| The real social drag is real life not the digital one. You'll find the off beaten path interesting but ultimately full of locals places even in cities you imagined to be more international or urban, and it's not easy to strike up a conversation at a bar and eating dinner alone every night can become dull even with the best menus. it seems that being more introverted makes this experience easier to handle. but i also never cared for meeting other expats, but i relished being among locals only.
but i did hate eating out by myself so i preferred to cook myself and watch a movie or something while eating. Traveling with an SO could be more fun but I imagine there's tension there about getting alignment on the constant myriad of small decisions that need to be made. Agreeing on the next airbnb, the other one misnavigated google maps...again. The restaurant the other one chose over your preference was underwhelming. You forgot the laptop charger at the airport and need to trade off with the other one. No alone time or time with other friends to balance eachother out. uhm, i somehow get the impression that here you missed the point of having a partner. at least for me, my partner meant that all these issues became irrelevant because the experience of sharing a life together is more important than whether i like the food, or whose fault it is that we got lost. if my partner was happy, then i was happy, and if there was a problem with the accomodation, then we'd discuss it and find a solution. part of having a partner is learning each others likes and dislikes, and find common ground, but not fret over how having a partner interferes with you getting your preffered choices. Imho after a while I learned to stay in one place for a month atleast. No airbnb roommates. You deserve peace and quiet. Get on a schedule and try to live like a local. [...] It allowed me to stay productive but outside of having a schedule the main benefit was having a purpose of being there. now you got it. everywhere i went i became active in the local FOSS and tech communities, even when i didn't speak the language, where possible i found local musicians to play together with or connected with other communities that i had an afiliation to or interest in. |