Episode 1: Leavin’ on a Jet Plane…without you
By June 2010, it had already been two years since I had abandoned online dating’s algorithm. I hadn’t found The One yet, but I felt like she was closer–much closer. Unlike everyone else I knew who was still struggling in their search for a mate, my dates and relationships were getting stronger. Well, for the most part they were. Life with my current girlfriend actually wasn’t going that well. Our connection was strong, but there was something about it that wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t put a finger on it precisely. It was there nonetheless —a little splinter festering in my mind. Jill and I had broken it off once before and this second time didn’t promise improvement. Relationships, it seems, are much like last night’s dinner—just not the same reheated.
Back when things had been better between us, I had invited Jill to come with me on my annual July business trip to Paris, but now it didn’t seem like going together was a good idea. Instead, I decided to finally start on the book that had been percolating in the back of my brain. What better place than Paris to gather inspiration for a book about finding love? Extending my trip by a couple of days to begin writing seemed a much better plan. Too, it would give me a great reason to buy an iPad–just 2 weeks after it hit the market. The mental image of me sitting at a Parisian sidewalk café whilst pecking out a book revealing the secrets for finding love really sat well.
So iPad in hand, girlfriend not, I boarded a 4th of July plane for Paris. Little did I know the insane, life-altering enterprise on which I was about to embark…
The Death of Online Dating 