Dating tips

Before the pandemic, I was living in the United States, drifting through an endless stream of first dates. Either I'd ghost them, or they'd ghost me, and even if neither of us ended up ghosting, I still never felt excited enough to go on a second date.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alyxandra Hodges, a content creator who lives in Turks and Caicos and runs the popular TikTok account @alyxandraofficial . She is also co-owner of the boat charter company Moana Charters , which she runs with her fiancé Liam Karam. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.

Love, sex, and relationships can be messy, regardless of your living situation. Things can get especially tricky when you live in van, like I chose to do for four years. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with CP. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As a 31-year-old woman, I've been on most dating apps and have been on more dates than I can remember. During the pandemic, I even went on a "first date" with someone where we ordered food for each other and FaceTimed. He cut out paper hearts and taped them to the wall behind him.