He suggested for our first date we go bowling and all I felt was excitement and shock. It was the first time I would be going on a date that didn’t involve us hanging out at their place or mine. The bar is low on this (trust me I know), but being asked out this way was a new experience for me. Sure, I’ve been on “dates” before, but does watching a movie at my place or playing video games at his count as a FIRST DATE? To me? No, it doesn’t. So, when this guy said we’d be bowling I was easily impressed.
Dating has always been…an experience for me. It’s always endless talking stages with no goal at the end. I downloaded Tinder and Bumble for the first time in my freshman year of college. As a hopeless romantic at the time, the overall experience was soul-crushing. (Maybe a bit dramatic, but yeah definitely not my favorite memories.) After the worst luck on dating apps, I swore off them. There was always the occasional re-download, spend a week on the app, and then delete it; however, I never took it seriously after what I experienced freshman year.
This year I’ve seen a lot of my friends talk about another app: Hinge. It seemed to get mixed reactions from people, but one of my friends had been on a few dates and of course, we would talk about it and gush over all the details of every single one. They always sounded so fun. Dressing up, doing your makeup, going out to dinner, grabbing drinks? I could gladly get behind all of that. So, I did. I downloaded the app, made my profile, and started swiping.
Getting back into dating was definitely a step out of my comfort zone. I’ve been trying to challenge and push myself more this year and being back on a dating app was definitely moving in that direction. I figured worst-case scenario I can always just delete the app and move on as I did before. This time I was going to take a leap and go out on dates. I went out with the first guy and we went bowling (I won by the way), grabbed dinner, bought seltzers at the convenience store, then just drank and talked. It was a simple but very good night. I have been on more dates after this, but I am glad I decided to give dating another chance. Definitely a way more positive experience compared to freshman year and it’s been a good time. I should be putting myself out there more anyway. I’m continuing to learn and grow in all aspects of my life and I’m glad I started to get the ball rolling again when it comes to my love life.