Hey guys.

This report is gonna take weeks for me to complete now that im back from traveling. My posts in this thread are basically gonna detail my experience on a cruise ship that was sailing across the Baltic Sea, as well as my stays in some European towns. Not surprisingly, whatever town the ship docked at, the European women there were crazy attractive. Most of the women I’ve seen were of the blond-haired; blue-eyed; fair-skinned; and tall kind.

The cruise, itself, was fun and all, but if there’s one thing not to like about it, it was the demographic: the average age group was probably around 45–55, meaning that peers my age were few and far in between. The “nightclub” was underwhelming with a bunch of adults and seniors trying to relive their youth, so I didn’t bother with it. And even if I did approach someone on the ship, I needed to take into account language barriers and how restrictive they can be.

Lastly, I should point out in this report that I wasn’t traveling alone. I was with my family and relatives, so had I been alone on this journey, the outcomes of my approaches would’ve been very different. But in either case, there definitely was a point in my approaches where I hit a ceiling and can’t progress any further. I’ll sort this issue out, but by the time I do, the cruise is already over.

That’s it for the intro, so now let’s talk about my sarge at sea. And of course, your feedback is very much appreciated.

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"I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is." - Ryan Gosling

HB6 the Russian
After the ship left Warnemunde, it spent an entire day sailing before reaching the next dock. During this time, I was bored in my cabin (i.e. no internet connection), so I decided to kill some time by walking around the boat. I was in my pajamas and my hair was disheveled, so yeah, I didn’t plan on doing any pickup… or so I thought.

When I reached the ship’s stern, an HB6 with brown hair, pale skin, and green eyes was standing there by herself taking pictures and videos of the ship’s trail. I stood next to her and did the same thing, then turned to her and complimented on her blue jacket. A conversation started from there and HB6 asked if I had an Instagram account. She wanted to add me first, so I gave her my handle and she gave me hers. (In situations where #-closing isn't going to work out due to foreign restrictions, i'd just go for an instagram- or email-close.) Because the ship’s wake was so loud and the wind was making it hard for me to hear her, I suggested to HB6 that we should move somewhere else that’s quieter. She complied and we were walking along the ship’s side.

As we were walking the length of the ship, we were building rapport. HB6 was Russian and loved America. She spoke a good amount of english and taught me some Russian long before the ship docked at St. Petersburg. When we reached the front of the ship, I suggested to her that we turn back. The reason being was that I already explored the front of the ship before meeting HB6, and it was a really windy area (windy = noisy), so it would effectively work against me.

When we turned back and walked the opposite way, we sat on a deck chair. To make kino easier for me, I sat next to her as opposed to across from her. HB6 asked if I had a girlfriend, to which I said it was “complicated”. I could’ve given her a better response from the pickup forum, but I had none prepared. Although my answer was the honest answer, HB6 nonetheless reassured me that I’ll one day find someone.

A touching moment that we did have together was when HB6 saw me shivering a little bit. The cold breeze was starting to get to me, so she used a towel that was on the deck chair across from us and wrapped me up in it. I thanked her for doing this. I felt like I could've done more physical escalation at this moment, but i did nothing in the end.

There was a guy sitting across from us doing his own thing, so I asked him to take a picture of me and HB6 together with my phone. After he took some shots, I told HB6 if she had email so that – as an excuse – I can send the pictures to her. She gave me her email with a smiley face on it, then before heading back inside the ship, I asked her how Russians greeted each other goodbye. She explained to me how it was one peck on both sides of the cheek, and we did just that. After this meeting with HB6, I wondered to myself if adding a third kiss on her lips would’ve been too much.

When I finished talking to HB9 the Californian in the hot tub (this was on another day on the ship, which will be discussed after this report), I bumped into HB6 and her mom, who spoke zero english. Nothing important or significant happened in my second encounter with HB6, so to avoid any awkwardness between the three of us, I excused myself out to “meet a friend”. This was the last time I’d see HB6 again.

What i learned
• You can look like a total bum and still get a girl's contact info if you know how to have a great conversation.

