First Trip. Ticket to Simferopol in two weeks. Learning the hard way (long)

[Lily]

kgh, that was a huge red flag.  I read that as: "No, I don't want to meet you... But I do want to keep our emails going while my "agency" drains your wallet."

The vast majority of CIS girls are going to want to meet as soon as possible.  (Ask yourself why would a girl want to risk losing you to another girl who is willing to meet sooner?)  Any girl with empathy knows that it's both costly to travel from the US to a CIS country and wise to get to know the girl better before committing to a trip... so they will generally wait patiently.  But the idea that she wanted to put off meeting you is bizarre.
 

I can relate to the woman who wrote that she wouldn't be ready to meet unless Ken and she get to know each other better. (Have no idea how I would react if I'd be her.). This shows me a considerate person who knows how expensive and burdensome it is for Ken to travel to meet her, and she cares about his spendings. Apparently she wanted to see some more chances for Ken's reasonable success in his trip.

However I agree that I don't understand the whole agency and scamming things, though...

[Stirlitz]

Stirlitz will make Odessa easy, and it is not an easy place; perhaps even slightly predatory.  See Yalta but stay someplace else.  Have Stirlitz research/find a terp in Crimea.

Why do I need to research when I am myself the ‘terp’ for the Crimea (as well as for Odessa). I am going to get there next week actually.

[Faux Pas]

It's always easier to pass judgments on people when they give you all the facts and you're on the outside looking in with 20/20 hindsight.  How did I get here?  It's easy and complicated.  The simple answer is that I liked how she wrote/talked to me.  Interesting letters, inquisitive, answered my questions, she tried to explain things in her life.  We wrote 6 letters a week each and only mentioned the weather occasionally.  There was so much to talk about!  I know some of you won't believe that.  I know of many guys who don't know what to say to a woman after a few hours or a few letters.  It was nice.

It is all part and parcel of the deception, hook, line, sinker thing. Have you understood that yet?

 

Maybe most of you wouldn't have fallen for this 'scam', but I'll bet you've made other mistakes in your life that I wouldn't have made.  Everything I've gone through and all the money I've spent has been a lot less then those who have gone through a divorce.  It's an inexpensive mistake comparatively...  It's not like I'm Mr. Moneybags, but looking at the big picture, .... lesson learned.  No alimony.  I get the house AND the car.

We've all made some mistakes. There are only two kinds of men in this pursuit, those who admit to making some mistakes and liars but, don't attempt to rationalize your gullibility. You've been had. You now have enough information to have a really good vacation. Go meet this young lass you have spent so much cash on but, don't be surprised if she comes up sick, or Mother calls half way through your high priced dinner. Plan your vacation without her and have a good time.

So thanks again everyone!  Since some of you were so respectful, I'll just put my flame suit on.  Asking to not be slammed didn't work, so Fire Away...

Respectfully,
Kenny

Kenny, you stuck it all out there and made it very tempting and very easy for anyone to drop a doodoo bomb on you. Surprisingly, no one has. Even Gtex's remarks were relatively mild. You'll need thicker skin to actually date these women and a much thicker skin to marry one. Are you sure you are up for it?

[Daveman]

 

We've all made some mistakes. There are only two kinds of men in this pursuit, those who admit to making some mistakes and liars but ....

Yep, probably the only ones who didn't were the jackpot lottery winners who wrote one girl, visited one girl, shipped her over and married her... and are still married (please, sell me some of that magic fairy dust).

I've yet to be scammed (never say never), but I've screwed up a couple of decent relationships and held on to a couple others longer than I should have.. live and learn, brother..

There's more than just the scammin' sharks in these waters...