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Bailey

Transit Travel

Traveling with Luggage. Part 2.

Posted on April 16, 2017

Last week I posted about Traveling with Luggage. Part 1. Where my luggage visited more Airports than I did.

You would think that would have been my last and final adventure with luggage on that trip.

It wasn’t.

Leaving Ireland wasn’t bad, I got to play Airport tag with the Irishman. Turns out when you both leave from the same airport and have the same connecting flight, you can play tag in the airports around the world.

My flight from Dublin left on time and we landed at our connecting city of Toronto at our scheduled time. Now I was hoping that this time it would be a breezy two and a half hour lay over. Plenty of time to get my bags, go threw all the checkpoints and be on my next plane. However I stated this “breezy” layover by sitting on the tarmac for a gate for about 10 minutes.

Now this is where the “fun” began.

At Toronto airport you have to pick up your bags go, then go through Customs, re-check  your bags, then go through airport security, and then find your gate.

Part One: Customs.

Customs wasn’t an awful experience. In fact, it was pretty well-organized and the line moved at a reasonable speed. Start to finish, I was in and out in 10 mins.

Part two: Claiming my luggage.

I’ve been to the zoo before, I just didn’t think Toronto airport had one at the baggage claim.

Have you seen a herd of animals around a watering hole before? Well the baggage claim I had to use, looked very much like that but with 300 people. You see, we had one luggage carousel and 3 international flights.

I lost all sense of time waiting for my luggage to come out. People where complaining left and right, then when some luggage started to come off, they turned into vultures seeing if it was theirs. Eventually mine popped out, I took it and I left.

Part three: Re-checking of the luggage.

One must recheck their luggage when traveling Toronto airport. So you gotta line up with the rest of them.

This is the starting point of me

HAVING TO RUN THREW THE AIRPORT AGAIN.

I had handed my ticket to the lady and she said the words no one wants to hear, “You’re plane is boarding, if you check your luggage now it wont make the flight, it will if you take it with you.”

I’m sorry what?
How long was I waiting in the land of baggage claim?
What time was it?

The three guys behind me where apparently on my same flight and the following happened.

Step four and Five: Airport security & finding our gate.

Three guys and one redhead then proceed to RUN ACROSS THE AIRPORT trying to make our flight, that is now boarding.

We ran down hallways, on to a tram to another terminal.

Me with my carry-on, suitcase, and purse.
Them with their massive backpacking backpacks.

The guys politely asked the woman in charge if we could cut in and she said “No sir, I’M not allowed to do that”. Then they asked the people in line if we could cut through and make our plane. Protip- Ask the customers, not the staff to cut in line. To those people, thank you, you truly are nice and polite people.

Now airport security was a breeze until one of the guys got chosen for a random search for his bag. He flat-out said “You know what, you can keep it, I don’t need whats inside. I just want to go home and my flight is boarding”. Airport security handed back his bag and said have a nice flight.

WE MADE THE GATE!

The guys handed over their tickets, got scanned in and then I handed over mine.

“This isn’t your flight. Your flight is such and such gate and leaves in 25 mins”

ARE YOU F!@#$ING KIDDING ME?
I JUST RAN ACROSS A BLOODY AIRPORT!

Turns out the woman at baggage reclaim read my ticket wrong. Me being jet legged and not knowing how long I spent at the luggage zoo, didn’t check. As I walked to my CORRECT gate, I realized, I was very thirsty. So I set out to find a reasonably priced bottle of water.

Guess who I found at the airport.

It’s not the greatest photo of us, but I love it none the less.

Step six: Get on plane.

We even managed to get on the same flight together. I had to explain to the woman at the gate why I had my luggage with me and checked at the gate.

It was an uneventful flight from Toronto to Vancouver, just the way I like them.

It was an excellent trip to Ireland and I can’t wait to go back.

Although I did learn that if I’m ever going to have connecting flights, I’m going to have a 5 hour, at the least, lay over to avoid having to run through yet another airport. Or, I’m just going to fly direct.

Travel

Traveling with Luggage. Part 1.

