Love in a warm climate

I’ve been debating whether or not to publish this post or not as it is not my usual ramblings about my adventure, but I finally decided that this is still a post about my life in Crete and is a fairly significant change to my life. Were it not for moving out here last March, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be saying these things now. So without further ado, this is ‘Love in a warm climate’.

As with many of my posts, the title of this entry may be slightly misleading. I’m not in love, not even nearly. But the reason I’m writing about love is that I finally want it! Without going into too much detail, I haven’t really been all that bothered about relationships since my cancer treatment – I think in part because of the early menopause my surgery brought about. But for the first time in a long time I’m getting excited about the prospect of dating.

This all started with my relocation to Crete. I was a bit slow to take any notice, but when friends and family came to visit me they would comment on the flirting going on between me and one of the waiters at the local taverna. I wasn’t even conscious I was doing it, never mind him! Over the weeks and months, this flirting has got more and more overt and we have even got so far as to say we’ll go for drinks (I know, whirlwind romance right?). It hasn’t happened yet and I’m not sure that it will, but I’ve recently realised that it doesn’t matter either way.

Through my encounter with… let’s call him Georgios… something within me has awoken. Not in a sexual way, but I have really enjoyed flirting and the banter that is exchanged as part of that. So much so, that I’ve even signed up to tinder. In fact, when I was in London last month, I actually went on a couple of tinder dates. It was great just to get to know someone, have new conversations and discover different personalities again.

I think part of my new care-free attitude is also that I’m not really permanently located anywhere. I mean, I obviously live in Crete at the moment but I’m not sure how long for, and when I went back to London it was for a finite time. I think that helped me face my fears and meet up with people – it was just about putting myself out there and I guess testing myself to see whether I was up to it or not. 

So now I’m back in Crete, and still enjoying flirty exchanges on tinder. And although I’m not necessarily looking for love immediately, I’m enjoying flirting, and…well, feeling a bit more like a woman.