Manly Man: The awesome guy I met down under while trying to recreate my own version of Eat, Pray, Love

Not all of my dates are scary like Werewolf: the guy I met on Tinder who wore the most convincing wolf costume on Halloween even my dog was scared and then left the party with my now former friend…. And not all of my dates need to have gas-x slipped into their coffee…. Nor or all of them weird like the OkCupid guy who offered to buy lunch for our Central Park picnic and then ate our sandwich on the way to the date.

Lest you think all of my dates have been creeps, there is one guy who stands out from the pack of bizarres I have been out with. This guy is a stand up member of the opposite sex who to this day when I think about him I still get butterflies in my stomach.

A few years ago I won an award at work—and my prize was a trip anywhere in the world. With the entire globe at my disposal, I was able to choose a place I had always wanted to visit: Australia. I even got to add on a few days on the South Pacific island of Fiji.

This was a real dream trip—a trip of a lifetime. This time, I decided to go it alone. I had recently lost my father and needed some time to reflect and unwind. I pictured the trip as a kind of Eat, Pray, Love thing—only condensed into two weeks.

A friend of mine had taken a vacation to Sydney two months before I went, and she had a local boy picked out for me to meet because she knew I would be traveling solo and might get lonely. And I did. I booked five-star hotels because, since I was a woman traveling alone, I was worried about safety. (Plus, I deserved a little luxury!) But being alone in a luxury hotel full of couples and honeymooners and families can be kind of a bummer—even if you’re attempting to recreate your own Eat, Pray, Love experience down under.

So I connected with the guy on Facebook and we made plans to meet on my third day in Sydney. He told me to bring my bikini and water, which sent me into a complete panic.

The bikini part; not the water part.

See, like many women in the world, I’m self-conscious about my body, especially when ninety-five percent of that body is on display for anyone and everyone to see. I was a chubby kid who got picked on a lot, and while somewhere along the way I transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan, sometimes, inside, I still feel kind of like that duck.

So when I saw this amazing, perfect, model-gorgeous man walking up to ME—ME, there in my itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny—my first thought was to turn around and run back inside the hotel. Or maybe pretend I spoke another language and didn’t know who he was. I kept thinking, “OMG, I’m going to look like a beached whale next to this guy.”

But I talked myself down from the ledge. After all, you only live once. Who knew if I would ever see him again? Sydney is about as far away from NYC as a person can get!

So I didn’t run. I said hello, put a big, black bike helmet on, hopped on the back of his motorbike and we whisked through Sydney to catch the Manly Ferry for a day at the beach. I kept feeling my bikini bottoms creeping out of my sundress as we rode through the city and struggled to pull them back down to hide my butt. The Aussies commuting behind us were treated to quite a view of my American ass! I was also pinching myself the whole time because I felt so freakin’ lucky to be in Australia, headed to a beautiful beach with such a beautiful Manly Man!

(Not me, but it was the only free picture I could find of a couple on the back of a motorbike. I’m pretty sure my ass was hanging out the whole time and I was trying to hold on for dear life.)

(photo credit: pexels.com)

We found a secluded spot away from the tourists (Manly is a very popular destination) and just talked and talked for hours. We laughed, we played in the ocean, and eventually, we started flirting. I guess I didn’t look that bad in my suit after all. Or maybe the sun had tanned me so much that I just looked skinnier. Either way, it was clear the sexual tension was building.

(photo credit: pexels.com)

The ferry ride back to Sydney was breathtaking. He kissed me as the sun set over the Sydney Opera House—probably one of the most romantic moments of my life. It felt like we had known each other a lot longer than a few hours.

We rode his bike back to my hotel. He came up to my room, and let’s just say the lights went down. Then it was time to hit the town. He took me to his apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour—complete with an infinity pool. I kept asking myself, “Is this real? Who am I?” I felt so lucky—I couldn’t wait to tell the girls back home!

The next stop on my trip was Queensland, and I was scheduled to go alone so I could reflect, get to know myself, grow as a person, and all that stuff.

But Manly Man kept dropping hints that he wanted to fly up to Queensland with me.

I kept blowing him off. I had planned this trip in a specific way for a specific reason. I wasn’t getting a lot of that “quiet reflection” when all I was reflecting on was how amazingly awesome my new friend was.

But then I was kind of like, “Why?” This gorgeous, fun, nice guy was also so crazy-spontaneous that he would actually skip work to accompany a girl he just met on the next leg of her trip. I finally caved and said, “Yes! Book your ticket and come with me!” By then, it was too late. Lesson learned.

My final day in Sydney, Manly Man took me all over the city on his bike. He didn’t want me to miss anything. We had wedges at the Opera House, we drove to the botanical gardens, we walked over the Harbour Bridge, we held hands, we kissed, and we enjoyed each other’s company. In just two days, we had become great friends. We spent the last night in my hotel room, watchingSuperman and cuddling. It felt so good to be in the arms of a genuinely nice human being—not like most of the American boys I was used to dating.

Not to mention the fact that he is, hands down, the hottest and most down to earth guy I’ve ever been with—and he liked me!

(photo credit: pexels.com)

Then, just as quickly as our adventure in Sydney had started, it was over. I actually cried at the airport as I boarded my plane to Queensland. I wondered, “Is this love?” Or was I just being my typical, foolish, romantic self?

Of course, my trip wasn’t all about hooking up. I got in the best of both worlds and squeezed in as much culture and sightseeing as humanly possible in my short time down under. In Queensland, I had my picture taken next to a koala bear with big balls (my current Twitter picture if you’re curious). I fed kangaroos, cruised down a crocodile infested river, and walked through the Daintree Rainforest (the oldest rainforest in the world—filled with lots of bugs, reptiles, and slithery things that can kill you). I went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and hugged a sea turtle, and I went to Cape Tribulation (the only place in the world where two World Heritage sites meet). I really did it all.

Yes, in addition to a couple of guys. It was a very well rounded trip! And Manly Man will forever be one of the most positively memorable experiences I’ve had in my life. See, not all of my dates go horribly wrong. Manly Man proved that there are still a few good men out there. If only we can get a few MM’s to migrate to the Western hemisphere!

  (photo credit: pexels.com)