‘I flew to flew to Auckland for a date’: Desperate methods Sydneysiders are taking to find love

The reason this 28-year-old hopped on a plane to New Zealand reveals one of the biggest issues young Sydney residents face.

The secret to finding love in Sydney is simple. Don’t date someone from Sydney.

It’s this theory that led 28-year-old Kriti Gupta to hop on a plane to Auckland for a second date with a New Zealand backpacker she’d met once in Sydney, when they connected on a dating app.

She admits that although “flying overseas for a second date is a little unhinged”, it just might be just the solution to finding romance when you live in Heartbreak Harbour.

Kriti Gupta took drastic measures for a date. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“I didn’t intend to look for someone overseas, but previously people I have met while travelling have led to great stories (and connections),” she said.

“I think if you are doing the same thing again and again, which for me in Sydney was going on the same date with the same type of people who are focused on the same career-driven lifestyles, you get the same results.”

Ms Gupta heads off to New Zealand for a second date. Picture: Instagram

And so she changed things up. A few weeks after we spoke to Ms Gupta for our Heartbreak Harbour series, she revealed she had met someone. A backpacker holidaying in Sydney.

After hitting it off on their first date (a Halloween party), Ms Gupta did perhaps one of the wildest things she has ever done during her dating journey.

When her date flew home to New Zealand, she followed him, forking out $700 to visit him a few months later.

“The way I thought about it was, ‘what is the worst that can happen here? I go to Auckland, I have a fun weekend away, if it leads to something more great, if it doesn’t, well I had a fun little weekend in Auckland’,” she said.

She believes this decision may have been her solution to the Sydney dating crisis.

“Sydney is a rat race. Sydney is the New York of Australia. People are here because they are trying to make something of their life,” Ms Gupta said.

“The way that this young, the Gen Z/Millennial generation has been brought up is hustle culture comes first. And you see that in the way that we also approach romantic relationships,” Ms Gupta said.

She said meeting the backpacker was “like going on a date with someone overseas”, without leaving the country.

“The fact he wasn’t from Sydney was instantly appealing.

“The way Australian men communicate about things is very, very different to New Zealand men.”

Kriti Gupta travels to New Zealand for a second date. Picture: Instagram

It was a stark comparison to the 28-year-old we spoke to at the start of our dating series, who had been single for six months and had all but given up on Sydney’s dating scene.

“It’s very circular, you open up the apps and see the same person.

“It becomes about going through the motions rather than actually going on a date with someone for the sake of wanting to get to know them,” she said.

Back then, when we asked Ms Gupta what the one thing she would change about her Sydney dating experience, she admitted that for Sydney to change, she would have to change herself.

“Not treating dating as a hobby or an activity and actually treating it as something that you’re looking for and a purpose and connection,” she said.

In Ms Gupta’s eyes, her New Zealand trip was a success. The date was a hit.

“Conversations, activities, friends groups and hobbies all appear to be a lot more intentional here,” she said.

Tell us your stories about dating in Sydney. Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]