I know that I have been yapping about dating and online dating in a few past articles, and actually have decided to document one of my most recent—and very amazing experiences that is relative to dating—because I feel it to be ever so noteworthy of an endeavor. Seeing as there are plenty of strapping single young lads like me out there (as well as plenty of ladies), there will always be daters seeking some form of advice, hints or tips, or just looking to find out more about what other people have been able to secure through their online dating adventures. For me, after a gnarly divorce, and a marriage that spanned the good part of a decade, I found myself suddenly flung into the dating scene; go figure!
Not being the frequenter of many bars, pubs or clubs, abhorring date chat lines, and really not into local match making services, I decided to go with a free—yes free—online dating account; as I think it’s silly to pay to meet someone when you can do the same thing for free. So I feel it ever so necessary to document my experiences with this wonderful person that I have met, which is turning out to be the seedlings that have some great potential to blossom into the long term, nurturing relationship that I have been diligently seeking over the past year and a half of being single.
The Timeline of my Dating Experience with this Wonderful Person
Meeting on an Online Dating Website
So I started a profile on a free online dating site called Plenty of Fish (you can find it by searching for it online, but I will refrain from brandishing their URL, as I am not trying to advertise for this free dating website). I made sure to write a great profile bio, upload recent pictures of myself, and then I started emailing and chatting with fellow online female daters. It took about a week before I met just a fantastic woman (who I will also keep her name private because I wish to preserve her confidentiality, and it is of no consequence to the nature and the premise of this article). In short: we exchanged several emails, then used instant messaging, finally sharing our Facebook pages—and this all led up to a set date night—all within the first five days of getting to know her!
The First Date
The first date was awesome. We broke all the rules, too; like talking about our exes, politics, our views on religion and so forth. We hit up a few great Arizona nighttime hotspots and quickly realized that we were a pretty darned good match. From there, it was all cream and sugar my friends.
Text Messages, Chatting, & Following Up
Over the few days from that Wednesday that followed, plenty of text messages were sent to and from one another and a few phone calls were made. Behold: We now had a weekend date set to meet up on Friday. But I never thought it would be nearly as extended as it turned out to be! And who says online dating doesn’t work? Oh yeah, I did!
Boy was I wrong, and in the very best of ways, too!
A Weekend Rendezvous Like-Never-Before (No Sex; That’s Being a Gentleman)!
Then Friday of the same week hit. She and I met up for sushi at this cool little hole-in-the-wall and decided to go bar-hopping following that. We met up with her girlfriends at a total dive pub later (so they could get their one-up on me and make sure I was not some maniacal serial killer; I love eating cereal, so please!). After a night on the town Friday that was truly hard to top, she ended up staying the night. We hung out, watched TV and movies, drank some damn good mixed drinks and I gave her a half-hour sensual massage. I cannot emphasize enough that there was NO SEX, and there is NOTHING wrong with taking it slow. If you are looking for a one-night-stand, that’s another story, however.
Come Saturday, it was a dreamy day where we slept in. Then hunger hit us on the head, and we embarked to a local spot to dine on some Mexican fares and get some drinks. Our day kicked off smoothly, and back to the house to hang out we went. We cuddled and were ‘bedroom junkies’ for a bit, watching TV, chatting, and snoozing. Come the night, we were on the hunt for yet another dating adventure. To the local Arizona casinos we headed, and we were greatly disappointed. We found ourselves back at a few choice dive bars, and then capped the night off with mixer drinks we picked up at a grocery store on the way back home. She stayed the night with me on Saturday as well, another massage was offered and accepted, and again, I was not ready to take that next leap into full sex; still too early.
Now we talk and text daily and have plans to meet up again a few times this week. All in all, it has been the most exhilarating dating experiencing I have yet to encounter. I am ever so confident that this person may indeed be the ‘one’ that I have been seeking all of this while. Only time will tell. And in time, perhaps, I will take things to the next intimate level.
But there is never anything wrong with playing your cards right and being a true gentleman!
After a ten year relationship has gone sour on me—and after taking nearly two years to reflect upon whom I am and what I could take from that relationship—I find myself just another number on one of the many dating sites that populate the World Wide Web these days. That being said, there are some really important lessons that I have learned from both my own mishaps and by conducting some online research into what dating and love experts had to say about online dating. That being said, I learned rather quickly that I was doing some things in the improper manner, and that it was greatly hampering the amounts of dates that I was going on. So I took some time to look over and study these online dating tips, and like magic my inbox has slowly but surely started to fill up—brimming with emails from attractive ladies that I share common interests with, and now, finally, the dates are rolling on in. I aim to share three of the dating tips I learned with you all—so perhaps you can avoid some of the pitfalls that I was subjected to early on.