Free-Spirited Francine

I think most of us have a little bit of a free spirit in us. I decided to exaggerate my own free-spirited side a bit by writing the following ad, posted June 23, 2007. It's interesting to see what type of guys answer what type of ads and which guys reply to every single ad (some with the same form e-mail).

The Ad

Around the World in a Lifetime

Honestly, I don’t want anyone or anything too serious. If you’re all about getting married within the next five years, I’m not the girl for you. I’m nowhere near ready to settle down and get married. I don’t even want to consider having kids until at least ten years from now. I want to experience more of life before having to devote my own to some little creature. Yeah, I definitely have absolutely no desire for any of that unappealing nonsense right now. I want to see the pyramids along the Nile, watch the sunrise from a tropic isle, fly the ocean in a silver plane, see the jungle when it’s wet with rain, and whatever else is mentioned in that old song. I want some time to screw up my own life (and learn important lessons in the process, of course) before having to be responsible for others’ lives. I feel far from grown up, and I’m in no hurry to be a boring adult. In fact, I’m already sick of being an adult and having to take care of bills, insurance, car payments, student loan payments, and all that tedious stuff. If I weren’t so damn practical and fearful, I’d take off for Europe or Australia or some other English-speaking country for a couple of years with limited possessions and cash.

So why am I writing this ad, you wonder. I really like having a special someone with whom I feel I can connect. I’d like that special friend who tries to “get” me (he may never completely reach that point, but I hope he never wants to stop trying). I’d like someone who understands that I have a lot of maturing to do and who can mature with me. But who knows? Maybe we’ll never really mature, but we’ll just be ready to settle down someday. I want someone intelligent, educated, fun, spontaneous, athletic, and probably between the ages of 23 and 26. I want someone to converse about books, poetry, and/or philosophy with me while sitting at a café in France. I want someone to trek through the Amazon rainforest with me while discussing the new trend of being eco-savvy. I want someone to follow the ancient Silk Road in China with me while pondering the pros and cons of globalization and industrialization. I want someone to attend the next World Cup in South Africa with me and comment on how amazing it is that we’re sharing this exact event in this exact moment with people of all race, religion, socioeconomic status, etc. all around the world. I want someone to sit with me and people-watch on all corners of Earth (including Austin; this place is great for people-watching) until we’re old, wrinkly, cranky, and gray. Maybe you’ll just be a good friend. Maybe you’ll be more. We’ll see. We have 3/4 of a lifetime ahead of us to figure everything out.

The Responses

Due to the nature of the ad, the responses were a bit more serious. Many are too long and in depth to paste onto this blog, so I'll include bits and pieces of some of the better ones.

1. Hmm, so you don't want anything serious, but you do want to spend the rest of your life traveling with me? So what counts as serious?
I am pretty picky, so I can't say for sure I'll like you, but you definitely have potential.

[Seriously? This is not the best way to get a girl's attention. "You might not be good enough for me, but you have potential."]

2. that was a crazy rant, but i love where your head is at ; )

[That wasn't really a rant...]

3. ...And yeah, the idea of kids or anything like that any time in the near future is a very scary thought...I recently hung out around a friend of mine and her husband and her baby who is not quite 1 year old yet...I accidentally taught the kid to say "hand grenade"....so...yeah...now is not the time I need to be thinking kids..lol.

[Random, but kind of cute.]

4. Wow. I should really move to Austin. I was just perusing some different CL sites for various cities and stumbled on to your ad. Can I just copy and paste this on to the Minneapolis forum and claim it's my own...Good luck to you. You've partially redeemed Bush's home state.

[Good thing I'm not a staunch Republican.]

5. One of the things about growing up is realizing you probably won't get to do all of the things you 've dreamed about. Your travel itineraries seem very romantic and ideal but do you know which are likely to happen...This sentence in your post was funny: "I'd take off for Europe or Australia or some other English-speaking country"Europe is not an english-speaking country.

[Gee, thanks. FYI, I've already done many things I've wanted to do. Also, Europe isn't a country. It's a continent. Poor wording on my part, but I meant Europe, Australia, and Other to be three separate entities.]

6. That's an interesting post. Well-written to be sure, and thought-full and provoking as well. It's nice to hear girls in Texas actually want to get out and experience something of a life outside of Texas.

[I hope he didn't assume that I'm originally from Texas.]

7. I'm ***, 34, English, newly arrived in Austin after seven years in theBahamas, Jamaica and Malawi, never married, no kids, living downtown,working for a consulting firm, income 100+, looking for someone to sharelife and adventures.

[Nice form e-mail. People who state their income do not get a response. Neither do most people in their thirties and up.]

8. Growing up is cruel huh? Screw it, you're right, there's plenty of time to pay for our "stuff" all through out our lives. Let's live it first.

[Right on!]

9. Great googly moogly, that is the best post I have ever read on here. I posted something similar today, in fact, if you want to read more about me...

[Thanks!]

Lessons Learned

Hmm, this one was tough. I suppose I already knew that a lot of other people out there want to travel. I guess I learned that there are lots of people out there who can identify with me. Also, the cute guys never respond back after I e-mail them.