The 30 Dating Experiments So Far …

Posted on October 29, 2013 in 30 Dates, Dating Experiments

I spent this weekend in London, catching up with friends I hadn’t seen for some time … and inevitably a lot of them had been following my antics over the summer!

When you’ve spent three months publicly dating 30 different men, it becomes a pretty standard go-to topic of conversation, and it’s always great to hear that my crazy adventures have inspired other singletons to get out there and date. I still get particularly excited when men say how much they’ve enjoyed reading the blog, as the ‘target audience’ was always other single ‘girls’ around my age.

I would say, on average, since starting the blog, I’ve had at least one email a day from someone new who has been reading the blog – whether they’re a friend, an acquaintance, or a total stranger on the other side of the world! To know my silly random Facebook whim has touched so many people is genuinely humbling, and so when the 30 Dates by 30 Challenge ended, I was keen to continue the blog in some way.

At the end of September, when I turned 30 and finished the Challenge, things had just started picking up momentum, and it seemed a shame to just abruptly end it all (especially as, if I’m completely honest, leaving the 30 Dates behind was a bit of a come down!) Overnight, I went from having to go on at least three Dates a week, to having no excuse to avoid the gym or not clean my flat anymore!

However it’s been hard to transition from 30 Dates by 30 into something else. The 30 Dates Challenge had a very clear structure, and everyone (understandably) loved to read about the dates.

How could I carry that on, but in a new direction? (Because much as I would love to do Around The World in 80 Dates as my next Challenge, the only way that’s likely to happen is with a hefty corporate sponsor!!!).

And so I came up with the idea of the Dating Experiments, which I admit is a bit of a random one. Inspired by the girl on Tumblr who sends people crazy messages over Tinder to see how far she can push it, and peoples’ off the cuff questions about how many dates I could fit in one day, or how many consecutive dates I could go on, I figured Dating is a topic you can play around with A LOT. And in a way that could be really fun.

But having established that a lot of different people, in very different situations, read this blog, I thought it would be a bit more interesting and exciting, to add 30 more voices to the blog. In the form of the Experimental Daters.

I wanted people to be able to read about the kinkier side of being single. To read about FWB scenarios I’ve no personal experience of, or understand what it’s like to date with a disability. I wanted features which appealed to divorced daters, single parents, and player men. And hopefully, as I continue to recruit the Experimental Daters, I will find voices to deal with all of those things, and far more ….

However, I appreciate the blog recently has taken a very different shape, and until I’ve introduced all the Experimental Daters, it will be a little bit disjointed – a mix of introducing new writers, and beginning the different experiments. One thing a lot of my male friends have mentioned is ‘I don’t quite get where this is going …’ which is a valid point …. But I promise it is all going to be worth it, I just have to make sure I recruit the best team of Experimental Daters possible …

Because hidden in amongst the questionnaires about peoples’ love lives, are some rather cool Experiments …

Miss 32 will be writing about How and Where to Find a Man. (Yes, we’re going to get her chatting up randomers on the Tube and in supermarkets!)

Mister Mischief is trying to find the perfect online dating message (by trialling some not-so-perfect messages!)

Blonde Ambition is on a ten-month hunt to find a date for her sister’s wedding.

The Flash will be going on a First Date, equipped with a Polaroid camera.

The Mermaid has already shared a variety of her love and relationship-related artwork …

Fader, a school teacher, is hunting out the links between Education and Dating.

The Rebound Gal is experimenting with single life On The Rebound.

Epiphany has been experiencing the sexier edge of Tinder, and Kink has been exploring London’s ‘Kinkster’ side.

And that’s not even a third of the Experimental Daters!

I have a couple of rather exciting experiment ideas up my sleeve, which I’m currently laying foundations for ….

And we’ll ALL be taking part in Wednesday Dating Club, whether we’re single or not!

You can see the full list of Experiment Topics below, along with links to all the Experiment posts so far, and as the Experiments develop and take shape, there will also be opportunities for you to get involved in Experiments (like the #WednesdayDatingClub which kicks off this week!). However if you have an idea for an Experiment or a Challenge which you’d like one of us to take part in or try, then please either comment below, or on Twitter @30Dates, or drop me an email at thirtydates@hotmail.com

Thanks for continuing to read, and let’s make this Winter just as exciting and entertaining as my summer ended up being!

Miss Twenty-Nine xxx

The 30 Experiment Topics

Age, Conversation, Disability, Drink, Education, Encounters, Expectations, Expertise, Faith, Fame, Family, Fear, Food, Games, Geography, Humour, Internet , Marriage, Money, Movies, Music, Numbers, Physicality, Pictures, Romance, Senses, Sex, Sexuality, Single, Words