Count your lucky stars! This is the first time I've ever heard of someone travelling to meet someone, and it working out. I've listened to many stories of this sort of thing and it going south very quickly. You talk, you text, you Skype for a while and think you have a fairly good grasp of what's in this salad. Then you fly to him, and in the first few hours he says something vaguely off-putting or he takes you to his place and he has a doll collection and three cats. Or, he comes to you (which is rare), and the fact that he bought his own ticket is a good sign, but although he purports to enjoy jazz, all he wants to listen to is Enigma. And you find out he has a fetish for turquoise jewelry.

You had a happy ending, maybe, but I wouldn't encourage people getting their hopes up doing this. There are a lot of strange, sick guys out there who get their jollies and score ego-points by wooing other guys to come hither and sending them home a disappointed, heartbroken mess - out the cost of travel.

That was really sweet. Romance is not dead. And yeah, NOLA does weird shit to people. I hope you come back. :-)

Be cautious with Mr.castles. Ur a journalist- do some research- he has been to jail multiple times for assault and domestic violence on former lovers/boyfriends in Portland and New Orleans. The story reads similar to events/places/personality traits of those he dated and is simply passing off as his own. His lies came to light before and will always. No doubt you fell for a charming attractive person but it is improbable that he shares these feelings as his psychological condition does not allow for authentic emotions. Good luck to you.