A Little Bit Of Backstory

There are probably a few things I should explain before I keep rambling on about my current exploits in Snooky...

I got married in this town, in the rainy season seven years ago. We moved back to Belgium together and got divorced about a year ago. Oldest story in the book. Unlike me, she wasn't the loyal type.
Right before I found out the nasty details I already had bought plane tickets for our annual visit to her family. When my holiday came around I decided to come anyway. Nothing going on in Belgium and the weather's much better here. So I ended up partying on the beach every night and falling in love with the first girl that was nice to me. That's how I met Daria.

But the real, big passion in my life for the last 4 years wasn't a woman. It was online poker. I made a neat little extra income by playing on and running an affiliate blog for Full Tilt Poker...
With the wife out of my life I became even more involved with Full Tilt, moving up in stakes, making more money, having bigger amounts floating around on there software. So when I got back home from my last holiday in Cambodia, moving back here soon/ permanently didn't seem like a far-fetched idea. I was making good money on Full Tilt, more fond of Daria than I was willing to admit and very bored with grey, old Belgium. Settling down in Snooky with a laptop and a nice girl seemed like an excellent idea...

Although it only made the mainstream news last week, Full Tilt Poker has been closed worldwide since June. Turned out the management was a bunch of thieves. So, just like my wife a few months earlier, Full Tilt broke my trust and took my money. I was pretty devastated at first, of course. But nothing lasts forever. Since August I'm (almost) happy that they're gone. I spent the last four years wagering lots of money online on a dubious poker site. When they were gone I was forced to look beyond the computer screen, only to discover that there's a whole world out there. There's more than just striving for profit and taking care of the wife. I feel fresh. Ready for a brand new start. Discovered photography again and found a burning desire to travel the world. Maybe even (cliché as it sounds) 'trying to make a difference' somewhere by taking pictures or by doing some volunteering or whatever. The details are for later. Just want to get out there and see the state of our world through my own eyes again. Be my own dog, take care of myself instead of slaving away for others.

I do hope the owners of Full Tilt Poker go to jail but somehow their sleazy business has set me free.

There's just one major downside to this whole new worldview:
I'm no longer interested (of financially able, for that matter) to sustain a life with sweet miss Daria here in SnookyVille. I thought I explained myself well a few days ago. But, up to this day, we still act very much the boyfriend/ girlfriend part. Yes, I enjoy her company. Unfortunately I know now for sure I will not come back here again. I don't want to play games, I think I told it like it is... alas, I'm still here, searching for a clean way out of this mess we're in...

I looks like somebody always has to get hurt in the end.