Whether you’re looking for a vacation romance, some excitement on a business trip, or even an opportunity to join the mile high club, traveling gives you lots of opportunities to meet and attract women—if you know what to do.

1. Be like Jay Z
Celebrities like Jay Z never go anywhere “cold.” Their friends and hangers-on are always preparing the ground ahead of them. Anywhere he goes, Jay Z is with people who are on his side. You might not have a celebrity entourage, but you do have the tools to mine your own network and get the same result. Ask everyone you know if they have friends where you’re going. Go through your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts—you can find acquaintances and friends-of-friends to meet up with. It can be incredibly easy to get a date with quality women this way, even with women who would never normally be into online dating. There’s something about saying you’re from somewhere else and just in town for a few days that makes people want to meet up. Even if you don’t meet a great girl this way, you’ll probably meet fun people who can show you around.

2. Travel is a journey, not a destination
Whether you’ve got a plane ticket or are hopping on a bus or train, put away Flappy Bird and look around you. There are usually good opportunities to meet women before, during, and after boarding. You don’t have to do much to break the ice; just ask her something about the place you’re going. If the conversation goes well, suggest that you guys meet up at that fun restaurant or café she was telling you about.

3. You don’t have to betray your country.
During the Cold War, westerners who sympathized with Soviet Russia were called “fellow travelers.” The KGB was notorious for using beautiful female spies to recruit (male) sympathizers, so these men got some fringe benefits out of their political beliefs. Don’t worry; I’m not telling you to betray your country to meet women. By fellow traveler, I mean the woman staying in the same hotel, or the one you saw fumbling with her guidebook. Meeting such women is, if anything, even easier than meeting friends-of-friends out of town. They’ll be easy to approach at your local hotel bar or tourist attraction; just ask a woman where she’s from or compare notes on what you’ve seen so far. It’s easy and natural to go from that conversation to sightseeing or checking out an interesting restaurant together. If you’re young enough, staying in youth hostels or budget hotels that cater to backpackers can be a ridiculously effective way to meet women and other travelers to hang out with. It’s also much easier to take things to a physical place with a woman if you’re both staying at the same hotel.

4. Don’t run from what you are
Many travelers take pains to not appear as tourists. That’s appropriate for a night out with your local friends, but otherwise you do actually happen to be a tourist, so take advantage of the freedom this gives you. Ask people for recommendations, or directions. Find out what’s unique where you are. It’s a great way to meet people. Talk to regular people (and hot women, of course); don’t just stick to the concierge, tourist information center, or people who answer similar questions all day. Approach women in shopping areas, in parks, restaurants, wherever you happen to be. Especially when you’re traveling, what do you have to lose?