In August of 2023, I quit the most toxic job I’d ever encountered in my career—one with levels of stress I didn’t know were possible. I already had a trip planned to meet friends in Helsinki for Flow Festival, a music and food event with multiple stages and lots of space in which to wander around and frolic. I was particularly excited to see the band Devo.

I planned a trail-running trip up in Northern Finland near the Arctic Circle after the festival. I had stopovers on the way to and from Finland in Stockholm and London. After a grueling tenure at the toxic job, I felt such a big sense of relief that it was over. While in London, I found my way to the most charming neighborhood beneath Hamstead Heath, a giant urban park with hilly views of the sprawling city. I bought a book at a cute bookshop and a tiny cup of gelato, and I hiked my way up to a vacant hill. It was warm and sunny, and I laid down in the grass. I’d never felt such happiness in my life, I thought! Of course I had, but the newly acquired freedom in this foreign country, where I had no baggage, tasted so fresh.

I flew back to Boston the next day, feeling exhilarated and motivated to find or create what was next in my life and career. Less than 24 hours after being back, I was in a bicycle accident while cycling home from a hot yoga class. I broke two right ribs and punctured my right lung. I was in the emergency room for 20 hours while they monitored my lung.

As I sat around in the proceeding weeks, lounging half-drunk on pain meds and devouring book after book, including the one purchased in London about the history of Eastern Europe, I wondered what it could be like to choose more joy. I felt so free and joyful traveling to Sweden, Finland, and England…could I do more of that? I talked about this leap with Luis Escobar (of Born to Run fame) on his Road Dog Podcast.

I received an invite to my friend AC’s 50th birthday bash at a rented palace in Sintra, in the mountains above Lisbon and thought, I can build an adventure around this! I checked in with my friend LH, a college career counselor who has often provided me with sage career advice: “Coach, am I allowed to go do something weird like this?”

“Maybe your bike accident meant that you weren’t supposed to return to the US,” she said, helping me transform the energy of the pain into something more meaningful.

With her blessing, and after reviewing the money in my savings account, I added Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy to the itinerary and set off.

If you haven’t been following along on my Romance by Rail travel-dating journey, here’s where you can get caught up:

The inspiration to launch Romance x Rail came from these two trips in the Summer and Fall of 2023. When I got to California to visit my family for the Christmas holiday, I started dreaming up this epic train journey across Europe, the same route as a childhood computer game I loved about the Orient Express, The Last Express. I created a regimented project in which I would travel across Europe and Türkiye in search of a soul-mate type partner, writing about my journey along the way.

Me at the Orient Express Museum in Istanbul, Türkiye, October 2024.

August to December 2023

Even though I hadn’t yet dreamed up Romance x Rail, I’ll use the same format to describe the dates of the Summer and Fall of 2023.

My itinerary:

August 2023

Stockholm - I arrived by plane from Boston and stayed 2 nights

Helsinki, Oulu, Kuusamo, Finland - I flew to Helsinki from Stockholm and then took a train to Oulu, then rented a car and drove to Kuusamo. I took an overnight train back from Oulu to Helsinki and I swear we should all always sleep on a rocking train—so soothing! About 1 week.

London - Flew to London from Helsinki and stayed 2 nights

London —> Boston - got back to Boston and immediately got into a bike accident and was hospitalized

—

September 2023

Boston - I laid around waiting for my rib bones to fuse back together

California - I headed to California for my nephew’s 1st birthday party

—

October–December 2023

Madrid, Spain —> Andalucia, Spain - I flew from San Francisco to Madrid and immediately hopped on a train to Cordoba. Then I traveled to Granada and Malaga. Total - about 2 weeks.

Malaga —> Lisbon & Sintra, Portugal - I wish I could have taken a train, but weirdly, the trains between Portugal and Spain are not great. So I took a flight. 5 nights at AC’s Palace Party.

Lisbon —> Warsaw, Poland - flew to see my good friend KK, 1 week

Warsaw —> Krakow, Poland and back - took a train there and back for a quick trip

Warsaw —> Berlin, Germany - 1 night in Berlin on my way to meet my dad in Munich!

Berlin —> Munich, Germany - my dad flew out for Thanksgiving week! His first time in Europe!

