not feel so alone; this person can relate to you when you speak about your home. Frankly, there are endless benefits when you connect with your expat community.
Go on a blind date
For the brave and adventurous, you can try to find a date for Valentine’s Day via matchmaking sites. Somewhere out there, a lonely soul will be so overjoyed to have a date on Valentine’s Day, and so will you.
Of course, it’s important to take all safety precautions and to inform a friend to call you about 30 mins or so into the date to signal if you need to be rescued should you sense any red flags about your date. Have a safe word between you and your friend so that he or she will know to come to pick you up.
Having said that, please use this rescue card only if you feel threatened and frightened by your date and not because your date does not look as perfect as you hoped. Remember that if you bail out on this poor soul, he or she will be spending Valentine’s Day alone and being dumped or stood up on Valentine’s Day itself would cause the person to feel unworthy of love.
Video call loved ones and send them flowers and chocolates
You may be away in a foreign land, but that shouldn’t stop you from video calling your family and close friends on this special day. Technology also makes it highly convenient to order flowers and chocolates online and have them delivered to your loved ones on this special day. Connecting with your friends and family will give you a warm fuzzy feeling when you realise you have your own tribe that loves and cherishes you despite being physically distant.
Bring yourself on Valentine’s Day date
You must love and accept yourself before you can love others, so what better way to show your love for yourself than by taking yourself on a date on Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget to buy a present for yourself simply because you are special and deserve it!
You can watch the sunset and then have a nice meal. Do be sure to make a reservation as restaurants tend to be fully booked on Valentine’s Day. If all the restaurants are full, you can stay in the comfort of home and cook your own special meal or order take out and eat it while watching your favourite movie.
If you want to make the day more special, you can book a hotel room to get away from home and chill in luxury.
Love catalyst
With this, I hope that my suggestions of activities will be the catalyst to bring love and happiness to your Valentine’s Day this year. Happy Valentine’s Day!