I was feeling behind on the challenge (only 10 dates after 19 days!), so I thought I’d try to fill my pipeline with less back-and-forth texting. Just as an experiment to see what happens! Rick’s Hinge profile was terse but it did say “human rights technologist,” and high-quality pictures showed a nice, respectful person. Good enough for me!

I invited him almost right away to meet over coffee. He joyfully accepted. If nothing else, I knew I could learn a lot from someone with that tagline, so it should at least be interesting! We met at a cafe and took our coffees to the adjacent park, where we sat on the grass and chatted for almost 2 hours.

If we were scripting this, I’d say it was a near-perfect first date. Topic by topic, we showed similar interests and values. He’s very outdoorsy; last weekend feeling the urge to get away he had ridden 120 km on his bike, with camping gear in his pannier, pitched a tent, and returned by train. He loves kayaking even though he can’t swim. He’s a rock climber. His mission-driven side is very important to him. He used to play some musical instruments and sing for many years growing up. He travels a ton (65 countries so far). He’s had director-level positions for his work in data privacy and protection, and in support of journalists and citizens of conflict zones. He had a software engineering skill set but didn’t want to apply it to the Silicon Valley tech world. He’s well connected in the NGO community in Berlin. He is looking for a long-term partner and wants kids. He’s 37. He’s fit. Our speaking time was 50-50, and neither of us ran out of things to talk about.

If you’re a good friend of Valentina’s, every statement in that paragraph would excite you. Every single one of these answers is ticking the right box.

Only potential deal-breakers: he does not want to live in or raise children in the US (my default plan is to someday move back, but I might still change my mind), and of course the chemistry question, which can be admittedly tough to tell on the first date.

Regardless, I have a feeling we will become friends, if not more. We’re planning to go top-rope climbing together soon for our second date 🙂

(Read second date: #23)