Anonymous wrote:I think many people here, including you yourself, OP, hit the nail on the head. Trust your gut about your “trying too hard” assessment. You mentioned twice that you like to talk about travel and adventure and not seem too “basic.” Ironically or not, this makes you more basic, especially in the DC area.
I don’t mean this in a harsh way, but especially if you are white and UMC/MC, rattling off about your NGO internship in Tajikistan does not make you less basic or less white or less UMC. It is very much a basic DC area thing (not just white people, but especially white people) to define themselves by “exotic” experiences as a substitute for whatever they feel they are lacking in who they genuinely are. This isn’t to say that “travel and adventure” aren’t an important part of who you are, but so is your day to day life. Think about it this way: if you reveal all your “special” and “unique” characteristics on day one, then your partner if you do get into a relationship will be disappointed in how ordinary and humdrum life with you is if you have nothing genuine to offer. On the flip side, if you are your natural self with a nice smile, caring nature, and show interest in him and others around you, your “uniqueness” will come out over time and will be an added plus with surprises to enhance the day to day life with you that he already knows and enjoys. Make sense?
+1000 When people tell me about exotic locales, I inwardly roll my eyes. It’s cool that someone did Peace Corps or was an FSO somewhere but that doesn’t make a person better than other people. That’s not what I’m looking for initially. I would rather connect with someONE and not their resume. So on the first date, I’m really looking for someone who is down to earth with a similar sense of humor and outlook on life. Make others feel you are down to earth first. And then you can surprise them with all your accomplishments later, and that will make your accomplishments seem more impressive.