As one of very few men travelling on his own (and the only one with a certain level of 'maturity'), I should have the over-30s market sewn up. The trouble is that almost every woman over the age of 25 is travelling with her partner.
Two weeks into my trip, I have met only three women into their fourth decade: Tandy, Mel and Marie. I have written enough about Tandy. Mel was one of the Kiwi girls, who I would definitely have been interested in had she not just met someone at home. One night, we were discussing what makes a good kiss and the fact that with the exception of my ex, I haven't had a decent one for years. Mel got quite passionate on the subject and offered to demonstrate on me what she likes - in front of a bar full of people. I must need my head tested, cos I turned her down.
So that leaves Marie, a fortysomething Yorkshire woman now living in the Cape Verde Islands. I was introduced to Marie on about my fourth day in Vietnam. She had been sitting alone in a bar, when a group of people that I knew joined her. To cut a long story short, everyone else (all couples) left, leaving Marie and I alone in the bar. We were getting a bit tactile and there was definitely interest from both sides. She looked really good for her age, although she was a bit northern (dyed hair, cleavage out, tattoo, too much jewellery - like an Essex girl, come to think of it).
We drank till the bar closed. I then put her in a taxi. She gave me her email address, and with a look in her eye that I recognised from about 20 years ago, she told me to drop her message.
Unfortunately, I lost the all-important beer mat on which I had scrawled the address. So now I have left the Kiwi girls and Tandy behind, every evening I trawl the bars in the hope of seeing her. Marie is on a group tour (which apparently comprises nine women and three men) travelling exactly the same route as me, but is a day behind. But Marie is no Tandy, so I'm not wasting another day waiting around for her.
I doubt I'll catch up with Marie. But the three-to-one sex ratio of her trip (I'm starting a one-month tour of China with the same company next Monday) was music to my ears.
All good things come to an end
15 years ago
2 comments:
Hi Daz,
Two points on group tour demographics to hearten you from a piece on solo travelllers I did recently... Operators say more single women than men travel on group tours (for safety reasons) also, because of the recession, more career people are taking such tours because they've taken voluntary redundancy or a sabbatical (incentivised by a cash strapped company) and are solvent enough (another of your criteria!) to enjoy some time out travelling.
why the **** did you put her in a taxi - and why didn't you snog the Kiwi??? FFS! That's three opportunities given away now. Your mission is to get laid - now stop faffing around. My Lord, pull your finger out.
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