Posted on April 8, 2017

It’s not surprise to anyone, I love to travel. I love getting on a plane, take off, landing and getting off a plane, ready for adventure.

Probably my least favorite part of traveling is the luggage. Also, running through any airport.

Two weeks ago, I went to one of my favorite places in the world.

Ireland.

I left Vancouver, Canada, on March 24th at 9am and landed in Dublin Ireland on March 25th at 5am. With an hour and a half layover in New Jersey.

My Layover in Jersey was an adventure inside of itself. I had only an hour and half to get from one gate to the next, and a security check point between them. I spent 80% of that time waiting in security and 20% of that time running through the airport. I was the second to last person allowed on the plane.

When I landed in Dublin at 4:55am Saturday morning, I was super tired and ready for coffee.

But first LUGGAGE!

I waited for the travel gods to release my luggage from the pits of the plane on to one luggage carousel.

I watched bags come out, over and down the ramp and waited.

And waited.

Waited some more.

And waited.

May the luggage gods be swift in spitting out mine!

I noticed that the sign on top of the carousel said that the last bags have been unloaded. I then sought out an airport employee to figure out where one needs to go for inquiries about ones luggage.

And so lined up behind about 4 people and waited some more.

Once I had got to the counter, I had to fill out some paperwork.

What is the date?
What does your luggage look like?
How many wheels does it have?
What color is it?
Is it hard or soft?
Does it have a luggage tag?
Where are you staying?
What is your permanent address?
What is the best way to contact you well you are traveling?

Cue filling out the paperwork and using wifi to text the boyfriend to get his parents address and a phone number so airline could contact me with luggage.

Then it happened!
We had made a great discovery!

My luggage wasn’t lost at all!

Just on another adventure.
In another airport without me.
In a different country.

Apparently my luggage had made it off the plane in New Jersey, but somehow managed to make it back on to that same plane I had just gotten off of, and that plane went to London England.

My luggage was in London.

I was in Dublin.

This is why you have a carry on folks! FOR THIS REASON!

Good news/Bad news.

Good news, it should be on the flight at 1pm later that day. But I should call later just in case.
Bad news, I only had one day’s change of clothes.
Good news, they would send it out to me in Waterford where I was staying, via courier. (Hopefully later that day)

By the time I actually got to leave the airport it was now about 5:50am in the morning.

Fast forward to later that day. Once we arrived in Waterford I called the airline to enquirer about my luggage and its location. However, the woman I spoke to on the phone had no idea where said luggage was. My luggage was now on another adventure.  She told me to call back in the morning.

The phone rang Sunday morning and it was the airline. Anto’s mom took the call and explained to him that the luggage in question would be at the house around noon. However, with it being my birthday and Mother’s day, we would not be home when they arrived to drop it off.  So she arranged for them to drop it off at the restaurant.

I remember being told that I would need ID when they dropped off the luggage and I would have to sign for it.

I remember signing for my luggage and the guy asking for no ID whats so ever, and being very excited. But better yet, Antos mom also saw the guy leaving and giving him a heart attack asking where the luggage was because she was the one in contact with him the entire day.

Even though I didn’t get to wear my birthday outfit, I got the gift of being reunited with my luggage.

Finally reunited with my luggage!

Now this was just beginning of my travels. Wait until I post part 2 of traveling with luggage coming home!

Baking Life

Baking

Posted on February 14, 2017

The definition of Definition of bake

Baked; Baking

1 :  to cook (as food) by dry heat especially in an oven
2 :  to dry or harden by subjecting to heat

My definition of baking:

  1. Stress relief.
  2. Relaxation.
  3. Creation a tasty things.

I use to bake all the time growing up, but in recent years it was just easier to buy my bread, baked goods and treats from a store.

When I was younger I would bake Peanut Butter cookies for my dad and the guys at his work. I use to remember the recipe from heart. I would come home from school, do homework and then bake cookies. I remember one time I messed up the salt and sugar. I got a call from my dad from work asking what was up with the cookies. Needless to say the cookies ended up a bit salty. Even our dog wouldn’t eat them, he just knew.

