{"id":18932,"date":"2025-09-12T23:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T23:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/18932\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T23:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T23:12:08","slug":"the-woman-hooking-up-on-a-solo-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/18932\/","title":{"rendered":"The Woman Hooking Up on a Solo Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n Illustration: Marylu Herrera\n <\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s story, a woman tries to end a dry spell while traveling abroad: 45, single, New York\u00a0<\/p>\n

DAY ONE<\/p>\n

9 a.m. I\u2019m in Paris at the end of a very nice two weeks in France. I\u2019m a hairdresser with my own business, and I always take August off to recharge. I\u2019ve been focused on rest and relaxation up until this morning, when, over a hotel breakfast buffet, I decide I\u2019m bored and antsy. I\u2019ve been on a dry spell in New York. No action yet in France, so I\u2019m making it my mission to go on a date tonight.<\/p>\n

11:50 a.m. From my hotel bed, I go on the apps. I speak French, so it\u2019s easy to flirt. The harder part is finding someone good to go out with. After years of dating purely for fun and sex, I\u2019d like to a relationship. This means dating guys who are closer to my age, emotionally available-ish, and might actually want to fall in love and grow old together. For now, I settle for Pierre. He\u2019s 39, owns a popular restaurant in Paris, and seems eager to take me out.<\/p>\n

3 p.m. Run around Paris to buy some lingerie. I\u2019m a lingerie addict, which is funny because I only had sex with one person in the last year! But, in theory, I\u2019m a highly sexual being.<\/p>\n

6p.m. Pierre meets me at my hotel. He\u2019s hot and seems fun. I\u2019m excited.<\/p>\n

8p.m. We\u2019re at a little bistro doing the wine-and-steak-frites thing. I tell him I\u2019m going to Morocco soon and need to get all my sexual frustration out first. He isn\u2019t sure what I mean, so basically, I tell him in broken French that I want to fuck someone in France before I leave. He\u2019s like, Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n

10p.m. We\u2019re kissing in the street. It\u2019s okay, but he\u2019s all over me, and it\u2019s a little much. When we get to my hotel, I change my mind at the lobby doors. His super-wet kisses give me the ick. I play hard to get and tell him that I\u2019ll see him tomorrow night. He won\u2019t stop slobbering all over me. I finally go to my room, happy that I\u2019m alone!<\/p>\n

DAY TWO<\/p>\n

10 a.m. I need to spend most of the day packing for Morocco tomorrow.<\/p>\n

1 p.m. I have to deal with a few work things on my computer. I just signed a commercial lease for five years \u2013 it\u2019s exciting, but it\u2019s also been crazy making this deal happen and preparing for the move. I remind myself that this is my cherished time off and to stop reading emails.<\/p>\n

3 p.m. Meanwhile, Pierre, who is 39, is acting like he\u2019s 12 years old. He sends endless selfies, then FaceTimes me. I ignore it.<\/p>\n

4 p.m. I come up with an excuse for not meeting up tonight, which Pierre doesn\u2019t fight me on. Instead, he sends 5,000 heart emojis. I honestly didn\u2019t know there were this many versions. There\u2019s the heart in every color, the broken heart, the double heart, the beating heart. Pierre might be a lunatic.<\/p>\n

8:30 p.m. Dinner by myself at a restaurant I keep coming back to because the food is so good. I end up sitting next to a British couple in their 60s. We hang out the whole night.<\/p>\n

11 p.m. We\u2019re still out drinking and talking about our divorces. I got divorced eight years ago. It was dramatic, but it\u2019s all behind me. They keep saying how impressed they are that I travel alone so much. The wife promises that I\u2019ll find love again. Being with them feels really nice.<\/p>\n

1 a.m. Good thing I packed already, because it\u2019s late. Money doesn\u2019t buy happiness, but it buys freedom. This trip is freedom.<\/p>\n

DAY THREE<\/p>\n

10:45 a.m. The craziest thing happens as I go on Instagram to post myself taking off for Morocco. An old fling, Luca, DMs me that he\u2019s in Marrakech! I can\u2019t believe it. Luca and I had a whirlwind romance a few years ago when I was on another solo trip in Italy. Absolutely mind-blowing sex. I thought I\u2019d never see him again.<\/p>\n

11 a.m. My plane is taking off, but I tell Luca that I\u2019ll find him when I land somehow.<\/p>\n

4 p.m. I\u2019ve never been to Morocco before, so it takes a beat to adjust. The first thing I do is visit a hammam for a scrub.<\/p>\n

6 p.m. I\u2019m pretty beat, but I DM Luca from my room. He says he\u2019s on a 10-day camping trip with friends, going up and down the coast of Morocco.\u00a0 He\u2019s in an Airbnb. Luca is 20-something and has no money, but looks like an Italian Adam Brody. In this case, everybody wants this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9 p.m. The logistics don\u2019t work out tonight, so we make a plan to sync up tomorrow. I truly can\u2019t believe I\u2019m going to see him again, and he seems just as excited and amazed.<\/p>\n

DAY FOUR<\/p>\n

9 a.m. Breakfast at my riad. Morocco feels thrilling, but it\u2019s hard to get my bearings.<\/p>\n

11 a.m. A tour guide picks me up to take me around Marrakesh. He comes highly recommended, and I can see why. For one, he\u2019s very cute. His English is great, he understands how to deal with Americans, and he\u2019s cool. I have a crush on him right away, but I focus on learning about the city.<\/p>\n

2 p.m. Back in the car, I tell the tour guide about Luca and our tryst in Italy. The guide seems amused and maybe even turned on. I tell myself to table our little vibe for now.<\/p>\n

