So on the back of a meltdown I catch a plane to Minsk in Belarus. A 4-day solo daygame trip was probably not the best idea, but I had already booked flights and airbnb when I was in a better and more hopeful mood. I leave Warsaw and the airport puts me in a better mood, like Pavlov’s dog airports trigger a sense of adventure and memories of good times. I arrive in Minsk, the weather is beautiful and the drive from the airport is nice, rolling hills and high pitched roof residential architecture. I don’t feel much hope for daygame, but I’m interested to explore this new land. I had set up a date from a Minsk local that I met in Warsaw the week before so I had a little hope for that, but even then I was half hearted. She was 22, great skinny body, blonde, blue eyes, pretty face – on paper she was a high seven, I should have been really excited, but there was something about her that lacked sex appeal. It’s not like I had a heap of other options and I figured she might turn me on more on the date than the daygame set.

At 7pm I arrived at my airbnb apartment in an old soviet style apartment block. It reminded me a lot of the commission flats in Richmond in Melbourne I used to buy drugs from in my miss spent youth. Even then in Melbourne with Vietnamese drug dealers and regular stabbings I liked the ugly architecture, great views, and the communal land devoted to parks and trees – despite the devastation of communism I must say I am a fan of the town planning. My host meets me and I enter the building, cracked concrete, dirt and grime, a steel lift that looked like it was from the movie set of 1984. I thought the commission flats in Melbourne were bad, this is much worse. I hope the apartment is nicer, the photos looked pretty good. We get inside and it’s lovely, 3 big rooms, nice views and everything I need.

I drop my bags and hit the streets, despite my dull vibe I’m compelled to daygame. I have a 20-minute walk to Galleria Mall and 50 minutes before my date so I may be able to get a few sets in. A new city and new opportunities brighten my mood as I get into the daygame swagger and waltz along the street. A blonde takes my attention, I side stop her. “Excuse me. Do you speak English?” “A little.” She smiled and blushed and knew what I wanted. After a brief chat she excused herself pretty quickly. My vibe felt good and I had been able to convey intent and get a good reaction from an albeit unavailable girl. A few minutes later I saw her meet her boyfriend, so that explained her unavailability. I continued my walk to the mall and took in the sites. I wasn’t over impressed with the girls, sure they were attractive, but most had big legs and arses, I was hoping for more of the skinny greyhound genetic of the Russian girls I had seen on my trips to Thailand (always with a husband). To be honest I think I prefer the skinny Polish girls, maybe it’s my dull mood, but I am here now so maybe I will open a few big bummed Belarusians.

I get to the mall and a young, tall slim girl with long black hair starts talking to me in Russian. She is sort of hot. “Sorry. I only speak English.”

“Oh.” She smiles and I see a feint hint of attraction. “I’m looking for a money exchange.”

“I just got here so really don’t know much myself, you are not from here?”

“I am from Belarus, but not Minsk. I’m from Gomel. Where are you from?”

Standard hook, ok, she is interested. I wonder why she is changing money, but think the topic is a bit boring, I was later to find out that Belarusians convert their savings to $US because it is more stable than their own currency. We chat for a bit more, but my date is due in 10 minutes so I suggest a coffee the following day and get her number.

My date turns up and is not dressed to fuck, but I figure I don’t have much else on and she seems like a nice girl so I take her for a coffee and get to know each other more. She offers to show me the city and I feel like a walk after travelling on a planes and Ubers all day will be good so I agree and we spend the next few hours walking around. It is an amazing city and she is a nice girl, I would fuck her and I want to get my notch, but while she’s being nice and friendly, even compliant to my touch, she is not giving me any green lights and I can’t get any enthusiasm to seduce her on yellow. At about an hour in I know we are in comfort quicksand and I don’t even care. How lucky am I? I’m in this remarkable city travelling solo with a really sweet girl who wants to show me her city. Most travellers would think this was a great evening, so I relax and let her lead the tour. At a bit after 11pm I gave her a friendly hug, said goodbye and hopped into an Uber.

The next morning I ping tall long black hair, she replies, I set up a date, she agrees, we are booked for 3pm. I leave the apartment at midday and walk the beautiful streets of Minsk. I open a few girls and get a couple of numbers. One is particularly hot, blonde IT student, slim, a face you could look at for hours, a proper 8, maybe 9. I meet my date, she has dressed up very nice for me and is a high seven. We sit down for coffee and ten minutes in she tells me that she has to leave soon to return the apartment keys to the girl she is staying with. I don’t believe her and think I am getting the brush off, what can I do? There is no use being a prick, I take it on the chin and figure I will just enjoy the company for the next ten minutes, I’ve not got much else on. English is not great, but a couple things she says make me sense that she is telling the truth as she is probing what I am doing for the rest of the day. I call it out. “Look, I have been on many dates where after 10 minutes, I decided I didn’t like the girl and made an excuse that I had to leave.”

