Life Happens For Me, Not To Me (Part Two)

Great Morning Y'all!

Today will be a continuation of yesterday's story.

If you have yet to read yesterday's edition of The Love Letter, I'll link it here.

Yesterday, I shared what led me to book a one-way ticket to Indonesia.

Today, I want to highlight a relationship from this time that completely altered my worldview.

PART TWO

A few months prior to graduating college and booking a one-way ticket,

I had become a chronic dating app scroller.

Before heading home after a 12-hour day at work,

and picking up the edible or bottle,

spending my nights either playing video games or brainstorming my different reality in Bali...

I'd also be spending a lot of time swiping right on the dating apps.

At that time, I loved the attention it would bring,

along with giving me something to do to take my mind off work.

I'd go on quite a few casual dates, usually just grabbing a drink down the street from my office.

I didn't really think anything of it,

It was pretty fun.

Most dates wouldn't go anywhere,

but it was fun to just meet new people and flirt.

I feel like a few months in, I had met half of the female population of the City of Reno.

That led to some fun stories that I'll tell another time...

But there's this one date I went on that changed my life...

After having closed a pretty big deal at work, I wanted to go out for a drink to celebrate.

Most of my friends were busy that night, so I resorted to swiping right on all the dating platforms.

Then, I got a match on Hinge.

My DM said...

"Drinks tonight?"

(Which would have been two hours later. I don't waste my time, lol)

She responded, "Sure, where?"

I sent her the address of a place down the street, then off we went.

We met up at a place called Rum Sugar Lime, a dimly lit, trendy little bar in Downtown Reno, Nevada.

I had arrived a few minutes early and immediately ordered my first drink.

She walked in a few minutes later,

wearing some rugged old boots, a large sweatshirt, and flannel.

Definitely wasn't my normal type; she was the opposite of the cheerleader vibe,

but I liked it.

She had confidence and depth.

We started talking and really hit it off.

The wildest thing...

She had just gotten back from LIVING IN BALI.

So imagine being in her shoes...

She had just come back to America for her sibling's wedding, and due to the COVID lockdowns,

chose to stay in America for the next few months.

She and a high school friend bought a camper to explore the west coast.

And then,

Imagine stopping by a random city,

and then meeting someone who has been living in Nevada their entire life,

a privileged white boy who has had a pretty sheltered life,

never having left the United States,

but knows everything there is to know about this small island on the other side of the world.

She had just met someone who knows the names of the different parts of the island,

the gyms,

coffee shops,

tourist spots,

and everything else there is to know about a place she had lived for years.

Long story short, the date goes really well.

I'm completely in awe of the sheer coincidence that I just met someone that just came back from living in Bali,

and still had a house there.

That's not happening every day in a random bar in the middle of Nevada.

I knew it must have been a sign.

I was near speechless after the date.

She stood for everything I feared.

She was a free spirit that lived wherever she wanted,

had her own online business,

seemed to not really care about the opinions of others,

(at least not to the extreme extent that I did at the time).

It's like she had been living my dream life.

The lifestyle I didn't have the courage to live.

That night, on her way back, her best friend called and said she wanted to stay in Reno.

Her friend had just met someone that lives right up the street from where I lived,

and she wanted to pursue that relationship.

So, not only did she just meet me,

a guy who somehow knew so much about what she loves,

fascinated by every aspect of her life,

and had obvious chemistry with her...

In those four hours, her best friend calls and halts their trip.

It seemed like her and I were destined to see each other again.

So we did, and it went really well.

She came into my life when I was near a breaking point.

I knew I couldn't go on as before,

and she showed me my dreams are possible.

Not only that,

She was immensely kind, caring, intelligent, and funny.

Even to this day, she's one of my favorite people on planet Earth.

I was starting to fall in love with her quickly,

and the feeling was mutual.

Not knowing what the future may hold,

but knowing that my dreams are possible…

The freedom to have my own businesses all while living anywhere in the world,

coupled with the conversation that I shared in Part One that served as a turning point in my career,

I finally had the courage to quit my job.

THINGS MOVED FAST

A few weeks later,

unbeknownst to my roommates,

I moved her into my apartment.

My roommates came home one day with an extra member of the house.

I was too afraid of confrontation and disappointing them to ask for permission.

I decided it would be best to ask for forgiveness.

And they were not a fan... (hehe whoops).

I've since apologized a million times, and we're all good now,

but there definitely was some tension at first.

She was now officially my girlfriend, and things were going well.

Now that I only had a few months before graduating,

and knowing that I would finally pull the trigger and move to Bali,

I spent a lot of my time getting ready to move, all while enjoying my last few weeks of the college experience.

I had my passport all good to go,

I got all my finances in order,

My KITAS Visa that was needed for me to stay in Bali longer term.

I was ready.

She was also planning on going back to Bali, but not at the same time as me.

I had this gut feeling that I needed to be there as soon as possible,

but she had some prior engagements to be at.

She would be in South America with friends and business partners,

so we knew we'd be doing long distance for a few months.

To be honest, this time in my life felt so much like a blur.

I was finishing college, making the most of it, while also planning to uproot everything.

It was a really conflicting time.

Nothing was making sense in my mind,

but everything finally felt right.

Every ounce of my being was telling me to go,

and it was time for me to listen.

CONCLUSION

Yeah, this story may need a part three, four, and five...

But it's important to note that I had an incredible sign,

meeting this girl,

that had been living the exact life that I had been dreaming of.

Although we both planned on being in Bali for the foreseeable future,

we knew we had our own individual timelines to get there.

It's what happened when we weren't together, that completely changed my life's trajectory.

In tomorrow's newsletter,

I'll be sharing more on what happened when I first reached the island,

and how her and my relationship completely altered the direction of my life.

That's it for today,

I hope you are enjoying these longer stories.

I want to try out different modalities for these newsletters,

many of which revolve around creating the best story possible.

I hope you know that you are loved and you are enough.

See you tomorrow,

I unconditionally love you all.

-Cameron Hogan