_________________
"I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is." - Ryan Gosling

HB9 the Californian
After swimming in the ship’s pool, I went to retrieve my phone that was charging at the outdoor bar. When I passed by the hot tub, there was this blond-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned HB9 that was using it all by herself. I thought I would have the hot tub all to myself again, but a little company wouldn’t hurt, especially when she’s pretty attractive.

I hopped in, immediately sat next to her, and introduced myself, to which she introduced herself in kind. After this brief exchange of names, any awkward moments between us instantly vanished and we were talking to each other as if we were friends for a long time. During rapport-building, I learned that she’s from San Francisco and just recently graduated from college with a major in interdisciplinary business(?). In turn, I told her my major in the form of a story with the central theme being "follow what drives your passion".

Aside from her education, I learned her ethnic background (German, Irish, Italian, Croatian, French, and Native American) through the Ethnicity Game*, and I taught her some Russian (“hello,” “thank you,” “goodbye, my love”) and spoke some French to her ("The red car ate my boyfriend". She laughed at this even though i tried to make it sound as sexy as possible).

After she answered my usual qualification question ("What's the craziest thing you've ever done?"), she threw the question back to me and I told her the story of my first rock concert experience. I asked her if she knew the band I was talking about, to which she said that she didn’t but might be familiar with a song made by them. I sang a song by the artist, but as the song progressed, I got more and more into it. I could tell she really enjoyed it cuz of the positive body language she was giving me.

Since the hot tub was bubbling loudly, we sometimes couldn’t hear each other. But whenever I said something and she couldn’t understand it, I would pull myself close to her, place my hand against her ear, and said what needed to be said before returning to my original spot. (I had to do this a couple times.) The whole point of this was for me to step up my kino (I was already giving her high-fives when I liked something about her). However, when I couldn’t hear what she said to me, she would just speak louder until I got her point across. Perhaps I could’ve done something differently here instead of me simply acknowledging what she said and moving on.

Eventually, our alone-time ended when three adults – one being her mom – joined us. Again, I introduced myself to them to avoid any awkwardness between us. After the greeting, I turned to HB9 and asked her if any guys tried to pick her up yet. The reason why I ask this question is to let the girl know that I’m not like the typical guy who’s trying to get into her pants. It’s a fun little activity of us ripping on chumps.

“Hey,” I said to her, “Be honest with me. Has any guy tried picking you up yet?”
HB9 smiled. “No,” she answered, “not yet. Why? Are you trying to pick me up?”
“If I was trying to pick you up, I would’ve sat next to you and said, ‘Hey, if we were an alphabet, I would but U and I together!’ But notice how I didn’t do that, so technically I’m not picking you up.” I think this disqualifier could've been better.
After I said this, I quickly tacked on, “But I know we could never be good together. You’re too high maintenance for me.” This made HB9’s mom and the two other adults laugh and HB9’s mom told us a funny story about her daughter.

When it was finally time for me to go, I gave HB9 the idea that we should become “pen pals”. She agreed, so I gave her my email and she gave me hers. She told me not to laugh at her email cuz it was pretty childish, but I reassured her by saying that I wouldn’t mind. When she told me what it was, I shot her a credulous look, but then we both laughed at how silly the situation was. When i gave her the credulous look, it was too quick. I should’ve done it slowly, as if I’m building up to it.

When I finally returned to my cabin to continue writing reports, i imaged me and HB9 alone in the hot tub together. I once pictured myself in a situation like this with some HB, but I never thought it would actually happen, and it happened because my confidence was bold enough to approach and open. My only regrets are that:
1. I don’t have a picture of us in the hot tub together because my cellphone was almost dead at the time (when I retrieved it from the outdoor bar, it was only at ~5% battery life; charging a cellphone on the ship was apparently a slow process, so it was probably for the best I don’t have a picture),
2. I didn’t go for a kiss-close because I still don’t know how; plus, it might’ve been too late as soon as when we weren’t alone in the hot tub anymore (i later saw on her instagram that she has a bf), and
3. I didn’t ask if she had an Instagram, so I’ll casually mention if she has one through email. i got it eventually.

*The Ethnicity Game – a game used to identify someone’s background by listing off a bunch of countries; shows person that you travel a lot and possess a broad world view.

What i learned
• Just going direct is the simplest way to start a conversation, even if you're only wearing your swimming trunks.

_________________
"I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is." - Ryan Gosling