Somewhere in my mid-40s, after years of swiping, typing, and waiting for replies that never came, I realized something—the only way to actually know if you like someone is to meet them in person.

Sounds obvious, right? Well, not when you're knee-deep in the online dating world, where banter is easy, rejection is painless (just stop replying—sorted!), and somehow, your best matches seem to vanish into thin air before a date is even set.