Hello from the Pacific NW

[roykirk]

I think S7 still has a gaggle of Tupolevs in their fleet too.  Another good reason not to fly them.  I think I saw you on one of my LAX to SVO flights!  I remember seeing some guy stretched out in a middle section, seeming so comfortable it looked like he was in a king size bed!  I had to restrain myself from pouring water on him.   

[ScottinCrimea]

Alaska Air was going to do Anchorage - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski flight.   I'm not sure if it's already working or not, but that will be the best solution from Seattle, IMO.

i believe I read on one website that this was scheduled to begin next month.

[epdx]

You started off coming to the board attempting to determine: WMVO, WOVO, WMVM.

I see that as more of a personal judgment call based on what fits your personality and your ability to identify woman that might be a good match for you. But you must also make a realistic assessment of the time you have available to write women, your vacation time to see them now, in the future through the visa and financial resources available to pursue this and adjust accordingly.

When you date at home do you date more than one lady at the same time as you attempt to find the right match? Meaning do you go on multiple dates with multiple ladies in the same period of time? Or do you find one lady you really click with after meeting/emailing/talking on the phone/etc., and shift your focus on getting to know her and go on dates with her as you determine if she is the right one? I fall more to the latter end of the equation than to the former. But what is your style? What works best for you? Are you able to size a woman up pretty quickly or do you move slowly?

When I was wrestling with the WMVO, WOVO, WMVM question I read something somewhere that influenced my opinion. Basically, you are more likely to take a lady more seriously if you are going to see one as opposed to being focused on the next one or the last one you saw. You may think from photos the next one will be the best one and not take the current one as seriously only to regret it later. And she is more likely to take you more seriously as well, in my opinion, if you are only visiting her. Some will probably disagree and say that she will try harder for you if she knows you are seeing other woman and she needs to compete.

If you visit only one you must really do your homework first, get as many non-studio every day photos of her as you can, talk to her on the phone and if you get lucky a webcam. If she has internet at home I would strongly suggest figuring out the web cam as that has made a massive difference for me. I believe visiting her in her city is important as well so you can see if she introduces you to her family and how she acts when she introduces you. It also takes the burden off you of figuring out what to plan to do for the time you spend with her as she will want to show you around her city. I am sure the many members that have infinitely more experience than I do can offer many more valuable tips.

If you did not guess I probably fall into the WOVO a I quickly whittled the search down to one woman. We started off emailing, which quickly turned to using a combo of sms/im to get around the time difference, I set up a jajah.com account so she could call me at no cost to her when she wanted to (incoming calls to a cell phone are free for her and that is how jajah works) and then we got on a web cam (she had one) and the rest is history. Talking to her on a web cam let me see some body language and most importantly her eyes. It was very clear to both of us the other was very interested in the other and we matched up well, so I went to visit her in her city. I moved a lot quicker than most here would likely recommend but so far it has gone very well.

If you do visit only one you better have a backup plan. I had a backup idea that I would have acted on, although it was not a thorough plan and I would have been flying by the seat of my pants. I booked my flat through a different agency than the one we met through, Elena's Models, and would have gone to them to meet some ladies in that city. Or I would have jetted off to Kiev but that would have cost me more money. Fortunately, I did not need my backup plan as the trip went better than I could have imagined.

-E

[docmon]

epdx:  thanks for the post, sounds like great advice!  congrats on the success so far, by the way!

[JimSeattle1963]

You started off coming to the board attempting to determine: WMVO, WOVO, WMVM.

I see that as more of a personal judgment call based on what fits your personality and your ability to identify woman that might be a good match for you. But you must also make a realistic assessment of the time you have available to write women, your vacation time to see them now, in the future through the visa and financial resources available to pursue this and adjust accordingly.
<snip>
If you do visit only one you better have a backup plan. I had a backup idea that I would have acted on, although it was not a thorough plan and I would have been flying by the seat of my pants. I booked my flat through a different agency than the one we met through, Elena's Models, and would have gone to them to meet some ladies in that city. Or I would have jetted off to Kiev but that would have cost me more money. Fortunately, I did not need my backup plan as the trip went better than I could have imagined.

-E

Thank you for the insight on my original question.  I had no idea this thread would go so many places!  I did appreciate the Vladivostok travel info.