During my teens, I would bring cupcakes to game nights with friends.

I use to bring cupcakes and cookies into work randomly throughout the year. Now, I usually only bake Ginger crinkle cookies around Christmas.

Although for the past month, I’ve been getting back into the swing of things. I’ve made buns, cupcakes, cinnamon buns and bread.

I’ve missed it. I really have.

I use baking to get my frustrations and my stress out. If I was sad or upset with something I would make cupcakes and then get lost in the decorating. I’m not sure why I stopped.

My house use to smell like a house. Now when you walk into my house now, it smells like a home. A home of sweet treats and baked goods.

Life

Retirement

Posted on February 5, 2017

The last couple of weeks I’ve learned about RRSPs, TFSA, Bonds, Stocks, CPP, and so on. Which is why I’m a little behind on my blog of the week. (Two blogs behind scheduled actually.) I did figure out is that I should have started my RRSP with work about 7 years ago. But, I guess better late than never at all!

It was a lot to take it and a lot to process. It made me think about where I want my life to go.

When do I want to retire? 60? 65? 71? How are the choices I make in my 20’s going to affect my life in my 60-70’s? How comfortable do I want to retire? What will I retire with? Where will I retire? Who will get my benefits if I pass?

I’m glad for three things:

1. The internet.
Its full of so many answers to my many questions.

2. Work.
For providing me some tools to help me understand what I’m jumping into.

3. The Italian.

For explaining everything I’ve just learned into words I can understand.

Spending quite a bit of time learning about the world of retirement made me realize a couple of things.

Owning a home is an important aspect of a solid retirement. It’s too bad that living in Vancouver has made it IMPOSSIBLE for me to own a home. I’ve come to the conclusion that if I’m ever to own a home, it will not be here.

A family is another important aspect of retirement. Who are my beneficiaries? If i was to ever pass, who would get my benefits and investments? I have three people as my beneficiaries in case anything does happen to me, however, I would rather it be my spouse and child(ren).

I want to retire comfortably. Well I should have started this process when I was eligible through work, I’m glad I’m doing it now, before I turn 30. I’m also very glad I started a TFSA about 5 years ago. Well it’s not a lot to most, its something.

Well I realize that trying to figure this all out when I’m 28 is weird when I don’t plan on retirement for a long while, its important to have some kind of plan.

Now I have a start of a plan.

Driving Life

Better late, then never.

Posted on January 20, 2017

After about 10 years, I have finally renewed my Learners license!

Best part is that it only took me 2 ½ MONTHS to get the yellow temporary piece of paper, well they send the real one in the mail!

On November 7th, I had the day off from work and figured “What the heck, let’s go re-new my learners”. So I set out for the closest ICBC licensing office. I waited in line, got a number, sat down and waited for my call number. When my number was called I talked to a lovely lady, I told her I was here to renew my much expired Learners.

Fact: It was 10 years old.

In order to pass, I had to take the knowledge test by answering at least 40 questions right, and do an eye exam.

I passed the knowledge test!

However, I did not pass the “Eye Exam”.

I’m sure you are wondering how I failed this eye exam. Well, first off, I wouldn’t call it an eye exam. After going to the optometrist for the better part of 23 years, I know what an eye exam is. That ICBC eye exam is not an eye exam.

Anyway, I’m sure the reason I failed this “Eye exam” is because of my glasses. Apparently you can do your eye exam with and without glasses. The person behind the counter asked me to do this eye exam with my glasses on. I did because I didn’t know you had the option to do it without. Although, due to my prescription, any close up, in my face flashing lights will throw me off. Guess what was part of this “Eye exam”? You guessed it, flashing lights. So I passed the written and failed the eye exam.

But fear not!

I could take a form (Evaluation of Visual Functions (EVF)), to my optometrist to fill out, and return it later that day or up to 30 days later. Too bad the optometrist that I have been seeing for the last 15 years was located in Kamloops.

In fact, I was located in a giant mall. The hunt for an optometrist who took walk ins was on!