Munich —> Salzburg and Vienna, Austria and back to Munich - These are the places my dad and I visited, about 1 week

Munich —> Ljubljana, Slovenia - I was originally going to fly home the same day as my dad but I changed my flight and added another leg. After a fun astrological love line reading from my friend JW, I hopped on a bus to explore more of Europe. I was curious to see places in Eastern Europe after reading Goodbye Eastern Europe while on bedrest.

Ljubljana —> Zagreb, Croatia - Took another bus (FlixBus)

Zagreb —> Rijeka, Croatia - Bus

Rijeka —> Trieste, Italy - Bus

Trieste —> Venice, Italy - Train! I’ve always had great luck with Italian trains—affordable, on time, clean, and easy. This was a beautiful ride along the Northeastern coastline of Italy. Venice for 3 magical nights.

Venice, Italy —> California - I returned in Mid-December feeling so grateful, inspired, and refreshed.

—-

How did I choose this route?

AC’s birthday was an anchor. My dad’s visit to Germany and Austria was an anchor. I knew I wanted to trail run somewhere near Lisbon before the party and so I did some online blog-reading and decided on Andalucia, which was stunning.

I wanted to meet up with my friend KK and decided it was time to visit the land of my last name-bearer: Poland (my last name, Cebulla, means “onion” in Polish).

The final leg, I winged it. My flight home was booked on Canada Air, and there were no change fees. I looked to see which airports I could fly out of, and Venice was the same price as Munich. I’d been to Venice one other time in 2010 but wanted to go back. I was so glad I did!

What was my goal?

My goal was to reset, explore, find joy again, and spend quality time with friends and family.

I thought it could be fun to try dating abroad, so I installed Bumble and Hinge in Granada, a gorgeous university city tucked underneath the picturesque Sierra Nevada Mountain range.

After a couple of days of swiping, I had a match!

The dates!

In my other blogs, I named all the men a version of “John,” depending on their home country and language, along with a number. These guys will get a P before the number to signify that it was pre-Romance x Rail.

Stockholm, Sweden (August)

Johan P1

Granada, Spain (October) - 1 date

Can P2

Lisbon, Portugal (November) - 1 date

Giovanni P3

Krakow, Poland (November) - 1 whirlwind romance

Can P2 again!

Ljubljana, Slovenia (December) - 1 date

Janez P4

Zagreb, Croatia (December) - 1 date

John P5

Stockholm, Sweden

Johan P1 | Swedish | Age = 50s | LinkedIn DM

This is the date that kicked everything off. I had just quit my job back in Boston and cycled to my favorite coffee shop in Cambridge with my laptop to update my LinkedIn profile and resume. While on LinkedIn I noticed an influencer I’d been following for some amount of time—I wasn’t sure. Suddenly, I was curious about him. Who was he? Why was I following him? I’d been liking all of his climate crisis posts. I clicked on him and saw that he lived in Stockholm. I was flying there in just a few days.

“He’s kinda cute and super smart and inspiring…what if I just see if he’s free to meet up?” I’d never tried anything like this on LinkedIn before. I added him as a connection, downloaded a few podcast interviews he was featured in, and waited. When he added me as a connection, I had to send him a message!

I thought about being chill about it but chill has never been my style. I emailed him a poem and said that something he said in one of his podcast interviews made me think of it. Bold move! Was he going to think I was crazy?

Maybe he did but he loved my note. When I mentioned I would be in Stockholm, he suggested we meet for lunch.

Honesty is reached by the doorway of grief and loss. Where we cannot go in our mind, our memory, or our body is where we cannot be straight with another, our world, or our self.
The fear of loss, in one form or another, is the motivator behind all conscious and unconscious dishonesties: all of us are born to be afraid of loss, in all its forms, all of us, at times, are haunted or overwhelmed even by the possibility of a disappearance, and all of us therefore, are but one short step away from dishonesty.
Every human being dwells intimately close to a door of revelation they are afraid to pass through. Honesty lies in understanding our close and necessary relationship with not wanting to hear the truth. —David Whyte, Honesty

I was super nervous to meet him! What had I just done!? On the other hand, I love meeting and talking with strangers.

The main reason I was so nervous was because I was intellectually intimidated by him. I was impressed with his work and the way he so confidently expressed his opinions on LinkedIn and in interviews.

We had a really fun lunch that was intellectually flirty—we bantered back and forth really well. He had a softness about him and was very kind—saying, let me order something for you. I had been anxious about knowing what to order at this Swedish seafood restaurant, which he anticipated.

