Travel to meet a Ukrainian woman

by Gary
(Boston, MA)

I was curious to know how best to reach a Ukrainian woman who doesn't live right in Kiev. I know very little Russian or Ukrainian (a la West Ukraine) but can learn some phrases or bring a translation guide with me. My fear is I'd be an easy target for those in that country who might do me harm (police harassment and bribes, pickpockets, etc.).

If I'm willing to fly 14 hours (with 1 or 2 stops) from the USA to Kiev, would it be a hardship (or would it cause offense) if I asked the woman to travel to meet me in Kiev to make things easier? Or at least pick me up in Kiev and bring me to her town/city? I hear traveling within Ukraine can be problematic and my dearth of knowledge of the language would likely be an issue.

Of course, knowing the woman for 2-3 months via Skype and having a connection with her, I would reimburse her all travel expenses and would pay for her hotel accommodations. Thoughts?


Bob's Answer:

Unless you've been to Russia, Ukraine, or at least Eastern Europe a few times you're going to need HELP, for sure.

The best answer to your question depends heavily on the nature of the relationship with this girl and the city where she lives. If this is someone with whom you've had lots of contact via Skype for 2-3 months, then either option you suggest shouldn't be considered inappropriate (have your meeting in Kiev, or have her at least meet you in Kiev and escort you back to her city). And in many cases a girl from a small town would prefer to meet in Kiev because there is so much more to do there.

The challenge to this approach is the reimbursement for her travel. It is possible that the travel costs - depending on the mode of travel - could be more than she could front. And it's not a good idea to wire her cash in advance for her travel. AND, you have to manage all that without coming off like you don't trust her. Of course if you REALLY trust her, AND/OR you're OK with losing any cash you send in advance in the event that she doesn't show up, then it's simple... send cash in advance to cover her travel to Kiev. But don't say I didn't warn you :)

Other than that... The best answer to this question could depend on her city. If you want to add a comment to this post letting me know her city I will try to refine it a little.

If she lives in a city with an airport serviced by Ukraine International Airlines or Aeroflot (click links and browse for lists of cities they service), that's easiest -- you just book online her round trip ticket to Kiev for her. I doubt that her round trip airfare to Kiev would be more than $200.

If she doesn't live in a city with an airport, it's a little trickier. On the one hand she can probably get to Kiev by train for less than $20, which she could pay and wait for reimbursement, but those trains are UNBELIEVABLY SLOW. Like Kharkov to Kiev is 240 miles and takes around NINE HOURS by train. So asking her to travel by train to meet you is asking quite a lot.

But one thought comes to mind. On a trip to Poltava Ukraine (which does not have an airport) I did a few years ago, the agency sent a representative in a taxi to get me and bring me back to Poltava. It was 3 hours each way by taxi (180 miles each way), and two trips (one to get me when I arrived, one to bring me back to the airport when I departed) cost around $250. I just emailed the agency to verify those numbers and I'll post a follow up comment if my memory was incorrect.

But you can use those rates to guess what a reasonable taxi charge would be and just have her take a taxi... either to come stay in Kiev or to pick you up to bring back to her city. The taxi driver won't be charging her till she gets there, so you can pay the driver yourself.

Does that help?

For follow up questions or comments, just add a comment to this post and I'll answer there.

Comments for Travel to meet a Ukrainian woman

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meet her
by: Dale

At this point still question her motives, but do not let her know this.

You should never send money, but you could go to Kiev after having send her about $50 to $100 for train travel, and taxi to train station, and small needs for the trip. IF she does not show, then it was a cheap way to find out her true nature. If she asks for additional money, drop her. If she says she needs hundreds of dollars because she is in the war zone and the trains do not work there (a new scam being used now), then drop her.

Since you will not know if she is coming until you get to Kiev, have plan B available.
I have found that any nice girl will take the train to meet you regardless of the city.
Oh yeah, definitely have a Plan B...
by: Bob (Site Owner)

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that... but definitely have a Plan B as Dale says!

