"I was 28 and fed up with the dating scene. Swiping had become a ritual of ghosting, small talk, and scheduling conflicts. I work in business development for a US law firm in Hong Kong and was chasing a promotion, so it was easy to tell myself romance could wait. Then, one night, a casual scroll on Instagram inspired me to try something different."
"I'd been following Nabila Ismail - the travel influencer behind Dose of Travel Club (DOTC), with over 193,000 followers - when she posted about a new Bali trip called Desi Love Island. Something about it clicked. Maybe it was the hopeless romantic in me, or maybe just the part craving sun, chaos, and adventure. I wasn't alone; the post racked up more than 90,000 views and 1,300 likes."
"DOTC hosts over 20 group trips a year, but the Desi Island retreat was its first to bring together South Asian singles. The company's offerings aren't all about dating. Next on the calendar, there's a women-only adventure in Morocco and a cultural deep dive in Japan. When the acceptance email for the Bali trip landed in my inbox, I was excited."
Aniqah Bhatnagar, 29, works in business development for a US law firm in Hong Kong and was focused on a promotion while growing tired of app-based dating. A travel influencer's Instagram post about a new Bali singles retreat called Desi Love Island inspired her to apply. DOTC organizes many group trips and this retreat targeted South Asian singles amid broader offerings like women-only and cultural trips. Friends reacted playfully and her parents were cautious; she informed her father before he died. She applied in February, later received an acceptance email for the eight-day Bali retreat, and felt excited.
Read at Business Insider
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