Once Upon A Time...

That's how all the best stories begin, right?

Once upon a time...there was me. A girl with her life all set out, or so she and everyone else thought. Engaged to be married, settled in her own house with a dog and a dream engagement ring. What more could she ask for?

The best stories may begin with 'once upon a time', but even better ones start with a plot twist.

After four and a half years I ended my engagement. I sat my fiancé down and watched his face fall as I uttered the words he had been dreading to hear, "This is never going to work, is it?".

It had been on the rocks for a while. We had already split up the year prior for a few months and at that point I was sure it was over. But as he approached my house in the pouring rain, begging for me to take him back, the romantic in me was once again too strong. I took him back, but we were only delaying the inevitable. 

So we ended it...again. For good this time. 

I find that the most complicated break ups are the ones where there doesn't seem to be a very good reason for it. There was no grand betrayal, no cheating, no argument. Just two people who simply are not right for each other. My ex fiancé, T, was that man for me. He was kind, loyal, I know he would have never cheated. But our life together was dull. I had spent the majority of my 20's curled up on a sofa in two dead end relationships with two men who were happy to sit in front of the television playing video games for 12 hours straight. And I was done.

As soon as he walked out of my house, it was like I had transformed into a new person. The old me was dead; the introverted, scared, quiet girl had been replaced by an extroverted, confident and outgoing woman who was ready to find the real love of her life. 

Because honestly, can I tell you a secret? 

I don't think I've ever been in love.

I really thought I was, don't get me wrong! I mean, how can you say yes to marrying someone you don't love? Well, quite easily, as it turns out. But when I look over it, it can't even be half of what people describe as being 'in love'. 

So here I am, single, 28 years old, looking for this grand romance. The love of my life. At the time of writing this introduction, I've actually been in the dating game for 6 months. An interesting turn of events for a girl who thought she might just stumble across the love of her life within the first few dates. In fact, currently, the total number of men stands at 19. Don't worry, I plan to fill you in on all the details of every last one, and the future ones that are sure to come up.

That's when I came up with the idea for this blog. 

Around the World in 80 Dates. 

Surely 80 is enough to find the love of my life, right? (Stares, eye twitching at the ever growing list). 

Well, even if it's not, here's to a new adventure. I've always said that dating me is a bit like a romantic comedy and honestly I stand by it. My dating life contains enough embarrassments and dramas to fill at least a trilogy of cheesy Netflix movies. 

So here's to the journey, the chaos, the tears, the laughter and hopefully some amazing sex. I'm going to share it all with you. 

And hopefully by 80 dates I'll find him...but really hopefully, it'll be a lot less.