I located one and got an appointment for 3hours later. Did I mention I was in a mall? Once my appointment was underway, I had a lovely man tell me that I have a lot of prism in my glasses. He also told me that I was his 4th EVF of the day and that this amount of prism would throw off any test that I took well wearing glasses. Thank you random mall optometrist for taking $91.00 and telling me information that I already knew.  FILL OUT THE PAPER WORK!  What should have been a 30min appointment was now taking an hour. When he did fill out my paperwork he made some mistakes and corrected them, signed it and sent me on my way.

Back the ICBC office to hand in this now dodgy looking EVF.

The only bright side to that day was the lady who was originally helping me, let me jump the line to hand in the paper work. “I’ll be right back I just have to get my supervisor to look this over”.

That’s when I learned this lovely little fact:
It needs to be sent into RoadSafeBC (RSBC) via FAX
Also, I would need to call them in one to two weeks to find out the next steps.

ONE WEEK LATER:

I called RSBC about the status of my EVF. Turns out they were processing everything from that day and to “Call back on Friday”.

Another ONE WEEK LATER:

I called RSBC about the status of my EVF. Turns out they have no paper work or record of me calling last week and that I should go back into the ICBC office I was dealing with and get them to resend it.

ANOTHER ONE WEEK LATER:

I have the morning off from work and head back to the ICBC office. I got in line, got a number, and waited for my number to be called.
Once my number was called I explained EVERYTHING thus far to the man behind the counter.
He then called RSBC and asked what the status was. The conversation went something like this:

ICBC: “I have a client in front of me; we would like to know the status of her EVF to renew her Learners.
RSBC:  “We have no records on our end of any FAX or paper work, did you send in the paperwork?”
ICBC: “We faxed and mailed you the original copy. We have nothing here; we sent it to you two weeks ago. All I have here is the client’s photocopied copy of her EVF”.
RSBC: “We need the original copy”.
ICBC: “Yes I understand that, but we sent you those by fax and e-mail two weeks ago. I’m going to fax over the photocopy copy and I’m going to stay on the line until you get it”.
The guy then told me to call them in a week to see what the status of my EVF was.

ANOTHER WEEK LATER:

I called RSBC about the status of my EVF and that call went like this:

Me: “Hi, I’m wondering about the status of my EVF?”
RSBC: “Yes, we have received it.”
Me: “Awesome, so what is the next step for me?”
RSBC: “Well the EVF is in line for review so until it’s up for review, it’s a waiting game.”
Me: “Ok, may I ask how long that may take?”
RSBC: “Well we are currently reviewing EVFs from June.”
Me:  “So you are telling me that I won’t find out until the new year if I can renew my LEARNERS LICENSE?”
RSBC: “yes”
Me: “OKAYBYE”.

At this point I was beyond frustrated and super annoyed with this whole processes. I had pretty much given up on renewing my license and taking transit until I died.

ANOTHER TWO WEEKS LATER:

I got a letter in the mail!

START THE COFFEE, CUE THE MUSIC, START THE PARADE!

The letter stated that I need glasses to drive! All I had to do was take this letter into the ICBC office with two pieces of ID and I’m ready to go. The only part about this that sucked was that it was now prime Christmas Shopping holidays at the mall and I figured I would wait it out. I hate the mall during the Christmas season.

TWO AND A HALF MONTHS IN

January 19th, I finally renewed my learners license

after waiting at the ICBC licensing office for an hour and a half.  The short of the already really long. Someone somewhere didn’t put all of my info into the box and they had to print 5 different temporary drivers’ licenses for me.

Plus side: I got to practice what my signature would look like on my ID!

Moral of the story:
Don’t let your license expire.

Life

Challenge Yourself.

Posted on January 11, 2017

One of the definitions of challenge is:

To test the ability, skill, or strength of (someone or something) : to be difficult enough to be interesting to (someone)

Last year I took part in the Instagram 365 Photo Challenge (Technically it was the 366 photo challenge as it was a leap year) and I loved it. An old co-worker of mine did the Instagram Photo Challenge in 2015 and she inspired me to take on that challenge for 2016.

