I'm a newbie and here is my story (I just wanted to get it off my chest and would love to hear any opinions on my situation, or hear if anyone else has a similar story). Here goes, sorry if it's long!
I live in Australia and at end of 2011 I travelled to Europe with my cousin. We were doing a 3 week tour with a touring company and before going we checked out the company's website where you can post in forums to meet people who are going to be in your tour group. I had just been dumped a month prior and coincidentally my cousin broke up with her boyfriend on the same day so we decided we'd get over our heartache and enjoy the single life on our trip. We both separately had been checking out the forums to see if there would be any hotties on our tour. I came across a post from a man (who we'll call S) who was 24 and a teacher, and as fate would have it he lived about one and a half hours away from me. He wrote that he had never been out of Australia before and he booked this trip around Europe because he was moving to London straight after the trip. I thought he was cute, but maybe a bit old for me (I was 20 at the time) and my cousin happens to be a teacher as we'll, so I kept him in the back of my mind because I thought that they might be good together as a fling for her on the tour.
So we arrive in London to begin the tour and attend a meeting at the hotel with the tour group the night before the tour starts. I still had the image of this guy in the back of my mind and was expecting to meet him there, but he was a no-show. This is not all that unusual because some people arrive on the morning of the tour departure, but I can't explain the feeling I had for the rest of the night after that meeting. It's almost as if I felt I'd missed out by not having met him, as if I already missed someone who I'd never met.
The next morning we left London for Paris and everyone on the tour was getting to know each other. I know this sounds silly, but I can't honestly remember when it was that we first officially met and spoke to each other. I do know however that I mentioned that I hadn't seen him at the meeting it turns out he actually had been there, but his display picture on the forum looked nothing like him because he had blond hair and was much younger!
The next day in Paris was magical. A group of about 15 of us went around the whole city taking in all of the sights and getting to know each other more. That night we went to the Moulin Rouge and had a sit down dinner. My cousin sat on a table with him while I sat with some of our new friends. I felt happy that she might end up with him, but oddly jealous at the same time. During dinner and over lots and lots of wine, the topic of boys came up at my table. I mentioned that I kind of liked him, but didn't make a big deal of it. After the Moulin Rouge we went to an Irish pub and needless to say everyone was extremely drunk. I had run out of money so I kissed a French guy and he bought me a drink. I had been hesitant to approach S because I thought he might think of me as too young and not see me in a romantic way, but with a lot of drunk courage we struck up a conversation after dancing a bit. I'm not sure who made the first move but we kissed. We went out the front of the pub to talk and I can't explain why but we both knew we had to address the fact that he was staying fare the tour to live in London for 2 years and I was going back home to Melbourne. He said that he came with the intention of not getting invested with anyone because he knew he was moving, but when he saw me kiss the French guy he knew he had to make a move. To this day I still think it's one of the sweetest things anyone has said to me. We agreed that this would be a 3 week thing and that would be the end of it.
The next day we had a 13 hour bus ride to Lucerne. We sat together on the bus and talked and slept and listened to music the whole time. I had always been a bit shy with guys but I felt so comfortable with him instantly.
For the next 3 weeks we spent every day together and were basically a couple. On the last night of the tour he slept in my bed and we just held each other all night. The next morning he had to board the bus back to London and I stayed in Amsterdam to catch my flight to Melbourne a few days later. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was crying and we just kissed and held each other and decided that we could spend two years apart until he moved back to Australia. The next few days I was running on adrenaline. I couldn't stop thinking about him and I just tried to focus on how short two years is in comparison to a lifetime together.
I had realised I was in love with him on the last day of the tour but I didn't tell him for fear of scaring him off. 4 months later on the night of my 21st birthday party when I was on the phone to him I wanted to tell him but again chickened out. I ended up telling him that night in a message but of course he didn't say it back (men...). I don't doubt that he loves me back, I have a feeling he wanted to see how things go when we're together in real life and then say it.
So, the original plan was for him to be there 2 years, which now has already come and gone. He is now planning on moving back to Australia in about another 6 months. The uncertainty is the hardest thing of it all, but we message every single day and talk on the phone or skype when the time difference and our busy schedules allow us to. I really look forward to seeing if we can make this work for real one day but in the meantime we're happy getting to know each other more and more each day.
