When it comes to online dating, everyone likes to take things at their own pace.
There’s the couples who prefer to message all day every day for a month, compare their star sign compatibility and memorise their prospective partner’s grandmother’s maiden name before meeting up for a date and y’know, probably never seeing each other again.
Then on the other hand, you’ve got the fast-movers who’ve barely even gotten in a ‘Hi, how are you?’ before asking you out for a drink that very same night.
And then, last but not least, you’ve got the people who just have to take it that one step further and, erm, book a holiday with their prospective date without ever having met them.
Okay, yeah, that last group of people is pretty niche, but that’s exactly what one fella on Twitter has done, with a help of a £99 surprise destination Wowcher holiday for two.
Student Ben Windle got chatting to Emily on Bumble on Sunday, and within two messages she was asking him ‘When’s the date then hun?’ You’re in there, Ben, lad.
Presumably kidding, the 22-year-old replied ‘I’m driving past Gatwick tonight, get ready,’ before Emily told him ‘Gatwick airport south terminal 4.10pm,’ adding, ‘Be there or be square.’
Being the all-round wild child that he is, Ben told UNILAD, ‘I’m the kind of person that would actually book a flight somewhere with a random person on Twitter.’
‘Let’s do it. Where we going? Paris? Italy? New York?’ she asked him, adding ‘I have options so be quick.’
After a bit of back and forth and some very questionable banter, Ben booked one of Wowcher’s £99 surprise holidays for two, in which you can be sent pretty much anywhere, from Blackpool to Bali.
When asked if he’s ever done anything like this before, Ben told UNILAD:
Yeah, I quite like to do things by extremes as it’s exciting.
Things took a bit of a turn when Emily didn’t respond for 24 hours after Ben booked the trip, but fortunately she replied asking ‘When we going?’, suggesting she was still up for the trip.
It was then the happy couple decided to take their relationship to the next level and swap numbers because y’know, they might need to get in contact to arrange meeting at the airport.
Ben told UNILAD they’ve since had a video call together, adding, ‘I think she’s up for going!’
The pair are yet to be given their surprise destination from Wowcher, but they could even be jetting off to the likes of New York, Dubai, Las Vegas or Thailand.
Keep us updated on your trip, yeah guys?
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.