The title of this blog post was actually a question posed to me by one of my best friends.
She had just booked a one-way flight to Australia, and asked me, who was working and living in France at the time, 'do you think you're single because you move around so much?'.
We're both very similar. In our early(ish) twenties. Never had a long-term 'adult' relationship. Both fucking terrified of that very fact.
The threat of losing a relationship due to travel is something I learnt very early on and something I always have to keep in mind.
My relationship with the first (and only, lol) guy I've brought home to my parents, broke off because I chose to go to Italy.
At the start of this year, I decided to talk myself out of pursuing the person I liked, because of my plans to go to France and New Zealand.
And then, lo and behold, miss I-won't-date-an-American, ended up, shock, dating an American. We also had to face reality, in fear of getting too attached for our own good, with a deadline of me boarding a plane in 3 weeks.
The good news is, I learnt that not all American boys will stand you up in bars.
The bad news is, I still have to leave both sorts behind.
What I've come to realise, is that whilst I'm living this lifestyle, it's my reality.
Yet, despite all of these instances, when my friend asked me whether travel stops you finding 'the one' three months ago, I answered no.
And if you ask me again, I'll still say no.
Because here's what I've decided/learnt/heard Emma Watson say on an Ellen segment and held dear to my heart for the last 3 years.
If you're doing what you want to do, the person who is right for you will fall into that path.
Which makes complete and utter sense.
1) I know plenty of single women and men out there who work in big cities and have 'normal' lives. Stability doesn't equate to finding someone. They don't go hand in hand.
2) What would be the point in putting my own life on hold in the hopes you find someone, only to find somebody that lives a different way to you?
3) You're going to be attracted to the same qualities that you value in yourself. A lawyer who's brought a house and has a dog? He's not going to be for me. The Australian who's working in a coffee shop in Europe and lives with housemates to save money for travel? Absolutely.
It might not be who I pictured ending up with at 15, but isn't that the case for most people?
I may feel like I've missed out on opportunities to pursue things with certain people, but if I'm completely honest, the fact that neither of us have pursued it, signifies to me that they aren't 'the one' right now.
From wandering the canals in Milan, to climbing cliffs over Bondi beach, to driving along to Stevie Wonder on a highway in Georgia, I've had some pretty write-home experiences.
But more importantly, I've learnt so much about myself through who I've dated, and I've met some great people (and, tbh, assholes). But you take the bad with the good, and I have no regrets with my decisions to date whilst travelling because really, you never know who you might meet.
I met one of my favourite people in the world in a hostel in Cairns. A 6ft-something, 25-year-old Lothario, whose good looks and charisma had turned the heads of a lot of my friends.
Having some highly-sought-after best guy friends at home, I stayed strong to this. Instead, I became one of his best friends, and thought someone had stolen his phone when, on his first week in Bali, he messaged me saying he'd met a girl and had never felt anything so strongly before.
After 8 days travelling together, they booked flights to meet up again, and she flew back home to Europe.
That was in May, they're still together.
When you're travelling (speaking for myself) you wear the same clothes countless times, you don't really wear makeup, you LIVE in shorts and flipflops/trainers, and you are the most exposed version of yourself.
And maybe it's because of this raw, bare-all you, that there are countless couples I've met who hooked up in a hostel one night and have now been together for months, even years.
So yes, it is something that I think about when meeting someone new. But I will never change my lifestyle just to meet 'the one', because the chances are, my 'one' is also far away from his home country, living out of a backpack too.
And if he's not, then we'll just have to make that work.
Love, Alice x
Love this Alice. Thanks for sharing your stories and thoughts on this topic that I feel doesn't get talked about a lot. I think that along with the idea that travel is too expensive, and that there isn't enough time to travel, this is another big factor that holds back a lot of people from travel. Especially with some female travelers. Thanks again for sharing :)
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