More than two months have passed.

More than two months since I met this awesome girl in Venice.

Then traveled to Rome with her.

It was the last part of my six-week long travel through Europe.

What an awesome finish that was.

From first seeing her sitting in that restaurant near the Grand Canal.

To sharing a Bla Bla car driven by one of the weirdest characters.

To saying goodbye and her breaking into tears.

It was so cute, so adorable. I almost started crying myself.

My heart was up in my throat.

We parted ways at a train station. She had to get to the airport. I had a couple more hours.

After she went through the gates I was standing there. Frozen. Hoping she'd turn around. Turn around. Turn around!

She did. Trying to put a smile on her pretty face.

I had to see this girl again. I promised we would meet again.

Heavy hearted I went back upstairs. Sat in the park some more. The park we spent our last hours together.

One of the stops planned for my trip I didn't get to visit was Paris.

And like coincidence wants she was currently studying abroad in you guessed right, Budapest.

Sir what? That doesn't make any sense.

I agree.

She was spending her semester abroad in Paris.

For another month.

I had to act. Quickly.

Unfortunately, I was completely broke after my Europe vacation so I started to power down.

We all make dumb mistakes okay?

The going broke part. Not having my stuff together. Needing money.

Deciding to meet her again was an awesome decision.

Two weeks later I was sitting on a train bound for Paris.

God, that felt good.

After I got back home I didn't feel like there was anything left for me to do in this city.

I grew up here, went to school and am about to graduate.

Working? Let's do that somewhere else. Some other time.

Whatever. Right now, we should hit the road again.

To help fuel this desire to break out we decided on four days of Paris.

Oh and also because this girl was freaking amazing. Just by the way. If you''re wondering why I could be so crazy. Yeah, had to be a girl.

But for the past eight months, I had been immersed in the dating game.

Clubbing. Twice every weekend. Looking to bang random chicks in an attempt to prove to myself I could do it.

I'm not gonna deny that I enjoyed it.

It was a great time.

For a month or two.

It helped me grow as a person.

But did it?

My confidence was still not at an all time high. Primarily influenced by the fact that the time sucking activity that is called "Game" took away all my mental energies that should have been focused on business.

When I got on that train I was relieved.

I got to escape reality for another four days.

Another four days of fun and pleasure with a stunning girl I didn't know much about.

A girl whom I'd promised we'd meet again.

I keep my promises and this sounded like another experience worth making.

The time in Paris was great.

Mainly because we were still in the early stages of dating.

Everything was wonderful.

How could it be different? We were in the city of love.

But time flies by.

And four days later it was time for yet another goodbye.

A "see-you-soon" as I like to refer to these incidences.

Are we ever gonna see each other again?

I want to say I was dead sure but I wasn't.

Is this it?

She was sure we would meet again.

Dead sure? Dead sure.

We didn't.

We didn't give up, that is.

Were you about to lose hope?

Hang in there. The story continues.

Two weeks until she would fly back to the US.

The US! The fucking US!

That's a different game.

New timezone, who dis?

You can't just take a train for three hours and say "Hey, it's me."

Oh no. It's a 10-hour direct flight from here to Chicago.

10. Hours.

And the money?

I'm broke.

Also not a fan of long-distance relationships.

Fuck.

I'm screwed.

Look at me.

Getting lucky once, finding a girl I can imagine spending my future with and then those are the circumstances.

Great, heh?

Don't get me wrong.

I love girls. Women.

I tend to bond with them quite easy. I usually don't have bad dates.

And I genuinely care about all the ones I meet.

After all, I'm trying to leave them better than I found them. The one rule I set for myself.

What doesn't happen though is me falling in love with these girls.

Most of them are probably too different compared to me.

Hell, most people are too different. Don't have the right mindset. The things I value. Are interested in stuff I care about.

But this was different.

This wasn't my usual cute "let me care about you for two weeks before we part ways forever".

This was more.

I could totally see myself falling in love with this girl.

And the situation we were, heck we are still in, doesn't help. Any of it.

She was thinking about skipping her trip to Nice and come visit me in Frankfurt.

Hope? We're gonna meet again?

I got my hopes up. Got happy.

But it didn't play out that way.

She couldn't bail on her friend.

I totally understood her reasons.

Still. Was I gonna see her again?

In life, there are certain situations where you don't make rational decisions.

Where you have to go with your intuition and just do.

What are rational decisions anyway?

I'm a crazy guy.

Here's to the crazy ones!

I was going to Nice.

Again.

Yep. Booked myself a ticket and went.

That makes my visits to Nice three in two months.

Wow. Gotta love Southern France.

Here's the insane part.

From Rome back home I had to take a bus. Ran out of money for a plane ticket.

Hated that shit.

About a year ago I went to London. By bus.

14 hours of hell after which I swore myself to never travel by bus again.

Then broke that rule in Rome. A 19-hour bus ride.

And now I broke it again. For Nice. A 22-hour ride.

More motivation to make money and travel comfortably, am I right?

Collect enough pain so you have to change something!

So, 10 days later I embarked on my Journey to Nice.

We rented a nice Airbnb for the three of us. Her friend, my girl and me.

We had a blast.

Went to Cannes and Monaco.

Sun, beach, fun.

Fully present there was nothing more I wished for.

The beauty of being present.

You can cherish every moment without worrying about what happens next.

At one point we had the talk about what would happen after all this.

What were we?

A couple? Dating? How?

She was gonna go back to Chicago and then what?

It was tough.

We had both stopped seeing other people.

Still.

How long were either of us willing to wait, to commit to a monogamous lifestyle?

Was there any end in sight?

Whenever you lay in bed late at night, after sex and talk about the future your conversations get quite deep.

Another night and it would be time to say goodbye again.

For good this time?

No. I was not gonna let this happen.

I told her. Let's try I said.

My semester is two more months. I can make it out to Chicago.

I'll get to work. Grind. Hustle. 24/7.

This way there was no way of me getting distracted.

By other girls. By life.

Build this fucking business and move. To Chicago? Who knows.

Build the laptop lifestyle. Work anywhere.

Yes, that's what we're gonna do. We have to.

The why is strong enough now.

4 o'clock at night the next day she took her stuff.

We went downstairs.

The Uber arrived.

She walked over to the car.

Turn around. Turn around. Come on turn around!

She did. Sad look on her face.

She got in and drove off. Into the dark night.

She'd be back in Chicago before I'd be in Frankfurt.

Insane.

Heavy hearted I went back upstairs. Trying to get some sleep.

Now, here I sit. One month and one day later.

The pain of not having her next to me grow from day to day.

Thousands of miles apart. Let's be exact, put a number on that pain. 4330 miles. 6969 for my non-American friends following along.

Wondering if we can make it.

Will it be the same when we meet again?

It feels like with every passing day I lose her a bit more.

Only time will tell.

For now, I have to figure out a way to overcome this pain. A way to get my ass to Chicago.

In time for her birthday?

A little under 50 days.

With no money in my pocket.

I know I can do it. I have to.

Wait for me. Jasmin. I miss you. Te quiero mucho.