Elijah from Texas*
*Some names changed for anonymity
I met Elijah when I first got to Sofia, Bulgaria at the hostel I was staying at. He was volunteering at the hostel and came from Texas. His goofy and semi-flirty sense of humor had me crushing on him immediately. We ended up spending some time together when out with our other hostel mates. And he was like....CLUELESS. I dropped hints left, right, and center until I just got fed up and told him one night at a bar with our other friend Jordan. I was like "Dude, I been tryna shoot my shot with you since day one and nothing!" He had no idea lol. So that night, we were cooking dinner in the kitchen and we were getting super flirty with the looks, and the slightly mean but funny comments. And so when the other 5 people finally decided to get the fuck out of the kitchen, I planted one on him. The unfortunate thing was that I had to leave for Plovdiv the next morning. So we didn't have a lot of time. So....he agreed to come to Plovdiv for a few days.
When he arrived in Plovdiv, we started seeing the sites and getting to know one another. It was about 2 days before the goofy sense of humor that appealed to me, stopped appealing to me. He started to remind me of my ex who I had been with for 4 years. That goofy sense of humor became invalidation and emotional unavailability really quick. Afterall, every time I tried to have a conversation with him, it turned into an inappropriate joke. It took me no time at all to remember this is why I broke up with my ex. Being drawn to this was part of my relationship pattern. Only this time, it wasn't going to be 4 years. About a month into my travels after that, I realized that I was no longer attracted to that kind of person and I would never pursue someone like that again. Someone who invalidates everything I say and feel by making a joke out of it. He was a damn good lesson in patterns and he was also my one way ticket out of that pattern. He showed me just how ready I was for a different type of person. :)
Hilco from the Netherlands
This one is one of favorites. It happened in Athens and it's my favorite mainly because we were so mean to each other for the first 36 hours of meeting one another.
I bought a brand new beautiful, yet sexy swimsuit in Antalya and wanted to do a bit of a photoshoot by the sad excuse for a pool on the rooftop of the hostel. Well, I got all ready and went up on to the terrace and was hopeful it would be empty. I go around the corner and there was this tall m*ther-f*cker lounging by the pool. He asked if I wanted him to move, and I told him that would be ideal. He moved to another spot on the terrace but kept eyeing me up and down during my amateur shoot. I mean, I don't really blame him. I looked good.
So later that day, I saw him down in the lounge and he was telling people how this mean lady kicked him off the side of the pool. I laughed so hard before flipping him off. Then I came over and told him to get the fuck outta my chair. And he laughed....before flipping me off with 2 fingers. When we went to the pub crawl offered by the hostel we were staying at, we finally learned eachother's names when we were in the club and could barely hear each other. We were also both incoherently inebriated. So naturally, when we went back to the hostel, we drank more vodka.
I was damn near passing out on the couch in the lounge so we both decided to go to our respective dorms to turn in for the night. When in bed, we started messaging each other on Instagram. And I suggested making out on the roof top. The next thing I hear is his dorm room door open and close, and then I get a message saying "Well what are you waiting for?"
So, with our comforters in our arms, we carry them up to the terrace to keep us warm and find the super big pillows they have to lay on and look up at the stars. It was such a clear night. You could see every constellation. It was a beautiful night. We talked about different things, that I honestly can't even remember now. All I remember is getting closer and feeling the warmth of his hand cupping the side of my neck before he kissed me. And that's all that happened. Thinking about that night still leaves a smile on my face years later. Kissing a Dutch stranger under the stars on the roof of our hostel.
This blog post goes unfinished for the simple fact that It's been years. These memories will always be with me.