I have a sort of “soft heart test” that I sometimes do where I mention something really hard that happened to me and see whether they offer empathy or whether they freeze and go numb or skip over it. I mentioned that while traveling in Iceland in 2016, I was assaulted by my Airbnb host, which was a traumatic event for me that kicked off some deep healing. His eyes softened and I could see him feeling my pain in his body. “That must have been so hard,” he said authentically. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

With men, I’ve found that this is a rare response. I was grateful. This was someone with some emotional depth.

The lunch date flew by and we said farewell. We kept in touch a little bit by text but he faded out. My hunch was that he was partnered and just wanted to say yes to an interesting younger woman who messaged him out of the blue—for the thrill of it.

I thought, “I felt inspired by this person. Why? How? What can I replicate?”

I decided to start posting on LinkedIn with more confidence. Every time I stated a bold opinion about rampant workplace abuse in the US, I imagined I was him writing it, no fear, just male confidence. Pretty soon, I started to amass a following! It worked!

This date got me out of a depressive slump. I was still licking my wounds from my breakup the previous summer and hadn’t met anyone serious in the meantime. I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and slid into the DMs of someone I admired—someone who intimidated me.

This was especially therapeutic because nearly every man I’ve ever dated or nearly dated has said that they’ve been intimated by me. It was time for me to switch that energy.

I’ll be honest that it’s a stretch to call this a romantic date—I don’t think he would have called it that—but it was an intellectual date. For me, it was this energy of putting myself out there, acknowledging that I had this crush from afar, and taking a vulnerable leap to connect. It was good that I wasn’t committed to an outcome.

Granada, Spain

Can P2 | Turkish | Age = mid-30s | Bumble app

Can (pronounced “John”) and I matched on Bumble. Right away I noticed that he was a competent and flirty texter, noticing that I was from Boston and asking me about it. It’s such a small thing but I’ve found that the majority of people don’t understand the art of just noticing when it comes to messaging on dating apps. If you see that someone likes skiing, notice that. Ask them about it. You see that they’re wearing the color red—notice and ask. It’s really that simple.

The energy seemed more electric than anything I’d encountered with dating apps in Boston—it could have been my travel/vacation mode. I was happy and attracting that energy to me. Being in one’s best, flirtiest mood on the apps is a primary rule of mine, which I outline in this post with my best dating tips.

We met for wine and tapas. Remarkably, in Andalucia, this region of Spain, if you order a drink, you get a free tiny dish of food, or the tapa. I didn’t know this. He had to explain. How delightful!

He was a little more awkward in person than over text—a theme I’ve noticed with software engineer guys, of which he was one. He worked creating AI-driven software for a US company. I was impressed as he talked about his work. He was Turkish but had lived almost his entire adult life in Barcelona, but he was now living in the US. He was in Granada for what seemed to be the same reason as me—the need to escape US work culture and burnout. He was working remotely during the day but enjoying the culture of Europe while visiting a friend in Granada.

He was tall, maybe 6’2”, and broad-boned. He was playful and carried a devilish smirk on his lips and in his eyes. He had thick, dark brown hair that came down to his chin. His clothing was a little worn looking—not his strong suit—more of an afterthought.

We sat outside a small bar until it started to downpour. We huddled underneath our table’s umbrella and then dashed through the rain for a table that opened up inside. We had another drink and kept talking. He was a big flirt. When I mentioned my work in child trauma prevention and talked about how I didn’t think that infants should sleep in another room away from parents at night, he said, playfully, “We [meaning he and I] would never put the baby in another room!” This was charming, but due to his playful nature, I knew he wouldn’t be one to dream about a future of babies with. He was a tease.

He suggested going to see a flamenco performance and it had stopped raining. We left the bar and turned down a side street and he pulled me in close to him suddenly and went for a kiss. I was surprised but went for it, matching his passionate energy. The kiss knocked the wind out of me—think Rhett and Scarlet O’Hara.

