Meet the British woman who flew 5,000 miles for a first date
When Kayleigh Castle first went on her trip to Mexico, she never imagined meeting a man she would later date.
But, as fate would have it, the 35-year-old was approached by a US man at a bar during her three-month work trip to Puerto Vallarta in late 2023.
"He came up to me in the bar, sat next to me and then asked me out for a date," she explains. "We went out a few times in Mexico and then he went back home to California. We continued to message back and forth and planned to see each other again."
In February this year, her date asked her if she would like to fly out to visit him in California, on a trip paid for entirely by him.
"I always say a man invests in what he values," Castle says.
"If he is going to invest money into me he values me. He booked my flights, asked what I wanted to do - we went wine tasting, we went on a nice coastal drive - and then I came back home."
The 10-day date included sightseeing, wine tasting and visiting some bucket-list places along the Pacific coastline.
"He booked my flights and asked what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to go Carmel-by-the-Sea and on a coastal road trip," the life coach from Huddersfield, Yorkshire says.
"We did a coastal road trip from San Francisco to a place called Half Moon Bay which was absolutely stunning. We then went more inland to Yosemite National Park."
It was on day seven of the date, in Yosemite, that Castle realised that her date wasn’t for her and they might not be a great match after all.
"I love walking but he wanted to stay in the car on his phone," she recalls. "For me, I love walking - that is my quality time - but he was working and going to the bar.
"We have decided just to stay friends, dating is evaluating, it is over time you get to know everyone."
Castle has another travel date planned for later this year, however, with another man she met in Mexico – this time travelling around Europe together.
While a 10-day road trip may sound extreme for a first date, last year a professional matchmaker told Yahoo UK that an activity together is actually the perfect idea for a first date – albeit lasting a few hours rather than several days.
"It can feel a lot more natural to break the ice with a shared activity rather than meeting solely face-to-face across the dinner table, politely trying to keep the conversation flowing," Michelle Begy, founder of Ignite Dating said at the time.
"People tend to be themselves when they are in the moment, truly enjoying what they are doing, which can really help in getting to know somebody better and eliminate the nerves that can strike when you are dating."
Additional reporting by SWNS.
First dates: Read more
'I’m a matchmaker and here's how to have a successful first date' (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
What to talk about on a first date – and topics to avoid (Yahoo Life UK, 7-min read)
The best and worst first date locations, according to experts (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