So from January 1st to Dec 31st 2016 I took a total of 3,000+ Photos and made 442 posts to Instagram.

It was never about getting followers, or a number of likes, but to challenge myself to do something every day for a year. Some days it was to find something that made me happy, or brought a memory to mind, or something stupid that made me laugh. In the end, it was to challenge myself and to see how I could do the same thing in a different way, every day.

Of course like any challenge you take on in life, you are going to have some difficult times. With that said, the only time last year I felt I really struggled with the Photo Challenge was near the end. December was a hard month for me to get through. Creatively, emotionally and physically. The stress from working the holidays, my best friend was moving out and to top it off I ended up with a meniscus tear in my knee. As a result, it was hard to find the drive to finish the project.

But I did and it felt great.

I did end my photo challenge on a bit of a lower note then I originally wanted to, but I felt it was a perfect way to end the year and the photo challenge.

So it’s a new year, 2017, and I have a new challenge for myself.

One blog post a week for a year.

I’m excited about writing about my travel plans, life, love, adventures, and all the weird transit stories. But I’m mostly excited about what I’m going to get up to this year. I look forward to see what 2017 is going to throw my way and how I’m going to knock it out of the park.

Life

The Italian moved out.

Posted on January 3, 2017

I posted about the ending of my 366 photo challenge with a bit of a heavy photo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOsP6mnjeT7/?taken-by=piratespacebee

 

Moving boxes and packed up belongings. I’ve known for a while that he was and would be moving. The Italian didn’t end up moving out until today as it snowed on Saturday.

Although it never hit me that he would be moving until I walked into the house today.

The Italian has, in fact, moved out.

Then cue me bursting into tears.

This was probably a result of me being completely burnt out at work. Or it’s because I never had the chance to have a good cry when we broke up. But the tears came out, as well as the wine and chocolate.

Why did we break up? Well, we broke up because we wanted and still want different things in life. With that said, we stayed friends and roommates.

Why did he move out? It’s simple, he needed to. For himself and for me. While it is hard right now, it’s for the best. The Italian has a life, I have a life, we need to live them.

Why didn’t you just make it work? For the sole reason that I want to be happy and I want him to be happy. On a romantic level, it didn’t work out. We want different things that we believe will add to our happiness. On a friendship level, we are golden. He’s actually one of my very good friends who I plan on keeping around until we are old.

I wont lie, I’m going to miss living with the Italian. He makes delicious food, he can make you laugh when you’ve had a bad day at work and doesn’t hold back when you’re being a butt.

But like all good things, they must come to an end and new beginnings have to start. I look forward to hearing about all the adventures that the Italian will be going on and look forward to telling him about all my adventures. At the end of the day he is still one of my very good friends, just no longer my roommate.

Life

Whimsical BUT Stable

Posted on September 21, 2016

Dear Mr. Smith,

Someone once described me as whimsical but stable. I’ll be honest with you Mr. Smith; I’m not really sure why these words upset me so much. But, they did.

Maybe it’s because I thought that this is how people would always describe me? Turns out I was wrong. I asked a few people who actually knew me to describe me in two words. This was the list I ended up with:

Dynamic, Creative, Happy, Stubborn, Sassy, Energetic, Enthusiastic, Helpful,
Friendly, Approachable, Fiery, Lovable, Stubborn, Upfront, Shiny, Bubbly, Outgoing,
Bright, Witty, Warm, Dreamer, Fierce.

The one that made me laugh was Hashtag Queen. If you follow me on Instagram you know why.

Oh by the way, the person who described me as whimsical but stable was you Mr. Smith. I mean in all fairness, you where comparing me to all your ex-girlfriends (great way to make a girl feel special by the way!) so that didn’t help matters. Maybe it did because according to you “I wasn’t crazy but stable”

NEWS FLASH:
Apparently having a head on my shoulders, a budget, life goals,
dreams and hopes for my future meant that I was stable!


WHO KNEW?!

However, you did call me Whimsical. Actually, your exact words where “You’re not crazy, but stable. I mean you’re whimsical as well as stable. I would describe you as whimsical but stable”.

