Everyone that I spoke to about traveling alone said that using Tinder was a great way to meet people. I already have a tinder, so I edited my profile to add that I was visiting Berlin and looking for people or groups to meet up with. Otherwise, I left it the same. My tinder profile is upfront about my sexuality and interest in kink and specifically D/s roleplay. In pictures I present as femme and quite vanilla, so my hope is that my self-description weeds out folks who are looking for a more vanilla relationship or sexual encounter. I always swipe left on these ‘visiting New York!” profiles at home, so I didn’t have a lot of hope.
On Friday morning, just after I landed, I came across a profile: let’s call him Matthew. Matthew is an attorney in Berlin. He was cute, a little older than me, and I wasn’t being picky – I swiped right. He quickly messaged me:
“Great photos. Are you spontaneous? I’m leaving Berlin tonight until Monday evening.”
“I like to think I’m logically spontaneous.”
“We could meet this afternoon. I’m curious about your kinks. Are you into BDSM as well?”
“Correct, hence the ‘bratty toy’.”
“I’d love to spank you, use toys on you, tie you up…”
“:) Let me know when you’re back.”