And in Kiev that's pretty easy... Daisy Bride (http://daisybride.com) is an agency there that definitely provide a great Plan B... For a little more than the price of a cheap hotel there you can get their tour package which includes an apartment near Independence Square, airport shuttle, and unlimited introductions. If your girl shows up as you hope and all goes according to Plan A, the apartment and airport shuttle are still worth the price you pay. And the piece of mind knowing that you have the unlimited intros available to you in the event that Plan A bombs out is priceless.

FYI: Daisy Bride doesn't pay me! (they should, but they don't :)
Thanks
by: Gary

Bob and Dale:

Thanks for this site. Very informative. I'll likely be utilizing your services as I move further through the process. Right now I'm just getting my feet wet but I'm loving the experience thus far.

I didn't have a particular woman or city in mind as my question was more general in nature. On the sites I have been perusing, most women seem to be from central and eastern Ukraine. I have seen some in western Ukraine but seemingly not as many.

So if I'm hearing you right, Bob, a viable approach is to set up a tour through Daisy Brides, let them make the arrangements (apartment, airport shuttle, etc. - all I need to do is bring myself and my passport) with the intention of seeing that one special woman I met through correspondence (ex. Elena's Models, Ukrainian Date).

If she craps out on me, Daisy Brides can set me up with numerous dates and I can meet new women on the fly and see if there is a connection with any of them. If I do find a connection with a lovely woman through Daisy Brides (should the need arise), I have the benefit of getting that first face-to-face meeting out of the way. Am I understanding you correctly? It sounds viable to me, it gets me to Kiev and I eliminate all my insecurities about being in a foreign country where I don't know the language. I know. I'm pathetic. I admit it.

However, I really am a nice guy and would pamper a Ukrainian woman (flowers, gifts (small ones at first), open doors for her, etc.). I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school my whole life. It's ingrained in me now.

As for getting my lady to me from another city, one option you suggest (IF she's in a city without an airport like Poltava and IF her city is within a couple of hours of Kiev) is to work through my agency and have a taxi transport her round trip instead of a train. When you say 'agency', does Daisy Brides handle such an accommodation (taxi arrangement)? Is that the agency you were referring to? I just hope the taxi ride isn't too uncomfortable for the lady. I want her as comfortable as possible and in the best possible mood when she arrives in Kiev.

For cities too far for a taxi trip, I'll focus my attention on those with an airport serviced by the airlines you mention for convenience. I am not sure if cities like Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, etc. all have airports. If Poltava doesn't, I suspect they won't either but I'll check. Lviv has an airport so I could arrange a flight for her from that city easy enough.

Again, guys, thanks for the guidance and I suspect I will be setting up a consultation(s) as things progress. Happy holidays to you both!
You're Welcome
by: Bob (Site Owner)

Hi Gary

You're welcome! It's kind of funny... reading your questions makes me think I'm reading exactly what I would have been asking when I started this... You're very thorough and organized :)

Yes, I think you correctly understand our "Plan B" suggestion. Daisy Bride's tour package solves MANY logistics challenges. I would also suspect that they would be able to arrange for ground transport for a lady to get to Kiev.

Daisy Bride is not the agency that arranged my trip to Poltava. An equivalent agency in Poltava took care of all my tour needs for that trip, but that agency (no longer in business) was just like Daisy Bride... all part of that now-defunct Angelika Network.

I do have an additional thought for you in light of some new information in your comment: Although limiting your search to Ukraine is reasonable enough, I think further limiting your search only to cities with airports or within taxi range is a little too restrictive. Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding the numbers game a little harder than it used to be, so you really shouldn't make it that much harder.

I'd say start searching, and if you find that "one" that really clicks, and with whom you're really comfortable, THEN worry more about logistics. AND, if you get to that level of comfort, most likely you'll trust the girl enough to help with accommodations, and you'll be more comfortable even sending some money in advance of your trip.

If you haven't read elsewhere on this site, I met my Russian ex wife (before she was "ex") online, and after four months of 3-5 days/week speaking on Skype video, I traveled to meet her. But after that amount of time of frequent, lengthy video time, I REALLY already knew her. I would have sent money if I needed to. But in that case instead of her helping me set up apartment or hotel, she just let me stay with her.