In a previous Romance x Rail blog post, I pledged to “yada yada yada” (this is a Seinfeld reference) sex because it’s a wide audience of folks who read this blog. Skip this paragraph if you don’t want to hear about it (vaguely). But this is an important detail in this story. I must mention that I ended up going home with this flirty Turkish guy, and the sex blew my mind. “I didn’t know I was going to have the best sex of my life at 38! What else is in store for me?” Upon sharing this with other women, I’ve heard, “Oh yes, that’s exactly when the sex gets good for women.” I think because of the objectification of women and body shaming that’s so mainstream in our patriarchal society, it takes women many years to inhabit our bodies and enjoy ourselves with ease and wild abandon. I didn’t know I was a little bit dead inside until this moment. Sure, the Swedish environmental influencer helped revive my passion some, but this was next level. I’d had so many days that felt numb, blank, or purposeless in the previous 2 years. It’s not that I think sex is always the answer, but sexual energy is often life force energy or creative energy (quite literally). This encounter reminded me that I could be alive in my body with creative energy.

In the morning, he was very sweet, helping me get all of my things together with care. Every so often, I wake up with very dry eyes and it’s excruciatingly painful. I got some sort of dry-eye attack as we were getting ready to go and tears poured out of my eye while I rubbed around it, trying to get through the pain. Instinctively, he grabbed me a glass of water and once I had hydrated, pulled me close to him and rubbed my back as I suffered through it, comforting me.

“Wow! This feels good and different,” I thought. Have men in my life really not comforted me?? I look back and I think of men unconsciously needing me to hold space for their needs and feelings, seeking to feel comforted by me…but a dirth of experiences in which they comforted me. That’s sad. Have I been picking men that I emotionally care-take? Do I do this to stay on top power-wise? Probably. I let myself melt into his arms and absorb all of the care.

Then I let him take me out for coffee and walk me all the way back to my hostel’s door. During coffee, he explained that the friend he was visiting was a researcher of autism. “My friend said he thinks I’m on the spectrum and I agree completely.”

I had to pack and catch a train in a few hours. I turned around and waved goodbye to him as I walked into my hostel. I didn’t expect I’d ever see him again.

Lisbon, Portugal

Giovanni P3 | Italian | Early 40s | Bumble App

I swiped some while at my friend’s party in Sintra and matched with an Italian man working in music law in Lisbon. We made plans to meet for lunch before my flight departed to Warsaw.

“I didn’t know if maybe you were a vegetarian,” he said once we’d both arrived, “So I picked a place with a wide-ranging menu.” The place he picked was adorable—an Instagram-worthy spot—with many healthy and beautiful options. I loved this attunement and pre-emptive consideration.

Once we were seated and chatting, I gesticulated enthusiastically as I recapped stories of the week at the magical palace. “You have the most lovely hands!” he gasped in admiration. “May I?” I nodded and he gently took one of my hands in both of his, turning it to admire every angle.

This felt very un-American. I was loving it! He paid for the lunch and then personally loaded my luggage into an Uber. We said farewell. It was a nice date but not a spark. I felt admired, respected, and cared for even if he wasn’t the one for me.

Krakow, Poland

Can P2 | Whirlwind Romance!

Can P2 and I had been texting sporadically since our sexy meetup in Granada. I was feeling rusty on dating and communication, so I asked a new friend at the party what I should say to him. “You should just tell him you would love to see him again!” was the advice I got from my new friend GS. I sent the text, nervously, and waited.

He got back to me quickly and said he would love that, too. He asked where I was traveling to next and I said Poland. He said, “I’m also traveling to Poland!” To this day, I’m not quite sure if I had already told him of my plans to visit my friend in Poland when I had seen him in Granada and somehow influenced his travel plans, or whether it was truly random that we ended up in the same country at the same time, a pretty random one at that. He wasn’t giving stalker vibes—if anything, he was extra aloof and showing signs of avoidant attachment.

We agreed to meet up, and so one morning I took a train down to Krakow and spent the day, night, and most of the next day with him. Now that we were more familiar with each other, the sex was even better, which, again, blew my mind. He took me out for coffee and dinner and to a cozy, romantic spot for a drink after dinner.

Images L to R:

The cozy bar we went to after dinner
The ceiling of the hallway of his Airbnb
The coffee shop with little quotes on paper that came with our coffees. One reads, “Find somebody who shares your definition of love.” - Mark Anthony. We joked as to whether they were referring to the ancient Roman Mark Antony, or the contemporary Latin singer Marc Anthony, neither of whom was Mark Anthony. And we didn’t think either of these guys had said that.