“No, it’s not that. I promise.” She says. She looks sincere.

“So you want to meet me after you go back to you friends apartment?”

“Yes.”

“How far is her apartment?”

“20 minutes on the metro.”

“Do you want me to come with you and then we can come back to this area after returning the keys, my apartment is not far from here.”

“Ok,” She agrees

I think it will be a bit of an adventure and she said ok even after I seeded my apartment, so why not. I got up to pay and flirted with the hot blonde at the cashier getting a good response, I would have normally tried to get her number, but tall long black hair was only a couple meters away. We walked to the metro underneath Galleria Mall and I let go and let myself enjoy the adventure, I was catching a train to God knows where with a girl I didn’t know and may end up robbed and beaten – it was fun. On the train we stood very close and because it was noisy we had to talk into each others ears which became quite intimate and I noticed a bit of a change in her as we started to ask each other more personal questions, weirdly this was now starting to feel more like a date.

We dropped her friend’s keys off and I booked an Uber to my place, but she refused saying she wasn’t going to my apartment. “OK, lets just go for a walk and find a coffee shop or a park to sit in.” There were no coffee shops in the communist wastelands of suburban Minsk, but we found a park with seats and built a good connection, there was a strong man woman vibe, she was attracted to me, but there was no chance of a lay since she was catching her bus to Gomel in a few hours and I couldn’t see logistics bringing us together again. I wasn’t going to Gomel. But I told her about my trip to Minsk on the 23^rd of this month and she said we could keep in touch and she can rearrange her work schedule to come and visit me. Ok, so all is not lost, she is 22 and I would fight a bear to fuck this sort of girl in Australia. It’s getting cold and my phone is getting low on charge so I walk her back and book an Uber before I am stuck there forever.

It’s Saturday night so I head to Galleria Mall to try a few more approaches, but nothing sticks and I don’t even get a number. Minsk is a nice city, but not my pussy paradise. I get home and the blonde IT student student has returned my message, ok, if I can fuck her it will make this whole journey worth it, but on further consideration that’s no longer true. Daygame owes me more than that. The investment and time spent. I expect to fuck a new girl every month that I like enough to want to continue to fuck – not a throw away 6 like I find so many of in Asia. I am failing so much that I can’t see how I can turn it around into success. I am getting dates. I’m not sure if that is skill, me being shiny or luck, but I am not converting, I am not getting laid, nor interesting them enough to get them on a second date. I go to bed not depressed but just looking at the harsh reality of my failure in daygame.

I wake up Sunday morning in a good mood, despite my staring down the barrel of failure I recognise how lucky I am, I can travel most of my life, I’m in cities a lot of people only read about in books, I meet beautiful women every day, I’m not lonely and I have 100% health. I’m not even particularly horny. I’m sure there is a sex tourist scene here and I have no qualms in fucking hookers, I just don’t feel like it. And at this point in time while I am failing and don’t believe I will ever succeed, I don’t feel I have much choice, I made a commitment to the end of 2020 and I would rather fail through all that period than give up. There is something honourable in failing at something that most people would give up on, but the main reason is I don’t know what I would do if I gave up on the Euro travelling seducer lifestyle. Living in Europe is so much nicer than Asia, Asia might do for a month or 2, but full-time I couldn’t. Deep down I also feel like I can get some notches, hope is not completely lost. I think I am looking at the failure head-on so I can be honest with myself and see the holes in my game.

I went for a walk with the mindset to enjoy the beautiful weather, the pedestrian friendly communist town planning and architecture and maybe introduce myself to a few unsuspecting local girls. I accepted I am not a skilled seducer, I accepted that even if I met a yes girl I would most likely fuck it up, what am I to do? Deny the bare facts facing me. Fake it till I make it, that’s just not working. I will be who I am, a traveller who wants to fuck all the hot skinny local girls, but is settling for being a tourist and getting friend zoned. It’s not a bad second prize. I could be like my old friends in Australia; in a job they dislike with a nagging wife and their only outlet to consume and keep the wheel of civilisation going.

I leave my apartment and before long stop a very hot dark haired girl near Nemiga. My banter and vibe isn’t too bad, but she’s not so interested. I walk for another 30 minutes without opening, I don’t care too much, I really do enjoy walking this city, it’s a pedestrian’s dream. I get to the main train station near Galileo Mall and a cute girl with light green eyes and light brown hair gives me an IOI, she walks past and I check her arse, skinny, not the big Belarusian bum. “Excuse me. Do you speak a little bit of English…..” We vibe for a bit, she is giving me great eye contact and we are very close. “I am not doing anything now so I can walk with you if you want.” She says. Ok, another chance to get friend-zoned by a cute girl who wants a shiny foreigner to practice her English on. Or is it…