

Because you mentioned Islanders, maybe Dorfromantik?
Because you mentioned Islanders, maybe Dorfromantik?
Ah, ok… I used to use usmobile.com as a data backup on their cheapest plan. It was ~$8 USD for 2Gb of data and like 100 texts per month. Obv a lot more than voip.ms, but you get assigned a real number by a cell provider. U.S. based though so it might not be useful for you.
If it matters, I believe “voip.ms” is Canada based. I’m using them for a phone number with sms, kind of like what you said you’re looking for.
IIRC, I’m paying ~$12 USD per year (+ $1 USD per month for a phone voip app, but there are free app options too).
YSK, their site/service setting aren’t always the easiest to figure out so read their docs carefully.
Best of luck!
If I can offer an alternate perspective…
By making such concrete plans you may be ceding too much “control” to someone who you don’t yet know will have the same reliance on solid planning or respect for other’s time as you do.
So, if that’s the case, what can you do about it?
Plan differently.
Plan a one hour “date with yourself” that also works for you + a date.
Example: Make a plan to meet at a coffee shop or cheap bistro near a park… but bring a book/kindle/podcast/homework, or whatever you’d otherwise do on your own.
If they show, cool, you now have topics to discuss. If things are going well, continue over a walk in the park.
If they flake, cool, you’ve now got a solid hour to do something you enjoy, in a (hopefully) interesting place, and you’ve done it for cheap… Maybe take yourself on a walk in the park. :)
Hope that helps a bit.
Obligatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal!_The_Musical