Love in Odessa

I recently returned from a week vacation in Odessa, Ukraine with a Ukrainian girl who is now my fiance.  Not to get too mushy, but I’ve fallen in love with her.  I’m no longer a horny 20-year-old man so I have a clear enough mind to see that this relationship is working well on several different levels.  We have the same temperament and level of commitment.  Our dreams and goals are also similar.  In this day and age of frivolous divorces and out-of-wedlock pregnancies, that’s the best thing a man can realistically hope for.

It’s interesting to me how we both look at our relationship pragmatically.  My fiance, for one thing, recognizes that there is no hope and no future in Ukraine.  For one thing, they are coping with a Russian invasion with little indication that it will end favorably for Ukraine.  Second, even if there was no invasion, the Ukrainian government is corrupt and has utterly failed to provide opportunity to its citizens of even to raise their standard of living.

On the other hand, I realize that I will never find a woman as beautiful and even-tempered as my fiance in the US.  I’m in love with her (truthfully), but she has made it very easy for me to do this and trust her.  My parents are concerned, of course.  But I tell them that I must take this chance and enjoy every minute I am with her for as long as our relationship lasts.  A man was not meant to be alone.  I think my generation and my parents generation have forgotten this fact.  I’m convinced that a lot of problems we face as a country comes down to the fact that American men don’t have much to live or fight for anymore.  It took me a few trips abroad to understand this myself.  We are blessed as a country and it took foreign women in other countries for me to realize this and live life to the fullest.

What About Odessa?

I would highly recommend Odessa.  It is a beautiful, historic and charming city on the coast of the Black Sea.  When I went there earlier in July, the weather was perfect.  We took an excursion into the city to see some sites and a cruise on the Black Sea and witnessed a very beautiful sunset that made the trip much more romantic.  However, most of the time was spent in nightclubs and near beaches and pools.

Romantic sunset on the Black Sea

I still recommend that your first visit abroad to be in the girl’s city.  But Odessa will make a nice second or third trip, because it’s a nice romantic city where you can build a relationship and still be in Ukraine.  I think a man still needs to be careful about taking a Ukrainian or Russian girl abroad.  Or be careful if she pushes a trip abroad too forcefully.  She can become spoiled a little too quickly and you don’t want this.

Odessa is about a 9 hour train ride from Kiev, or you can fly there directly.  We ended up taking the train and I trusted my fiance to make the arrangements that we needed.  I struggled with this because, as a man, I should be taking care of the plans.  However, I realize that the fact that my fiance was so willing to help and make some of the plans spoke volumes for me.  I never had a girl do this for me and it really was a big testament of how much she valued time with me.

I highly recommend checking out the club scene in Odessa with your girl.  I’m not big into clubs myself, but between the clubs, beaches and swimming pools, you’ll get to see how sexy your girl can dress and express herself.  As an American man, this is unusual to see.  Most American women don’t do this, and the ones that do only dress sexy for alpha cads and thugs.  There’s nothing like a woman dressing sexy for her man to make him appreciate what he has, and this is an art that has been lost for the American woman.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve been on dates with women in America and they simply don’t put in the effort.  Consider my article about Ashley McDonald to get an idea of the lengths American women will go to NOT, make a good impression on a date.

The only thing I will caution you about Odessa, is that they’re not yet up to Western standards of hospitality.  It’s a beautiful resort town, and the people are helpful and hospitable, but they haven’t heard of all-inclusive.  So there’s a feeling that they are nickel and diming you for every little thing.  Granted, this often means a few bucks here and there, so it’s not much.  But part of a good vacation is paying one price and enjoying yourself without having to worry about anything else.  This is why the West came up with all-inclusive accommodations.  The customer is even willing to pay a little bit more than he normally would just so he won’t have to worry about any additional costs as he enjoys his vacation.  Maybe one day, Ukraine and the rest of the FSU will understand capitalism.  But don’t let this discourage you from falling in love.  In the long run, it’s worth it!