I think where I'm at is WMVO with reasonably well-developed backup plans, or maybe something like WMVM focusing on a geographic area as a tourist for the first trip, and use the knowledge I gain to decide on the next steps.  It was interesting, the brief discussion about "right woman" vs. geography.  I agree with both and don't see them as necessarily contradictory.  I think I'm focusing on "right woman", with geographically feasible backup plans.
I do have several women I correspond with that I would very much enjoy meeting, without any romantic expectations, such as Zhanna and Svetlana in Kiev, Elena in Odessa, and then the lady I am most serious about, I'll call her "Plan A", or just "A", is in Kishinev, Moldova.  Their ages, respectively, are 45, 39, 46, and 37.  "A" is also very serious about me, or at least has been so far.  She has a 7 year old son; all the others have no children or grown children.
Other men have been very clear about telling me that A and I are just pen-pals until we've met face to face.
Let's say, just for the sake of discussion, that there is a 50% chance that A and I are a match made in heaven, the angels sing when we meet, and we wind up back in the USA together within a year.  25%, 10%, 50%, 2% chance, just a number.
I am starting to plan for a 3-week trip to FSU in October, flying into Kyiv and/or Odessa, and then perhaps ground travel to Kishinev. (aka Chisinau)
I do feel that if I visit other women on the same trip, A may be hurt and question my commitment to her.  I suppose there is a slim possibility that I could visit my other pen-pal "friends" in Kiev and Odessa for a day each on the way to Moldova, without causing major problems, but I think this could also run the risk of screwing up the meeting with A.  It would seem even worse form to schedule to visit other women AFTER seeing A, so I suppose this would only happen if things went badly with A and I needed to put the backup plan(s) into service.
I recall seeing a research study that said to find a good match, we needed to date 10 partners, then latch onto the next one that comes along that is equal to or better than the best of those 10.  The problem, of course, is when the once-in-a-lifetime partner is the 2nd person we date, and everyone after that, we find wanting in comparison, and by that time, "2" is long gone.
Well, I'm still waffling on my strategy.  Maybe a WMVM tour, not including A, and then a WMVO trip to A... Alright, the thing that's making the most sense is a WMVO trip to see A for 3 weeks, with backup plans for a VM quick-adjust if the chemistry isn't there with A.
If things go well with A, but I'm not 100% sold, I suppose I could do a followup WMVM trip to a different area, and just not tell her about it, and decide after the WMVM followup if A is still the only one for me.  So many women, so many ways to screw up the chances of winding up with the right one for me!  Anyway, I'd be interested in whatever comments (or links to other threads) people have to share.

[diverboy70]

Hi Jim,

I think you have a well thought out plan and i can understand your dilemma! For me WOVO or WMVO was the only option that fit me. And also my J. is a person that would never have accepted me meeting her on a WMVM. I think that is also a factor to take into concideration; How will the lady feel about you meeting other women during your trip. Some will be ok with it and understand that you are travelling a long way and that it is a big risk for you to just meet one girl, if it doesn't work out. But others don't look at it this way and will simply not respect you if you meet other women on the same trip. Anyway I think you allways will have the upper hand if you commit to a trip to meet just one woman, it shows her that you are really serious about her.

Good luck, whichever way you choose!

[myrddin]

lady I am most serious about, I'll call her "Plan A", or just "A", is in Kishinev, Moldova.  Their ages, respectively, are 45, 39, 46, and 37.  "A" is also very serious about me, or at least has been so far.  She has a 7 year old son; all the others have no children or grown children.
Other men have been very clear about telling me that A and I are just pen-pals until we've met face to face.

Well, I'm still waffling on my strategy.  Maybe a WMVM tour, not including A, and then a WMVO trip to A... Alright, the thing that's making the most sense is a WMVO trip to see A for 3 weeks, with backup plans for a VM quick-adjust if the chemistry isn't there with A.
If things go well with A, but I'm not 100% sold, I suppose I could do a followup WMVM trip to a different area, and just not tell her about it, and decide after the WMVM followup if A is still the only one for me.  So many women, so many ways to screw up the chances of winding up with the right one for me!  Anyway, I'd be interested in whatever comments (or links to other threads) people have to share.

Ah, waffles 

FWIW, I 'd say if A is clearly the front runner, you want to make her your first priority.  (Even on VM, I'd try to see favorites first.)

Have a backup plan, however you work it.  Do you need to plan 3 weeks with A right off the bat?  You could plan a week or two with her and then go somewhere for the backup plan.  And if things do go well, you can change your plans.

Good luck!