7 p.m. I\u2019m showered, dressed, and waiting to hear from Luca. The cell service around here isn\u2019t good, and he warned me it could take a few hours to find service and solidify our plan. I can\u2019t believe I\u2019ll have the chance to have sex with him tonight. What a surreal way to break my dry spell.<\/p>\n

9 p.m. Finally, a text: \u201cShould we meet now?\u201d I proceed to take a taxi with a driver who doesn\u2019t speak a word of English, and my French is failing me. My phone has no service. I barely understand where I\u2019m meeting Luca \u2014 all I have is a screenshot of where he is. I keep showing it to the driver. I feel fucked.<\/p>\n

10 p.m. Miraculously, I find him waiting outside his Airbnb.\u00a0 We go for a walk. He tells me that my skin looks really good in the moonlight. It\u2019s from the hammam. I tell him I can\u2019t believe lightning is going to strike twice. He doesn\u2019t know what that means, and I can\u2019t translate it. All to say: Our chemistry is still there.<\/p>\n

11 p.m. We\u2019re on a little park bench. Luca is touching my leg, and I\u2019m on fire. I keep trying to put out the heat because we\u2019re in Morocco and have to be respectful, but I\u2019m dying for this man. The only thing we can do besides discreetly touch each other is take selfies. Finally, he kisses me. I\u2019m nervous we\u2019re going to get in trouble because kissing in public is frowned upon, but suddenly, we\u2019re going at it.<\/p>\n

11:30 p.m. When Luca does stop kissing me, he tells me he has a girlfriend, but \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d It really doesn\u2019t. I suggest we go back to my hotel.<\/p>\n

12 p.m. The security guard says Luca can\u2019t come inside. I beg the guard to let me and Luca sit in the common area and promise Luca won\u2019t come upstairs. Finally, the guard says yes to the common area. He proceeds to turn all the lights on.<\/p>\n

1 a.m. It\u2019s just too much with the guard policing us. We decide the night is done and accept our encounter for what it was: a romantic, unexpected new memory. He\u2019s leaving tomorrow.<\/p>\n

2 a.m. I go to sleep wondering if and how the universe will bring us back together again.<\/p>\n

DAY FIVE<\/p>\n

9 a.m. I feel a tremendous amount of guilt about putting the security guard in that position last night. Also, I\u2019m 45, not a troublemaking teenager at my parents\u2019 house.<\/p>\n

11 a.m. As I wait for the tour guide to get me for our walking tour, the security guard lectures me about the religious culture here. I really understand and tell him over and over that I\u2019m sorry, and we end up looking at pictures of his kids. It\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n

2 p.m. My tour guide and I are definitely flirting. We make plans for dinner because he says he has so much more to \u201cteach\u201d me. After our walking tour, we part ways for a few hours.<\/p>\n

7 p.m. He picks me up around the corner from my hotel in order to be discreet.<\/p>\n

8 p.m. The restaurant is fun. There\u2019s dinner and music. He knows what to order. We\u2019re having a great time. Because he\u2019s also my guide, when the check comes, I pay. Is this part of the extended tour, or are we on a date? So I take a chance and I give him a kiss on the cheek, thinking this is as far as I can take it in public. I ask him if he\u2019s ever had sex. He spits his drink out. He\u2019s like, \u201cYes, and I\u2019ve dated American girls.\u201d We quickly get the check.<\/p>\n

10 p.m. He grabs my face in the car and starts kissing me. It\u2019s a really good kiss. He suggests going back to his apartment. When we get there, he immediately gets in the shower. When he comes out, we start fooling around. He\u2019s humungous. We\u2019re getting down and dirty, but I think sex is too much. Not because of his size, but because he\u2019s my tour guide and the power dynamic is odd, and I\u2019m out of my element.\u00a0 I tell him I\u2019ve decided against it, and he\u2019s like, \u201cYou\u2019re probably right.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 a.m. I have a hot-air-balloon tour in the morning with his colleague. Pickup is in three hours. He takes another shower \u2014 I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s up with the showers \u2014 and drops me around the corner from my riad.<\/p>\n

DAY SIX<\/p>\n

7 a.m. I\u2019m in a hot air balloon.<\/p>\n

10 a.m. I\u2019m traveling to another part of Morocco today. A driver is taking me on the eight-hour trip.<\/p>\n

2 p.m. I think about Luca for most of the ride while making small talk with the driver who, by the end of the trip, is in love with me. He basically says so.<\/p>\n

6 pm. When I check into the new hotel, the general manager is super-hot and flirting heavily. He knows the tour guide from last night! I can\u2019t help but think that the tour guide told the GM that I\u2019m \u201cdown to fuck,\u201d or whatever. I\u2019m a little anxious about what everyone is saying about me.<\/p>\n

9 p.m. Spend the night settling in. Now everyone is following me on Instagram: The tour guide. The driver. The GM. Pierre! All this attention, and yet, still no sex.<\/p>\n

DAY SEVEN<\/p>\n

9 a.m. My driver, who I\u2019ve hired again to take me around today, tells me he overheard the GM saying that I\u2019m super-sexy. He also tells me that the GM is bad news. I think he might be cock-blocking me.<\/p>\n

11 a.m. I disengage from all of it and call my sister in the States. We talk for an hour or even more just so I don\u2019t have to chitchat with the driver.<\/p>\n

5 p.m. The driver and I sit for a bite to eat. I\u2019m stuck with him, so I might as well embrace it.<\/p>\n

9 p.m. Back at the hotel after a long day. Morocco is absolutely beautiful and enchanting, but I want to hide from everyone.<\/p>\n

10 p.m. I miss Luca. I wonder if we would fall in love if we lived in the same place. I still can\u2019t believe we found each other here, where I couldn\u2019t even kiss him on the street. The world works in mysterious ways.<\/p>\n

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