I Live in South Africa and I am in a relationship with a man who lives in Austria, Yes you read that right, I am in what many would call an LDR aka Long Distance Relationship and I bet you are curious how I got myself entangled in such a relationship, haha I know I used the word “entangled” and yes I just had to because it could very well be Oxford word of the year due to the unrest it has caused in the relationship world but anyway that’s a topic for another day so for now back to my entanglement, I can’t seem to get over this word can I?
I spend a lot of time on the internet just being random, from playing mobile games that require internet to browsing some perhaps unusual things I’m not sure if everyone browses but anyway my browsing history is not the topic here so let us move on shall we. In all my internet activities, I dabbled in some internet dating sites too and that is how I met my boyfriend. We met about 2 years ago just texting and flirting but I honestly didn’t give him a thought or a chance because I just wasn’t sure it would turn into anything serious because why would it.
We texted a lot about everything, throughout the chat I found myself liking him a bit more than I thought I would, I mean like I felt that I was falling in love but sometimes I tend to be more sceptical than I should, way too much for my own good and this is because growing up and going through things as a teen trying to find myself, I grew a thick skin and I built a huge wall around me and it got to a point where I detest emotions so I wasn’t ready to let myself fall for him, I mean talk about setting yourself up for disappointment right? Oh maybe detest is a strong word so I’ll just say I try to avoid emotions.
We spoke on the website for a little while then moved the talk to Skype and a little later to Whatsapp, one of the reasons I also did not want to consider anything serious with him was because we were both in relationships so it wasn’t that easy to just pursue one. Then fast forward 2 years with on and off texting we decided we would meet when I had another trip to Europe, I was going to Switzerland all this time.
There was a house break-in at my home and in all my trauma I let him know about what happened and the way he seemed so genuinely concerned is what made me get curious about meeting him and at this point, I felt that I could trust him, so we had a talk about meeting, made plans and yes we eventually met. We spent 3 days together at his home, Nothing but getting to know each other happened, I promise. He showed me around town and got some ice-cream, haha well you know the touristy stuff, I even dressed up in a pair of traditional Austrian lederhosen, the female version that is.
First impressions were, he’s exactly as I thought he would be , a nerd and well I find that to be cute. He picked me up at the airport, gave him a friendly hug and we drove off. When we got to his home my opinion of him was cemented because I saw what I thought was the coolest thing ever, A map of Westeros and Jon Snow’s sword, I just exclaimed Oh My God, I was so impressed, Plus I was newly addicted to Game of Thrones so that put a huge smile on my face.
He turned out to be a nerdy, cool, respectful and friendly guy and a lot like a guy I would want to be with. All those feelings I had pushed away suddenly all came rushing back but I was too proud to admit it and so was he. We went for a walk to the Museum of Natural sciences in his home town and then went for lunch, we had a bit of heart to heart just talking and he said, he liked me but only as a friend and when he sees me he doesn’t see a woman he’d want to marry, I felt a bit sad because we were already walking around town holding hands like a real couple haha, talk about mixed signals right? I didn’t show that I was disappointed by his words. On my last day, in the morning he made me breakfast he decided to shoot his shot, he described what kind of woman he’d like to be with and he just described me because the whole time I was thinking, what the hell??? I’m all that he mentioned but just so you know, it was only three things haha not like a long list, he is an easy man to please and that makes my life pure bliss.
I asked why can’t he be with me since I mark all those things and well from there is when we finally admitted how we felt about each other and right there we decided we’d give it a go. I had to break up with my now ex, it was a bit of an immature and not so considerate breakup and I do regret how I handled it because I know I hurt him badly but I did not visit my new boyfriend with intentions of falling in love with him but purely as a friend and that was all. Just a side note, My ex had known about the trip and who I was going to see, He just didn’t expect I’d come back in love with another man. He is a great guy, you best believe that.
Today boyfriend and I are in an official relationship and I believe so far things are going quite well. He has already been to South Africa to visit me, I think that showed a lot about how serious he is about our relationship and I value that a lot. I think next time I will share about the good and the bad of being in a long-distance relationship or I’ll think of something else to talk about, we will see but for now, I say goodbye my reader, see you soon.
