How to Move Your Online Relationship, Offline.

How many times have you met someone online and you learn that they live relatively close to you. You hit it off and the conversation flows easily. Sure, you want to meet up, but you just don’t know how to go about making that transition. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. We’ve asked members of uk.Cupid.com on how to turn a budding online relationship into a real life romance. We’ve got a few tips on how to bring that online crush into the real world.

1. Keep your messages friendly and avoid going over the top. If you’ve begun your conversation with saying how much you enjoy talking to them, there isn’t much room for you to backtrack and go back to a friendly tone. You don’t want to romanticize the situation too much so early on in the relationship, instead, treat this time like you are just getting to know someone as a friend.

2. Don’t give too much detail and always think about what you’re writing. It’s easy to let your guard down and let the words flow when you are talking to someone online. However, you can’t always do that because sometimes you may say something and the other person could take it another way. When you are talking to someone face to face, you can use your body language and the tone of voice to help discern harmless teasing from a mean joke, but online? You don’t have that safety. It’s always best to avoid being misinterpreted by simply watching what you say.

3. Don’t wait too long before you suggest meeting up. After the initial introduction and getting to know you phase, you don’t want to wait too long before asking them out. It’s a bad idea to let your conversation go on for weeks online, start to develop deeper feelings with them and realize that when you do meet up, the chemistry isn’t the same. Save both of yourselves from wasting time and energy chatting for a long time by getting straight to the meet up early on to see if there really is a connection or not.

4. Avoid calling it a date. It’s strange, but people who meet up on an online dating site tend to shy away from someone when they are asked out on a date. This could be because the very term of “date” puts pressure on you both to hit it off, whereas if you suggest a simple meet up or just agreeing to meet up for drinks, it gives off a more casual and relaxed vibe—no pressures are associated with meeting up.

5. Pick the best time and place. If you are hoping to keep things on a platonic level, you’ll probably want to meet up during the day and in a place that is more family friendly like a carnival or bowling/ If you want to amp up the romance factor, you can suggest going out at night to something that is a little more intimate and gives you a chance to connect. We suggest that you choose an evening stroll through the park (weather permitting of course) and maybe grabbing a bite to eat afterward.

6. Have an escape plan. No matter how badly you want something to work out, there are going to be times when the date just goes south and there is no way to salvage it. In situations like this, it always helps to have an escape plan. Maybe have your friend call a couple hours after the meeting with an emergency, or have an “appointment” at a particular time, thus leaving only a few hours that you have to spend with this person.

When you are dating online and you’re ready to take it to the next level and meet up, we hope that these six tips will help you turn your online crush into a real life romance.