Meeting people can get tougher as you move into your mid to late twenties. Long gone are the days of hoping you’ll meet a pretty girl in class or at a house party. Now it’s just hope and pray that someone decent shows up to the bar, that your friend has a friend who has a friend who’s still single or you find luck on the inevitable online dating scene.

The face of dating has definitely changed, partly due to age and partly due to technology. Why call when we can text to Snapchat? Why put yourself out there when you can hide behind the comforts of your computer screen? While technology has made communication easier, it’s also made dating hard and unfortunately vaguer. Despite all of the change, there is still one constant: people want to meet other people. So if you’re tired of prowling the internet and relying on friends, why don’t you go the old school route of trying to pick up a woman in a public place. Don’t worry, I have five locations for you.

But before we dive in and get out there, lets cover some important ground about you:

You Need To:

Dress well. Women aren’t into sloppy dressers, so make sure your clothes fit.

Be clean. Smell good, bathe regularly, wear clean clothes. Women aren’t attracted to dirty fingernails and disheveled hair.

Be respectful. You can hit on girls by yelling, “ay girl” or by being overtly sexual. Telling them they are hot and that you want to take them home and whip out your Adam and Eve sex toys is not attractive. In fact, it’s creepy.

Know when to walk away. If she’s not into it, she’s not into it. You can’ force her to think you’re hot.

The Grocery Store

Everyone wants to feel like an expert. Next time you go to the grocery store and see a pretty woman in the fruit section, approach her and ask her how you know a certain kind of fruit is ripe. It’s a fairly easy question, so she should know the answer. Introduce yourself once she answers your question.

The Mall

This scenario utilizes the same expert principle. Go to the mall and stop off at a department store. Spray two or three colognes on your wrists and then start to prowl. Look for attractive women who are with one or two friends, this will allow you to survey the prettiest one without being intrusive. Tell her you were trying to pick out a new cologne and wanted a woman’s opinion. Then ask her if she would let you know which one she likes best.

The Dog Park

This one is fairly easy. If you have a cute dog, you’re golden. Just head down to the park on a sunny weekend and play with your dog. Once you spot a cute girl, let your dog go and play with the other dogs and proceed to sit near her. Dog people tend to be pretty friendly, so strike up a conversation if you’re both alone. You can ask her which dog is hers or if she has a good vet recommendation.

The Beach

In this situation, you are best to bring along a friend. Grab a volleyball and find two or three girls who are tanning and actively talking to each other. I mention this because you don’t want to interrupt anyone who is trying to sleep or is really involved in a book. You’re much more likely to be turned down if you go that route. Approach the girls and let them know you were trying to get a volleyball game going, but your other friends had to bail on them. See if they’ll join you.

The Coffee Shop

You have a few options with this location. First be sure to bring your computer or a book as a prop. Secondly, try to pick a locally owned coffee shop vs.popular chain locations. These places tend to be busier and filled with a younger crowd. Snag a seat next to a pretty girl and wait for her to take a break. Once she looks up, catch her eye and ask her what she’s working on/reading. Bring your computer and your charger and find a a woman sitting near an outlet. Sit at a table near her and wait until a spot next to her opens up. Rush over there with your cord and announce how relieved you are because your computer was about to die. Then have her plug it in for you.

The best thing about all of these places is they are either cheap or entirely free. Meeting a girl in this kind of situation may also be telling that she’s not high maintenance (the mall could be risky, but you never know). You don’t have to spend lots of money buying girls expensive drinks and getting yourself drunk to get someone interested in you. Just think outside of the box and about things you like to do, then head there. She just may be waiting for you.