Now I do realize that I have a serious case of wanderlust and the need to travel. However, one would use the word AND not BUT when describing someone.

Writing this has actually helped. I’m realizing now it’s not the words Whimsical or stable that I have an issue with. It’s the fact you used the word BUT. Like one is worse than the other. Well, I wouldn’t use these words to describe myself; I will add them to the list of how people describe me.

Perhaps the next time you try to romance a girl, don’t compare her to your non-stable ex-girlfriends and don’t use the word but. Here is a list of words that could be used instead of but, depending on how you need to use them:

Yet
Although
Nevertheless
Still
Though
However

Looking back I never did get a chance to describe you in two words. But I would like to do so now.

Dedicated and Mystified.

Now, let me explain. You’re dedicated to those you hold dear and the job you love. You seem to know what you want in life, but don’t actually want that. Although you do a great job of confusing the shit out of girl. Or you DO know exactly what you want but don’t want to let anyone in to see the real you, to let them in and let yourself get hurt.

Yet here I am, wishing you all the best in life’s adventures Mr. Smith. Why? Well because I think you’re a great guy who just needs to figure his shit out before he can let anyone in.

So, in the end I guess I would describe myself as Whimsical AND Stable.

Funny how life works itself out.

XoXo,
All the best.

Dating

Tinder Dates: Esteban.

Posted on August 11, 2016

If you know me you know I’ve gone on some horrible dates.

So naturally I signed up for Tinder. You know, keep the bad dates going and content for the blog.
You can read part one here, part two here, part three here and part four here.

Esteban was my first ever Tinder date. I remember meeting Esteban at a coffee shop after work and I remember the moment he walked in the door. I thought to myself “Well hello there!” Esteban was a big guy, I mean arms for days! I never realized I had a thing for arms until I met this guy.

Anyway, what started out as a walking coffee quickly turned into a 6 hour date. We watched the sunset over Vancouver and then we grabbed some food at a local pub. I laughed, I cried because I laughed so much and I enjoyed myself. It was late so I had accepted a ride home from Esteban and once we reached my house, we said our good nights and I kissed him.

We began that weird awkward dance of getting to know each other and dating at the same time, but not putting a label on it. Like a true Vancouverite. Although, Esteban did end up giving me a hickey early on in this weird little dance. So in his own way, he tried to put a label on it. But thanks to a side braid and concealer, all was well.

I remember the first time I met his friends, so many faces and stories about Esteban were told. I remember being told “if you hang around long enough you will experience some of your own”. The night went on and we ended up dancing until 2 am. It was a great night and I truly had a good time. I even brought over Cards against Humanity over to his place one time and enjoyed an evening with his friends.

I also remember the next morning, realizing Esteban has no coffee maker. As a coffee addict I was shocked to learn this. Also, I had been over at his place a few times, I’ve eaten dinner there, and I’ve made dinner there. How did I not notice this man had no coffee maker?! But Starbucks was just around the corner. No harm, no foul, but man get a coffee maker!

Coffee addicts rest assured, he later purchased a coffee maker.

Anyway, what goes up, must come down as they say. Oh boy, did they come down. I never thought by signing up for Tinder I would be learning a life lesson, but I did. Oh boy did I.

I had stayed the night over at Esteban’s and had woken up not feeling well. You remember how I told you Esteban’s a big guy? Well Esteban wanted a bit of morning action and I said no. He did try to persuade me but ultimately nothing of the sort was going to happen. I also needed to get ready for work. What did happen though was I got pinned to the bed by him and he started to give me a hickey. Well that might be fine and dandy, I hate hickeys. I’m not a child anymore, I don’t see the point in them and they are a pain to conceal. The worst part wasn’t being pinned to the bed but feeling totally helpless in getting this guy off of me. My words of “No, Stop it, Get the Fuck off of me” where going unheard. The more I struggled to get out from under him the angrier I got, and the more he thought I was joking. What was a few minutes felt like an hour, but I eventually got to my feet and emerged a true angry redhead.

