Free Vacations in Costa Rica? Sex May Be Involved
Screenshot of MissTravel.com
A young woman from the United States spent most of 2015 traveling to several exotic destinations around the world, and she did not spend any of her own money doing so. Monica Lynn is a 25-year old financial professional from Alabama whose story about going on lavish dates abroad has sparked considerable social media discourse since her story was published by British newspaper the Daily Mail in early 2016.
Miss Lynn’s story was accompanied by several photos of the lovely woman in leisurely activities around the world; the article appeared on the Daily Mail’s “Femail” section, which is dedicated to gender and feminism topics. Miss Lynn explained how she accidentally came across MissTravel.com, an interesting website that The Costa Rica Star has previously reported on.
Miss Travel is an online dating site that, according to Miss Lynn, allows wealthy men looking for travel companionship to peruse enticing profiles of attractive women willing to go along for the trip -as long as they don’t have to pay for anything. In a way, Miss Travel is for sugar daddies and the sugar babies who love them, but instead of discussing financial support, couples agree on one party covering travel expenses to specific places in exchange for companionship. Not surprisingly, Costa Rica is a frequently requested destination by Miss Travel members; this makes sense insofar as this country is often labeled as the most expensive tourist spot in Latin America.
Miss Lynn made the decision to ditch her job at Merrill Lynch in late 2014, to go on a week-long date to Barbados with a 31-year old man who paid for all her travel and lodging expenses. Miss Lynn described her experience as enjoyable but not very romantic; she explains that the date “fell flat” and that no sex was involved. Seriously, she explained: ‘Sex was never mentioned. We had fun but there was no sexual connection. He was like a friend. We’re still in touch.’
Another date took Miss Lynn to San Francisco, another enjoyable trip that she says did not feature any sex either. The third date for Miss Lynn was with a 28-year old Italian man who swept her off her feet even before she flew out to the Mediterranean to meet him. In six weeks, the couple visited seven locations, including Europe, the Philippines, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Mexico. Miss Lynn does not mention whether this date involved any sex, but she has mentioned her Italian beau to her mother, who now wonders when they will get married.
The Daily Mail article, which has been shared thousands of times, includes a 13-second video clip of a couple in Costa Rica, who reportedly met on the Miss Travel website. As can be expected, Daily Mail readers focused their discussion on whether they should call Miss Lynn a prostitute. This position is hardly new; in 2012, Forbes magazine published an analysis of Miss Travel, pondering:
MissTravel.com: Dating Site or Travel Ho Dating Site?
[… ] find your match at MissTravel.com, where the glamour of being a mail-order bride for a week meets the unmatchable pride of paying to have a beautiful girl on your arm in the world’s greatest cities.
All disclaimers aside, it’s pretty obvious that most of the men who will pay for the extravagant trips the website dangles in front of its Attractives will probably expect to at least get laid on their vacation. Is that prostitution?
Free Vacations in Costa Rica? Sex May Be Involved
