Stephanie Gorton, from Perth, Australia, was 27-years-old when she decided to pack her bags and move. But where was she going? To meet her prince charming, a man from Scotland, she met on Tinder.
Before you brand her as unstable, Gorton and her Scottish prince did meet in person while he was exploring the world. Obviously, he made quite an impression.
The couple continued to date long-distance before deciding to set up their forever home in Scotland back in 2017. And this is where things get interesting.
9,000 miles for a Tinder date
In hindsight, leaving your home, your job, friends, family, your freaking continent doesn't sound like the best idea. Especially since the two didn't share much outside the world of online dating.
Stephanie Gorton was ready for a leap of faith. Yet, her Tinder man stopped returning her calls and messages just four weeks before she was supposed to board the plane.
Two weeks later, or two weeks before she was to move to Scotland permanently, everything changed.
Gorton recalls:
In those four weeks, I was always trying to chase him up… I was even contacting his mom. In hindsight, there were red flags all the way through. It wasn't like it was the perfect relationship, there were trust issues… but I adored him.
Now, he may seem like a monster, but he had a point. As Stephanie says, he told her:
Steph it's just too hard, it shouldn't be this hard. If it's hard now, it's going to be even harder later.
And the Tinder man continued:
You're going to come over and have no friends. You'll be relying on me and I am not in a good place financially [right now]. Let's just take a step back and give it a bit more time.
He had a point, but was there something else? Or someone else?
Stephanie turns into a detective
You know that women have that sixth sense, and let's be fair: we know stuff. We know when men are BSing us, and yet we often choose not to trust our gut.
Well, Stephanie's inner detective was working hard, and she knew. She described this as it was like her "heart and gut already knew."
Her Tinder man from Scotland had another girl, a South American. While it's cruel that he was two-timing her, what's worse is that he had no intention of making things work, giving her a proper chance. Our heroine was in this broken love story all alone.
Stephanie says the worst part was having to go back to her job where all of her colleagues knew she was supposed to be moving to Scotland. To distract herself from her reality, she booked herself onto a three-hour flower arranging course, which then gave her the idea of running her own workshops.
No, she didn't move to Scotland, but this blondie made the best out of a bad situation, and her life changed.
Turning heartache into millions
Nine months after she failed to move to Scotland, Stephanie was a successful entrepreneur. She had quit her old job and worked full time on her start-up business, House of Hobby.
At the same time, she worked on her second business, a coaching venture worth around $1million.
Instead of dwelling, this young woman embraced the new reality and worked on turning her heartbreak into something more desirable. To think that she even shipped all her things to Scotland!
But life gave her lemons, and Stephanie made the best of it. In the process, she met her actual soulmate—a man called Tim. And she didn't have to travel 9,000 miles!
Ladies, if you want to make a major change in your life, make sure he's worth it. Even if you think he might be, listen to your gut. Then, talk to those around you, and don't let his charming ways fool you.
And if you do give your heart, and time to an a-hole, it's okay. Dust yourself off and try again, only this time make sure that you put yourself first.
