Rochelle Peachey, the founder of the dating site I Love Your Accent, is sitting alone in a restaurant, gabbing away on her cellphone, when a few minutes into the conversation, the phone she's talking into starts to ring. Busted!
Such is the length Peachey once went to in order to battle the embarrassment and awkwardness she - and so many female business travelers like her - feels when dining alone.
"I detest walking into a restaurant to request the dreaded table for one," says Peachey, who typically makes three or four business trips a month. "When I walk into a restaurant or bar alone, I feel others see me as either a woman out to pick up men or a sad, lonely spinster."
A new website called Invite For a Bite aims to change all that. The site serves as a sort of meeting place where women who hate supping solo can post invites and make plans to dine together.
Read - Hate dining solo? Site offers a solution
Previously - How to eat alone at the bar, Grazing the bar and Dining solo on the road
Thank you for the article. It certainly opened my eyes. I had no idea people actually felt this way. My advice Jill, is learn to be comfortable by yourself – and bring a book if boredom is an issue. I've been on plenty of business trips alone. Never once did I feel like I was the hunter or the hunted. And I made sure I had something interesting to read.
The software at this site does not work. Too bad, there is a need for this. Outside the US, there are often (round) tables set aside just for professional women who travel alone. Superb networking, and the "innkeeper" keeps an eye on the clientele to make sure that this is on the up & up, and that the women are not "hit" on. Novel idea for the US, but badly needed.
I bet the men outnumber the women on that site 4-1 like most other sites. LOL