Golden Bachelorette Joan reveals why an “engagement” was not a “need” (exclusive)

• After leaving Gerry Turner’s season The Golden Bachelor In Week 3, to be with her daughter after the birth, Joan Vassos makes her debut as Golden Bachelorette on Wednesday, September 18
• 24 men aged 57 and over will compete for Vassos' heart at the opening event. Golden Bachelorette season
• Vassos tells PEOPLE she wanted to end her season with “someone I saw a future with,” but she “didn't have to leave engaged”

Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos didn't need a ring at the end of her season as long as she went with someone she could imagine a future with.

“I said all along that I didn't need to leave engaged,” Vassos, 61, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. “My goal was to leave in a committed relationship. I wanted to have someone I could see a future with, and see what it was like in the real world outside of Bachelor bladder. I didn't want to go through all that and be in the same place I was when I came into the villa.”

The private school administrator who left Gerry Turner’s squadron early, The Golden Bachelor to be with her after the birth of her daughter – began her journey knowing that she would not leave her home in Maryland for a new relationship.

“I would never want to leave my family,” says Vassos. “My children and grandchildren all live very close to me and I wouldn't be OK not being near them all the time. They are the most important people in my life. I felt that anyone I would be a good fit for would have the same family values ​​as me and wouldn't want to leave their family.”

Vassos knew that if she and a potential partner from the show didn't live in the same area, they would “have to find another way to make it work.”

“My thought was that, depending on the work situation, you could spend two weeks with them and two weeks at your home, or you could find another place where you could all meet and maybe each other's families could come too,” Vassos explains. “You think about it for a while until you find a permanent solution, and that could take years.”

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One of Vassos' suitors, Pablo, is from Maryland, which she didn't expect. “When I started this trip, I assumed I wouldn't meet anyone from Maryland or a lot of people who would be really desirable geographically,” she says. “But right now, I'm not leaving my kids. I don't expect anyone to leave their family. That's something you have to figure out for yourself. You put the burden on yourself, not on your family.”

Although Vassos recognized that distance could be a factor in a relationship with someone she met The Golden Bacheloretteshe believed that participating in the show would help her find a partner more than dating apps.

“Up until that point, I really wasn't having fun dating,” Vassos admits. “I tried using a dating app. I kept hoping a friend would set me up with someone, but none of that really seemed to work. I wanted to date, but it seemed like so much effort. I didn't really know how to go about it.”

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After leaving the 73-year-old gymnast's season, Vassos said she “didn't really throw herself back into the whole dating thing” as she remained focused on supporting her family.

“I posted a video at the beginning of the year announcing my New Year's resolutions. One of them was to get back out there and start dating,” she recalls. “And then I got a call shortly after saying they were considering me as a potential Golden Bachelorette and if I would be interested. So I definitely didn't date.”

Although Vassos cannot say how her season ends, she suggests that “the end result was exactly what it should be.”

“The journey was wonderful for me and I ended up exactly where I thought I was supposed to be,” she says. “I learned so much about myself. The journey was very enlightening and it was joyful, it was exhausting. I can't imagine my life now without having gone through this. At the end of this journey, I am a much happier person than before.”

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The Golden Bachelorette Premieres Wednesday, September 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.