I'm writing to speak about my recent Russian dating tour experience. I've just returned from Odessa, Ukraine after a 10-stay. It was hardly a holiday, but I can't say it was work either. I was there to possibly meet my future wife.

I'm a 36 year-old American from Boston and I've never been married. I came close a few times, but in the end I backed-out. I finished law school nearly 10-years ago and I've built myself a successful career. I also work hard to keep myself fit and looking the best I can.

Here's the point, being an attractive and successful lawyer, living in Boston, it wasn't hard to find a date. In fact, I've built myself the unfortunate reputation of being a 'playboy'. At first, I didn't mind the label and even enjoyed it, but now it haunts me. I often hear women tell me that her girlfriend's girlfriend told them I was a 'playboy'. Ouch, especially when I really liked the girl!

In short, this reputation has made my search for a serious relationship or even marriage very difficult. The nice women, just don't want to take the chance with someone known as a playboy. However, I also have to comment that finding a 'nice' women isn't so easy these days. I'm not shying away from my well earned reputation, but finding an attractive woman, who is also looking for a serious relationship, can be difficult. Especially if you're looking to meet someone in their 20's (which is what I'm interested in). Most of the attractive 20-somethings I meet are all about, party, party

After a lot of complaining, a friend finally recommended I try a 'Russian Bride' site. I thought it was a crazy idea and something definitely not for me. Come on, online dating is for losers, not playboys! After a few more bad dates, I was finally persuaded to try and I joined a site. At first, it seemed a little surrealistic, there were just too many young and beautiful women looking for serious relationships and marriage. To be honest, I thought the women there couldn't be real.

However, after a week or so I started to seriously correspond with several women. I could sense that it was real. Plus, the dating site I joined made a big difference. The dating site I chose, AnastasiaWeb.com, quickly and honestly addressed all of my questions. This gave me even more confidence that everything was legitimate. In short, within a few weeks I was actively corresponding with nearly 10 women, who I really liked. After about a month, I had narrowed it down to two women. I was able to use my dating site's phone service to speak with them, but I knew I had to meet them in person to understand if this was a real beginning or not (just like dating anyone else). The main problem was that they were thousands of miles away on the other side of the planet!

I had never been outside of the States except for a few trips to Mexico and Canada. So, I was a bit nervous. My site offered a 'dating tour' service that wasn't too expensive and all-inclusive (meaning it included the airfare, transport, hotel and breakfasts). That definitely made the travel part much easier. The other benefit to the tour was that it included three organized social events, where my dating site invited more than 200-300 women from their site. There were only about 25 guys there (I'm now good friends with several of the guys from the tour), so it was a great ratio! I thought I would be overwhelmed, but it wasn't so bad. The women came to the social gradually over a five-six hour period. The tour company had interpreters on-hand, so communication wasn't a problem .In fact; it was a lot of fun, much like my speed dating experiences in Boston. I met several beautiful women there; including the women I had been communicating with via the site. Please believe me when I say the women in Odessa are incredibly gorgeous! It's really true and of course, this created a small problem. Now I had other women I was interested in and I was again feeling like the 'playboy'. I knew I needed to be careful, although it was really tempting!

I decided to narrow it down, so I started asking the women on dates. This was really a lot of fun. Some of the best dates I've had for a long time and Odessa is truly a beautiful and romantic city. I discovered on the dates that the women there are quite different. They were all looking for a serious relationship and creating a family. All very positive and healthy. Many of them were very well educated (one was even practicing law in the same field as me). This was all great, but it was starting to feel a little like work, because I felt I was really looking for someone for a long-term relationship. The clock was ticking! I only had 10-days there.

Part of the tour includes sightseeing trips. I decided to ask Elena, with whom I had been corresponding for a few months, to go with me. She agreed and we left on the tour bus to go spend a day on the Black Sea. If you ever have a chance to visit this beautiful and exotic location, then I highly recommend you take it. It was a beautiful summer day and after the tour of the old fort, we made a picnic on the beach. Elena was wonderful. She's only 22, but she had already finished the university and was working for a public relations company. We have similar interests and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she is a certified scuba diver and water skiing instructor. I guess that's an advantage to living by the sea. She also works part-time as a model for a clothing advertising firm. I've dated a few 'models' in my time, but they rarely hold a university degree and work as a public relation professional. The women there are truly amazing and it shows that don't learn everything about someone until you meet in person.

We were having such a great time that we told the tour bus leave us. Elena and I stayed there until late in the evening. It was a truly magical evening. My hectic, bar-hopping, 3 dates-a-week lifestyle in Boston, had made me forget about 'romance'. Elena and the Black Sea reminded me how wonderful it is to experience a true romance. It was this true romance that led to a 'true love' by the end of my trip. Yes, I was in love. It may seem strange after a few months of correspondence on email and then five days together in person, but it happened.

A month after returning, I've decided she's the one and I'm ready to ask her to marry me. My plan is to fly back to Odessa, without her knowing (I hope she won't mine the surprise) and invite her back to the beach where we had the picnic. It's there that I plan to pop the question and offer her the ring I just purchased from Tiffany & Co. I guess I'm now a hopeless romantic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Wish me luck!!