My favorite moment happened on Day 2 when we were sitting at the above-pictured coffee shop, working on our laptops at a table. We sat down and I chose a seat opposite him. He looked at me, pointed at me, then pointed to the seat right next to him. “Move here,” he communicated. I moved close to him and he rubbed my leg warmly, happy to be near me. We continued to have physical touch while we worked next to each other for the next few hours. The touches were not sexual—they were warm and nurturing. They said, “I’m happy for this connection and to be here next to you.”

He walked me back to the train station and we said our goodbyes. He stood on the train platform and watched me board through the window, turning to go back to this work only after the train departed and we waved goodbyes.

It was my priority to spend time with my friend KK in Warsaw, whirlwind romances aside. I knew I’d get more of a return out of investing in my dear friend than in this spicy but temporary hookup. Still, I was glad to see him again for 1 night. The encounter breathed life into me and renewed my hope in finding a romantic match somewhere out there.

On the trainride home I reflected on something odd: he hadn’t asked me questions about myself. The connection between us was felt, but it wasn’t a talking one—it was an intensity in eye contact and body contact. He wasn’t a great talker.

I asked him about it over text and he responded in a vague, avoidant way about it. I think he didn’t really know why he didn’t ask me questions. Maybe it was being on the autistic spectrum but maybe it was just a habit. Or maybe he wasn’t that interested in me. Whatever the reason, after debriefing with KK, the lack of intellectual and emotional connection made it a no-go to pursue in the future.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Janez P4 | Slovenian | Early 30s | Hinge App

This was a situation where I couldn’t tell in texting if he was making sarcastic jokes and thus was funny or was being literal and thus was dense.

It turned to be the latter, which was very unfortunate! Upon meeting him in person, my intuition instantly recognized this pairing as not a good match. Honestly, out of alllllll the dates I went on between August 2023 until the end of 2024, this was the only date where I thought, “Whoopsee! Need to up my screening skills!” I learned and recalibrated.

He was VERY tall and broad-boned. This is a tall region of the world. But he was also a gentle giant. He reminded me a bit of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian wizard in book and film 4 of Harry Potter.

He was a software engineer and was just so, so nerdy and awkward, like 8/10 level. Very in his head, which was way up there above mine. After this date, I debriefed with KK and he said, “Ali, I’m making a hard-fast rule for you: no more engineers.” Ooh, good call. I love engineers, but I cannot date them.

The second thing I noticed about him was that he was suffering from some severe halitosis. Even if I could get through the social impasse, I could not fight my repulsion at the thought of kissing him. He took me to a chic bar in the historic city center of Ljubljana. It was buzzing with well-dressed, chatty people on a Saturday night. I ordered a drink, and he ordered…a soda. “Oh, I don’t drink,” he informed me, matter of factly. “Oh…then why are we at a bar??” I asked him. I felt he should have disclosed this before the date. I don’t like drinking when my date isn’t drinking. It doesn’t feel even. I don’t need to drink alcohol on a date—we can meet for coffee or for an activity—this omission felt strange. He was not socially adept, so I know it didn’t even occur to him why that might make me uncomfortable.

I was trying to think of ways to end the date early. I heard all about how he had started in law school and realized it wasn’t for him, so he switched to computer programming. He was having trouble finding a great job, though. I could see that he could use a course in human relationship building and social cues, and that would probably help.

But just when I thought he was a lost cause, he said, “Hey, I’ll bet you would love to see the anarchist quarter.” I had shared a little about myself and my unconventional life and interests. His intuition was spot on! I guess he did have some social skills—honestly, much more so than 90% of American men I’d dated.

So, he walked me in the snow across town to the anarchist area. It was so cool! All the buildings had murals painted on them in bold, chaotic colors and scenes. The residents huddled in little groups outside, smoking cigarettes and sipping on bottles of beer. He explained how he attended parties here in his 20s.

After that we headed back to town and he asked me if I wanted to go back to his place. I was genuinely shocked. In my mind we weren’t connecting and I couldn’t wait to get back to my place. I declined, stating that i had to get up early the next morning to catch a bus, which was the truth.

The next day he messaged me on Instagram asking why I looked so shocked when he asked that. So he was reading social cues! I told him it was because I didn’t think we were connecting and he said something huffy and unfollowed me. But I was proud of myself for being direct—clear is kind! It’s better to know that to wonder.