I was livid.
.
“What the fuck!”
.
“Did you not here me?”
.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
.
“I have never been this angry in YEARS DAMNIT!”
.
“YEARS!!!”

I grabbed a few of my things, alas, leaving behind my favorite black shirt and a makeup bag.

I left.

I slammed that door on my way out.

It made the most satisfying slamming noise.
You could hear from space I’m sure.

I called my sister and my BFF Mel. I was too angry to cry but I’m glad for both of them to be there for me when I needed them. Even if it was over the phone.

I did end up naming the hickey, Texas. Why? Well, because it was the size of Texas.

I told everything to one other person and she told me “Bailey, you are too good for him. No one should ever make you feel like that. We are always here if you need anything”. She made me realize something. I deserve someone who listens to what I have to say, takes my feelings into account and untimely respects me.

I asked for my things back from Esteban: a makeup bag and that shirt.

What he ended up giving me back my makeup bag, a grey tank top (that was too small for me), and some jewellery that wasn’t mine.

Just goes to show how much he paid attention to me eh?

In the end, Esteban got a coffee maker, I went out and bought a new shirt.

I also learned a life lesson.
If they don’t respect you, they don’t deserve you.

Dating

Tinder Dates: Part Four.

Posted on August 3, 2016

If you know me you know I’ve gone on some horrible dates.

So naturally I signed up for Tinder. You know, keep the bad dates going and content for the blog.
You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here.

However, some people surprise you and you end up on a fantastic date. Let’s face it, it was bound to happen. They can’t all be bad dates.

My go date activity is a walking coffee. (Get coffee, walk around)

 Two reasons: one I have a serious coffee addiction and two, I like walking around and exploring.

I feel like I need to give you all a bit of back story about this date.

I came across Allan* on tinder and it was his picture that had me go “Holy hell he’s cute, I’m swiping right!” I immediately thought to myself, I should have probably read the words in his profile before swiping right. But lo and behold, it was a match!

*Names have been changed because privacy.

Now you are probably wondering what did this profile picture look like? Well, it was a very adorable picture of Allan and his dog. His dog is super cute, so I may have swiped right for the dog, stayed for the human.

Allan and I got to chatting over Tinder and I realized that he’s a genuine nice guy, so I wanted to meet him. He works in the film Industry so trying to nail down a date with him was a bit hard because his hours and my hours didn’t match up. We agreed that later that afternoon was best and we should do a walking coffee.

Allan and I met up at Starbucks for coffee. The first thing I did upon meeting him was pet the dog. I was very excited about the dog because he’s super adorable. If you look into my Instagram you will find the picture of said adorable dog.

Allan, adorable dog and I ended up walking around a pond near my house. It might be that I’ve been on so many bad dates that when someone asks a question about me and the things I’m interested in, I’m over the moon. I’m not asking all the questions and pulling teeth to get the conversation going.

So with that said we ended up talking for about four hours. Without realizing that four hours  had passed.

We had realized it was getting late when we watched the sunset threw the trees and the street lights coming on.

When I say my life is like a movie, it’s true because sometimes romantic things actually happen.  Let me set the scene.

Sun setting
Scooting closer to each other
Sneaking your arm around the other
Stealing a kiss under the stars
All the while a dog tries to figure out what’s rustling around in the bushes behind you.

I may have romanticized it a bit, but I’m a sucker for sunsets and smooches.

Bonus if they happen at the same time.

We may have proceeded to smooch for a little while longer, and then realized the hour.

My favorite part was not the kiss at sunset but the fact that Allan wanted to walk me home to make sure I got home safe. OK so, maybe from sunset on was my favorite part of the date.

I remember standing at my front gate and saying “I had a great time tonight and I would like to see you again, I’ll message you my number and we will plan for a movie or something”. It’s pretty obvious that Allan got my number, I got a second date and the adorable dog got to go on a few more walks with two humans.

I also happened to end up with to mosquito bites on my feet. So for the next five days, when my feet would itch, I would think of smooches under the stars.

I have one more Tinder date to tell, remember Esteban? Stay tuned for that blog post.

All the best!