My relationship began when I was traveling around the world as I worked remotely. I met my now-ex in an Ibiza nightclub and enjoyed three wonderful years with him. While I knew deep down it probably wouldn’t last, I had a lot of fun while it did.
He lived in Germany while we dated. I stayed with him often but still bounced around on my own all over the world. When I did stay for weeks at his house, we would work from home together, listen to music, go on long runs, and just generally enjoy one another. I would eventually get a bit restless and have to go off somewhere else. He didn’t mind that I was free-spirited and was always happy when I got back. While we didn’t have a ton in common, we didn’t fight and we always took care of one another.
It was just this past spring that I realized I was becoming more and more frustrated that we lacked many mutual interests. It seemed as though he didn’t understand how committed I was to my spirituality and social justice. I also wanted to experience non-monogamy, a choice he definitely wasn’t open to. I was in New York when I expressed my desire to break-up. However, he insisted that we should see one another one last time. He was right- how could I end a three-year relationship over a video call halfway around the world?
Even though my friends thought I was crazy, I knew that saying good-bye in person would make things easier in the long run. It was my chance to show how much I loved him to his face and to enjoy one another one last time. With that, I booked my ticket to Germany and headed off.
He picked me up at the train station and right away I wondered how to act. He kissed me first, so I decided that it would be okay to act like we were a couple for a little while longer. We ended up having sex again after I had previously said we shouldn’t; after all, we may as well make our last day together a great one, right? Afterward, we headed to the park to talk. I reminisced about my favorite memories of us together as we lay facing one another. We then headed to a favorite Chinese restaurant to have dinner, sharing our dumplings and soup like we had when we were a happy couple before.
We spent the night having sex and cuddling. In the morning, I packed up to a song that we used to dance to as we talked. On the way to the train station, he asked me to send pictures of my cat once in a while as I had before. I agreed.
I told him that I would love him forever as I hugged him goodbye at the train station. Tears fell as he told me he would miss my “husky eyes”. I took off for the Netherlands, feeling sad to leave him and my old life behind. Still, I knew it was for the best as I sped toward a new adventure.