Zagreb, Croatia

My final date of this trip! I almost didn’t meet up because it had felt like a big lift to get through the date with Janez P4. I had done a lot of work forcing the connection and conversation.

But I was glad I made it happen because this was a date that flowed! John P5 was British and was living in Zagreb as a governmental consultant on behalf of the British government—I think because Croatia had just joined the EU, but I’m not sure how that works given that the UK had just left the EU. Either way, he had gone through an intensive year of language study and was fluent in Croatian, which was impressive.

We met at a super cozy spot with big fluffy chairs and dim lighting. He informed me that he was battling a head cold and so was a little low on energy.

Despite the fact that he was most assuredly a “normie” and I was a “weirdo” (drugs, raves, and other life experiences on the edge), we had a great time talking and really clicked. He had done his graduate studies in Chicago. He shared a story of a wedding he recently attended in Kansas in which he got too drunk to remember how to get back to his hotel and wandered the streets aimlessly until the sun came up. So there was some edge overlap—enough, at least.

He was very sweet and spoke affectionately about his pet cat.

When I shared my various escapades with drugs and addiction, we got to talking about which world leaders were on which drugs. I talked about a book I’d recently finished, Blitzed, about how Adolf Hitler was on methamphetamine and sedatives the entire time he ruled Germany and how I thought people should put more weight on the effect these drugs had on his megalomania and genocidal actions of epic proportions.

I shared that I thought our recent former President Donald Trump was on some sort of amphetamine, if not meth, then certainly adderall. I pulled up a video and had my date note Trump’s jerky movements, a telltale sign.

“Well, riddle me this,” he countered, “Which drug or drugs is the President of Croatia is on?” He told me a story of a man who had been just left of center and level-headed. Well-liked by Croatians. Served as Prime Minister before running and winning as President.

“Once he got elected, something weird shifted. He suddenly switched and became aggressively right-wing, making more of a scene in political meetings. It’s like a completely different person.” He showed me some before and after photos. In the after photos, you could see he had a much wider neck and extra muscles and tissue at his shoulders.

“Oh, that’s a classic example of anabolic steroids,” I labeled. “Obviously.”

It was so clear! But most people don’t know how to look for signs of which drugs people are on, let alone national leaders. As a former drug addict who has met every type of seedy person, identifying which drug someone is on is one of my superpowers.

So this was a fun game we had—guessing which leaders were on which drugs! We shared another round of drinks and then he ordered some classic Croatian liquer for me to try, which I appreciated.

We walked outside the bar and hugged goodbye on the sidewalk. We were walking in opposite directions. There was a moment where I thought we were both thinking about a kiss. I didn’t push it because he had said he was sick. So there was an awkward pause and then goodnights.

We stayed in touch over text for about a month and then faded away.

These dates were, as a whole, so good, so inspiring, so connected, and so fun! I thought, “these feel so much better than dating in the US. What if I follow my joy and go back to Europe for more dating adventures?” And so I dreamed up Romance x Rail and set off on that trip in March of 2024, dating 12 men and starting and ending a relationship with 1.

I’m still smarting from the loss of the relationship that I’d been so excited about this past Fall. I’m not sure if I’ll return to Europe and continue my quest to find my soul mate or plan something else. One thing is for sure, though: I’m so grateful for all of these experiences, travels, and connections. I’m grateful for all the soft-hearted, kind, and thoughtful men I met and I’m grateful that I put myself out there and tried something that pushed my comfort zone. What an adventure!

Tallies

Nationalities of the men I went on IRL (In Real Life) dates with:

Swedish - I
Turkish - I
Italian - I
Slovenian - I
British - I

Hair color of the men I went on IRL dates with (to establish whether I have a “type”):

Gray - I
Med-Dark Brown - IIII
Brown/Red - 0
Black - 0
Blonde or Light Brown - 0
Red - 0

Did we kiss?

Yes - I
No - IIII

How I connected with the men I went on IRL dates:

The League app - 0
Bumble app - III
In the wild (out in real life) - 0
Hinge app - I
OKCupid app - 0
LinkedIn DMs - I

Average age:

39 (I was 38, for reference)

Date asked me questions about myself while on the date:

Asked questions - IIII
Didn’t ask questions - I

Date paid for the date (s):

Paid - V
Didn’t Pay - 0
No costs - 0