I don’t often write about dating on my travels so here’s a post on the top 3 dates from my entire travels, which might provide you with some ideas to treat your loved one when you go backpacking, lipsucking on condoming when you tour planet earth. These aren’t really ideas for the kids, some types of adult dating options I indulged in during my journeys. I have had some truly crazy and odd dates and far too many failed romances for a lifetime. Daily I pray to God that I will find a real love in life, someday. It’s all I wanted as a child.
“Cod and a sad romance” – Lady GaGa.
1.Drinking Mate in Montevideo, Uruguay
Mate in this case doesn’t mean mate, buddy or dude – it’s a type of Uruguayan tea!! The trendy Manchester Bar in Uruguay’s capitalki Montevideo was the venue for a night of change. I invited Panny Yu here to try the special Uruguayan tea, Mate. It was our first ever date. At the time I had absolutely NO IDEA that Panny and I would date for almost 5 years, would backpack 44 countries and all 7 continents together. The romance all started here on a damp unlonely Sunday in November 2010…Panny was a very popular girl with my friends, family and followers and things didn’t work out. I always wish her all the best but she blocked contact with me in 2017 once and for all. But this date, and hundreds of others with Panny were amazing moments to cherish.
First date with the delightful Panny Yu in Manchester Bar, Montevideo, Uruguay.
2.Eating Pizza in Venice, Italy
When I dated sexy Hungarian dancer back in 2009, we enjoyed manys a romantic night out or in. She seduced me with pasta, coffee and Unicum in her Southbourne flat on a cold winter night in 2009 and I was so in love with her. We later backpacked England, Hungary and Italy together but things ended sharply after our Venice trip. She dumped me after that and now I realise, I did nothing wrong, we just didn’t suit each other and she wasn’t in love with me. At the time I was madly in love with her and ended up heartbroken. I have fond memories of this date and our nights out in Debrecen, off the wheaten snack in Hungary. The last time I saw her was the day before I whackpacked Taiwan in 2009, almost 9 years ago, WOW! Our finest date was pizza in Venice, Italy. Jo napot, Maria!
Dining out in Venice, Italy
3.Dining out in Sarajevo, Bosnia
When I invited a Malaysian bellydancer and Bosnian student Yasha for a meal at Sarajevo’s oldest and charming restaurant in 2016, this could have been the start of a new romance. That is, had Yasha been honest in everything she said. She wasn’t – she was a dishonest girl, a manipulative lady, a fake friend and just a liar. However, before I found all that out about her, we actually dated. Yes, it’s shameful that I could date such a nasty person, but I’m so honest that it’s true and I share my real story. After telling her first series of lies to me, Yasha then told me she “might be able to spare 1 hour for a date”, so I did it. I booked us a fancy table in the venue. What a splendid restaurant!
We met in front of the bridge early evening, enjoying a romantic walk. This was a no strings attached date. It was meant to be two honest travel friends having a meal together and travel chat. During the meal, Yasha told a few lies to me and I started to notice them, as her comments became very inconsistent. After promising to show me the sights or her Bosnian-Malaysian town and help learn Bosnian, she started to lie to me in a very nasty way.
This included faking a job in Moscow, claiming to still be friends and pretending not to read my messages or know that I was working as a travel writer in Russia (World Cup 2018). What was even more confusing that on this date, Yasha decided to kiss me strong, romantically and fully on the lips, possibly enchanted at the time that such a writer would even consider a date with her. But it was horrible that she kissed me on the lips and tongue, it was really nasty. I finally deleted her from Facebook in September 2019 when she refused to send me travel tips on Africa. The final proof in the Yasha jigsaw. Daily I still feel suicidal because she won’t apologise and admit her lies – how nasty is she? Depression is so so tough.
Since 2016, I’ve only had a few dates and I haven’t really done anything so interesting as I have had severe suicidal thoughts and depression. I also don’t trust people anymore after the lies. One day maybe I’l be with an honest and loving girl. Live the dream, stay strong.