I live in Australia and at end of 2011 I travelled to Europe with my cousin. We were doing a 3 week tour with a touring company and before going we checked out the company's website where you can post in forums to meet people who are going to be in your tour group. I had just been dumped a month prior and coincidentally my cousin broke up with her boyfriend on the same day so we decided we'd get over our heartache and enjoy the single life on our trip. We both separately had been checking out the forums to see if there would be any hotties on our tour. I came across a post from a man (who we'll call S) who was 24 and a teacher, and as fate would have it he lived about one and a half hours away from me. He wrote that he had never been out of Australia before and he booked this trip around Europe because he was moving to London straight after the trip. I thought he was cute, but maybe a bit old for me (I was 20 at the time) and my cousin happens to be a teacher as we'll, so I kept him in the back of my mind because I thought that they might be good together as a fling for her on the tour.
So we arrive in London to begin the tour and attend a meeting at the hotel with the tour group the night before the tour starts. I still had the image of this guy in the back of my mind and was expecting to meet him there, but he was a no-show. This is not all that unusual because some people arrive on the morning of the tour departure, but I can't explain the feeling I had for the rest of the night after that meeting. It's almost as if I felt I'd missed out by not having met him, as if I already missed someone who I'd never met.
The next morning we left London for Paris and everyone on the tour was getting to know each other. I know this sounds silly, but I can't honestly remember when it was that we first officially met and spoke to each other. I do know however that I mentioned that I hadn't seen him at the meeting it turns out he actually had been there, but his display picture on the forum looked nothing like him because he had blond hair and was much younger!
The next day in Paris was magical. A group of about 15 of us went around the whole city taking in all of the sights and getting to know each other more. That night we went to the Moulin Rouge and had a sit down dinner. My cousin sat on a table with him while I sat with some of our new friends. I felt happy that she might end up with him, but oddly jealous at the same time. During dinner and over lots and lots of wine, the topic of boys came up at my table. I mentioned that I kind of liked him, but didn't make a big deal of it. After the Moulin Rouge we went to an Irish pub and needless to say everyone was extremely drunk. I had run out of money so I kissed a French guy and he bought me a drink. I had been hesitant to approach S because I thought he might think of me as too young and not see me in a romantic way, but with a lot of drunk courage we struck up a conversation after dancing a bit. I'm not sure who made the first move but we kissed. We went out the front of the pub to talk and I can't explain why but we both knew we had to address the fact that he was staying fare the tour to live in London for 2 years and I was going back home to Melbourne. He said that he came with the intention of not getting invested with anyone because he knew he was moving, but when he saw me kiss the French guy he knew he had to make a move. To this day I still think it's one of the sweetest things anyone has said to me. We agreed that this would be a 3 week thing and that would be the end of it.
The next day we had a 13 hour bus ride to Lucerne. We sat together on the bus and talked and slept and listened to music the whole time. I had always been a bit shy with guys but I felt so comfortable with him instantly.
For the next 3 weeks we spent every day together and were basically a couple. On the last night of the tour he slept in my bed and we just held each other all night. The next morning he had to board the bus back to London and I stayed in Amsterdam to catch my flight to Melbourne a few days later. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was crying and we just kissed and held each other and decided that we could spend two years apart until he moved back to Australia. The next few days I was running on adrenaline. I couldn't stop thinking about him and I just tried to focus on how short two years is in comparison to a lifetime together.
I had realised I was in love with him on the last day of the tour but I didn't tell him for fear of scaring him off. 4 months later on the night of my 21st birthday party when I was on the phone to him I wanted to tell him but again chickened out. I ended up telling him that night in a message but of course he didn't say it back (men...). I don't doubt that he loves me back, I have a feeling he wanted to see how things go when we're together in real life and then say it.
So, the original plan was for him to be there 2 years, which now has already come and gone. He is now planning on moving back to Australia in about another 6 months. The uncertainty is the hardest thing of it all, but we message every single day and talk on the phone or skype when the time difference and our busy schedules allow us to. I really look forward to seeing if we can make this work for real one day but in the meantime we're happy getting to know each other more and more each day.
to LFAD
Comment