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About the author: By day, mild mannered IT consultant, but by night cupid to hundreds, Jamie Mills is crusading for expat singles everywhere with www.pebblesonthebeach.com . Well sort of.
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Like many before me, I eventually tired of living and working in the UK and decided I would up sticks and move to the Costa del Sol.
My parents both retired and moved here some 14 years ago and would often return to the UK to remind me that
a) the weather
b) the quality/cost of living and
c) the spirit measures
were all far superior in the magical land of Spain. So I packed up my car and set off with a friend who was similarly inspired, and headed for the promised land.
Well, I can happily report over 4 years later, I am still here and loving it (as is my pal). I have a good job, decent pay, a nice apartment with a pool and a busy social life.
Here comes the but...
But, I could never seem to get my love life sorted out. I had several (well, 2) relationships that for one reason or another did not work out. Undaunted I decided I needed to get back on the horse, get out there and meet someone new.
There are plenty of singles on the Costa, I thought so go get 'em tiger. Now whether I have two left feet, or bad hair or some other disqualifying feature, I can't say, but I couldn't seem to meet anyone new. All my friends seemed to be in couples and the social stuff I was doing was more and more work oriented.
In addition the expat community can sometimes seem a little bit insular. Where are all the single people I wondered? So I decided to apply a little bit of thought to the problem. I should tell you that by day I am an IT consultant for some real estate companies and that I am often setting up new websites for various projects. And so I thought, well hang on, if I can find buyers for houses using the net, can I find someone to listen to my droning conversation on a Friday night (if I supplied them with enough alcohol)?
Of course I could. And so I decided to set up a dating website for expats in Spain. Cue hours of head scratching for a catchy name, plus a long trawl through the existing dating sites already out there. And after much ado I came up with www.pebblesonthebeach.com and I decided I should run it as a completely free service.
And so far so good. I have managed to set up dates for both my ex-girlfriend (!) and her mum (!!) so I know the site is doing what it should. I am still waiting to find my dream date, though. Maybe I need to get out from behind this computer!
So if you're looking to flirt or chat, or meet new people, then please have a look at the site - www.pebblesonthebeach.com, and if you like the look of the bloke called Jamie, then send him a message, and tell him to get off that bloody computer.