This article explains why I could be the perfect girlfriend.  Or not!

I travel.  It’s what I do.  I wander from place to place; exploring and moving and volunteering and writing. Does this make me the perfect girlfriend?  You decide whether the following are pros or cons of your perfect girlfriend

I’m a cheap date.

I usually prefer to travel on a budget. I stay in back-packers hostels and I eat street food.

Don’t get me wrong – I can fully appreciate a Michelin star lunch (thank you Louise) or a night in a plush hotel, but it’s the company that I love.  So whether it’s chatting over canapés with nice china and cutlery or eating finger food from a plastic bag sat on a tree stump – if you can make me laugh then I am happy.

There will be no awkward silences.

Ask me about my adventures or my future plans and I will talk forever.  One of my favourite pastimes is people watching – basically I am very nosey – so I will also want to know what makes you tick.

And I will question you.  I want to know what happened when you missed the train or when you went to Amsterdam.  I want to find out what happens at Le Mons or at a Full Moon Party and in return I will tell you how to make papa rellana – the best street snack in the entire world – or give you a blow by blow descripton of the parasite that took up residence inside me in Colombia.

I am not clingy.

I like my space.  I like my independence and I will allow you yours.

You want to travel with me?  Fine and good, but if you want to take a side trip by yourself for a month or so and see different stuff – in fact; perfect.  I think that I might go ever so slightly mad if I had to be on my best behaviour all of the time.  You can tell me all about your trip when we meet up again.  Just take lots of photos to show me when we meet up again.

I’m not moody

I don’t get moody and I rarely get jealous. Too good to be true right?

I want to empower and encourage and if that means that I am left behind when you find your wings, so be it.  I sometimes cry but you don’t need to comfort me.  I deal with it – in the same way that when I’m sick I prefer to be left alone. so please, you don’t need to hold back my hair over the toilet bowl – just leave me to it.

Surely this makes me the perfect girlfriend?

I am independent.

You don’t need to hold my hand and protect me when we go out together unless you’re chasing off would-be robbers who are armed with a large knife (thank you Lio).

I have been travelling solo for over 2 years and I am comfortable with my own company.  I am used to dining or drinking alone, so if we are out and you spot some old mates or you want to go and make some new ones, no worries; I can look out for myself – I don’t have to be hanging off your arm.

I have absolutely no sense of direction.

The needy girlfriend will get uptight if she gets lost or plans change.

I am ALWAYS getting lost and I love variety and the unexpected so you needn’t be afraid that I will throw a wobbly if we miss that bus or if we decide to head south instead of north.  I often toss a coin to choose my route – try it – it can be fun, and we can play scissors, paper, stone to decide on where we should stay.  I can’t play this one by myself, lol!

I am not precious about my belongings.

So you spilt that entire bottle of red wine down my dress at the posh Christmas dinner in the presence of the cream of the British Navy?  Why would I get mad?  I had several chivalrous officers gallop over to help mop me up and dry me out.  Me?  Attention seeking?  It was one way to get noticed.

Maybe I should change my attitude and become high-maintenance but my current lifestyle doesn’t allow it.  I would rather be spontaneous.

Just don’t mess with my phone or my laptop.  Those are my link with the rest of the world and the tools of my trade – but anything else – no worries.

I am resourceful.

Living in mixed dormitories can mean a lack of privacy.  I am resourceful.  Enough said.

What I don’t want.

So you now know my attributes, let me tell you what I don’t want in a relationship.

I don’t want to be tied down (emotionally) tied up in mind games or stuck in a rut.  I don’t want to feel trapped or manipulated.  I have learnt to be free and to roll with the dice that life shakes at me. I eat when I’m hungry and I don’t want to live to a rigid routine or to be forced into yours. I don’t want to waste a minute of any day.  I probably don’t need a boyfriend., but I am thinking more and more that I would quite like one.

What I do want

I want freedom, independence and lots of laughs.

I want to know that I am special but I don’t want responsibility.

I want cuddles but I want space.  I LOVE a massage and I will do almost anything for a good one.

I like wine. I want to dance in the rain, lie sleepily by the bonfire on the beach until dawn and I want to see whales migrate.

I want to lie in the snow and watch the glory of the Northern Lights shimmer and crackle above me.

I want to climb mountains and swim naked in the sea.

I want to love somebody and to be loved back,

I want to know that I am the sun, the moon and the stars to you but I want freedom to take off and to explore the world

This just about sums it up my attitude to my life at the moment.

I don’t want to arrive at my grave in a well preserved body.  I want to skid in sideways, screaming ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’ 

BUT….at times I miss having a special someone to share things with and to hug.  Maybe I have been solo for too long, but I am searching for somebody who can understand and relate to all of the things that I have written above.

I am not saying that I cannot do responsibilty or routine – but it will take a very special person to persuade me.  Or if I fall head over heels in love everything could all change in an instant.  I told you, I am flexible

What do you think?  Is it possible to be an independent traveller and to be a girlfriend? Could I be the perfect girlfriend?  Could you be the one?

Are you up to the challenge?