“No luck on the flight getting delayed?” We continued texting for a while. It was pretty much daily. He would send very sweet messages about how much he liked me and he wasn’t interesting in ‘hooking up’ with anyone else (he’s American remember). I was trying not to get my hopes up because realistically, this would be hard! Really hard. The distance wasn’t exactly something we could both ignore. To me, the World feels much smaller because of work. I travel to long haul places all the time for only 24 hours and still manage to explore and make the...
David* – Lawyer
Sometimes life throws you curveballs. Most of the time it feels like they’re bad but every so often, they are good. Life throws the unexpected at you. I had this recently. Life threw the very unexpected at me. A few of us from work were sat at a hotel bar having a drink. I noticed a group of guys who looked out of place at another table. We joked about why they were here. Possibly a stag do; more than likely work. I decided to ask them. I have no idea where this new found confidence came from! It took...
Kyle* – Firefighter
This one will probably be quite quick. I wasn’t really looking at dating much. It wasn’t long after the previous guy who I didn’t name and I actually needed some time to figure out how I was feeling because I’d actually really struggled with it. Sometimes it’s ok to just have time to figure things out. Anyway, I went to work and ended up seeing an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. We caught up and he told me that he had a friend he wanted to set me up with. “Do you mind if I give him...
Don’t Settle
So, I went on a few dates with someone. It was actually more than a few dates. I’m not going to write about him or our time. That’s the decision I’ve made and it’s my blog so I get to make that decision. It was earlier this year and lasted for the best part of about four months. The main thing about this that I did want to write about, is that I’m the one who ended things. He is a great guy. He has a good job. This guy is a really interesting person. We laughed a lot and...
Neil* – Sales
Another Hinge date. Other dating apps are available but they are all just as useless as each other. We matched and very quickly organised a date. He told me about his previous Hinge experiences and divulged that a previous date had told him she was looking for something serious so he ended things. Hmm. This is already screaming Amber flag. I honestly told him that I wasn’t looking for anything casual. My profile clearly says I’m not looking for casual. I’m not rushing into something but I am dating with intention. Neil* then messaged quickly to say he’s not looking...
Robert* – Construction
I wrestled with writing this post and whether to even post it. It took a few drafts and edits. In the nearly 10 years of writing this blog (award nominated I’ll have you know), I never thought I’d be writing a post about my embarrassing and completely unhinged behaviour. But here we are. So strap in. One of my closest friends got married. It was the most beautiful ceremony in Cyprus. The outside beautiful stone and cobble area was lined with green and white. They were the most beautiful couple. She was an absolute vision of beauty. The sun was shining,...
Graham* – Something Military
Sadly, another Hinge date. This post will probably be fairly short. It seems to be the way that most guys when you start chatting will want to meet for a drink quite quickly. They like to gauge if they’re interested or not sooner rather than later. I agree! But sometimes with my job (and two other jobs) it can be difficult for me to arrange something so last minute. Graham* was actually very understanding about that fact. We arranged a drink on an evening we could both do and he agreed we would just chat over message until then. He...
Kieran* – Police Officer
Ah, another date from a dating app. What could possibly go wrong? This contender didn’t want to chat for long. He was keen to meet quite quickly and get a drink organised. So we did. He was a (well, is a) police officer. He chose a place fairly midway for us and we agreed an evening. I arrived and suddenly panicked I didn’t know what he really looked like! All of his pictures were slightly different to each other and I wasn’t sure, so I spotted a staff member in the pub and asked for help. I had to do...
Rhys* – Security
I hate Hinge. Even without the ridiculous profiles, the stupid comments and the repetitiveness, it’s just soul destroying. I have, in my mid 30s only just found out that apparently ALL heterosexual men on Hinge like dog walks and a roast on a Sunday. They ALL want to find a relationship that has the ‘perfect flirt to roast ratio’. They ALL also need to learn what the word spontaneous actually means because apparently the most spontaneous thing they’ve all done is quit their jobs and move to Australia: something that requires visa applications that take time so, is in fact,...
Anthony* – Graphic Designer
So getting back into the dating World means going on the apps. I do not enjoy them. There is not one single part of being on the apps that I find fun. I will actively avoid going on and swiping. I’ve lost almost all of my confidence in myself including my ability to even talk to people. My previous post let you all in on the fact I feel ashamed of myself for where I’ve let myself fall to. I’ve put on a lot of weight; I don’t even recognise myself anymore. I’ve also fallen out of love with the...