If after a while you DON'T come up with a really good prospect with whom you're really comfortable, you might just GO ANYWAY :) Take the Daisy tour package. It's really a pretty good approach.

Besides the apartment and airport shuttle, you can specify in advance of your trip 25 women from their database you'd like to meet. You provide them with a general introduction letter and a few photos that they can show the women you selected, and they contact the women, show your letter/photos, and see if they will agree to a meeting. By the time you arrive, Oksana (the organizing dynamo) will have your first three days filled with appointments. And IF YOU ASK she can tell you about the girls you selected, and IF YOU ASK she can suggest other good choices.

And if one of your dates cancels (COUNT ON IT), within 30 minutes Oksana will fill that slot with an alternate.

And IF you can't find enough women in Daisy Bride's database that interest you, Daisy Bride shares an office with a competing agency (sounds strange, I know). If you're actually in the office looking at their database, just swivel your chair around and slide over to the other side of the office and look at their database!

But the GREAT thing about this approach is that it sidesteps almost all the B.S. associated with remote communication. You're already there, and that actually means that girls who might never consider writing you online, or maybe wouldn't even consider going online at all to search for a man, WOULD SAY YES to a meeting with a man already in town. And for the price of lunch you can spend an hour or two face to face and know more than you could with 1000 emails or 50 Skype meetings.

One little story... when I was there last I did something very much like that and had a great time. And one meeting was with a girl who was really so gorgeous she could easily compete with any actress or runway model. She told me that in her several years as a client of the agency I was only the SECOND MAN she had actually met in person! And I'm assuming she didn't mean to imply I was only the second man whose invitation she accepted, but rather that I was only the second man who actually came to town and asked to meet her!

OH, about being "pathetic", you're really way ahead of the game. Most guys who look into this stuff never make it off the couch. They think some Victoria's Secret model is just going to show up at their door.
Daisy Bride
by: Gary

Bob, silly question here. For Daisy Bride, the website is as simple as daisybride.com, right? It seems like the place (especially the '10 minutes to find a date' slogan). You know how Google searches go, though. I want to make sure that's THE Daisy Bride you speak of and not some scam-infested one living off a similar name. :-)

I checked their database briefly, did a VERY general search (30-45, plugged in my age) and I only found 93 matches (I can always adjust my age a little in the search engine just to pull up more hits since I suspect some may go a few years older if the guy is making the trip). Their database doesn't seem too large. I found some attractive ones in my initial search but I want to make sure they're a viable Plan B in the way of numbers.

I know there's always that competing agency astride of theirs which you mentioned. This is really exciting. :-)


[Bob's Answer:]

Yes, '10 minutes to find a date', and to be more unambiguous, http://daisybride.com -- And definitely good call on watching out for the scam (and virus) knockoffs.

You make a point here that provides context for me to explain some of the differences between a "site" and an "agency" :)

When you look at http://Russian-Ukrainian-Women.com, http://www.UkraineDate.com, etc., the site IS the business, kinda like Facebook or Match.com, and there are LOTS of choices.

But Daisy Bride is a physical on-the-ground, hands-on, face-to-face business that HAS a website. And, because it's in Kiev (the largest city in Ukraine) and has been around for a while, it's one of the larger ones. BUT the largest of those on-the-ground hands-on face-to-face agencies may have 500-1000 women MAX.

And, all their clients sought out, and walked into an office to apply for inclusion in the agency.

And consequently, those physical agencies KNOW their clients... maybe not ALL, but if you pick your favorite 25 from Daisy Bride and ask Oksana what she knows about each of them, she will be able to tell you everything you want to know about at least 22 of them!

So basically the local agency concept brings to the table a little more authenticity.

And right, DO NOT put your age in your search. As a matter of fact, with an agency of 500 female clients, don't bother with the search feature at all :) Just look at all the profiles.

But if considering this more as a "Plan B" than a "Plan A", there are more than enough, AND remember, if you're in Kiev for a week or two on the Daisy tour (for just the apartment and shuttle, and only the intros as-needed), you can also walk over to any number of other agencies and buy intros.

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