30 Dates, One Year On … The Best Man

Posted on July 30, 2014 in 30 Dates, One Year Later

Continuing with the ‘Where Are They Now’ series, we take a trip across to Canada, to find out how the Best Man is getting on!

I met the Best Man towards the end of August last year. He’d been following 30 Dates over Twitter for some time, and suggested a date early on, however as he was based up north, the logistics seemed rather difficult. Eventually we scheduled in a date for the August Bank Holiday, and I met him at the temporary Gromit statue which was on a platform at Paddington Station. My date with The Best Man involved Notting Hill Carnival, and geo-caching. He gained his name, when we realised we not only had an old friend in common, but that the Best Man had been my university friend’s Best Man at his wedding.

Like a couple of my other 30 Dates, one of the reasons the Best Man was happy to go on a one-off Challenge date was because he was about to move abroad. The Best Man moved to Vancouver, Canada, just a few days after our date.

Almost a year on, and The Best Man is happily settled in Canada. He’s no longer single, and met his American girlfriend at the start of the year, through mutual friends, in Portland, Oregon. He describes the way they got to know each other (cross-border) as “very 21st century” – Twitter and Gchat! At Easter, when he went back to Portland, he suggested dinner. The next day they went on a hike together, and they’ve been dating ever since.

The biggest change in the Best Man’s life this past year was obviously quitting his job and moving abroad, and now he’s considering returning to university, just so he can stay in Canada, so it’s obviously not a decision he regrets.

When I asked him what his best date has been this last year, he described a long weekend at a music festival in Washington state with his girlfriend. “Stand-up paddle-boarding, floating down a river and listening to the phenomenal Charles Bradley play was pretty amazing.”

How about his most adventurous date? “Given the culture differences, maybe going on any date with a north american is pretty adventurous?!” he joked.

One of the things I remember noting when I first met the Best Man was just how relaxed and open he was to being single. He was one of the most comfortable and confident of the 30 Dates, and when I asked him if being a part of 30 Dates changed his attitude to dating in any way, I wasn’t surprised when he said no. “Not really. I’m still pretty relaxed about being single or in a relationship. Your status shouldn’t define your identity! Maybe it has reinforced my thoughts that dating should be fun and thoughtful (even when spontaneous) and sans pressure.”

So has he learned anything in the last year? “Be slow to anger and quick to apologise ;)”