Liv Nevill, a 28-year-old content creator from London, flew back to Athens three months after meeting a waiter during her first solo holiday, but says the trip was about self-discovery rather than romance.
After ending a four-year relationship, Nevill booked her first solo getaway to the Greek capital. She told Metro that she had ignored her gut for years, but physical signs convinced her it was time to leave. 'There were so many physical signs. My body was trying to tell me that I wasn't living in alignment with myself, that I was in the wrong situation.'
A chance encounter that changed everything
During her trip, she met a waiter at a restaurant. Too embarrassed to ask for his number, she asked for a recommendation and he suggested an ice cream shop nearby. She waited, but he never appeared. Still, the encounter shifted her perspective. 'It was a really great encounter, but what made it so special was how that one interaction changed the entire trip for me; it was almost like a butterfly effect,' she said.
The waiter became a symbol for her of being in her 'yes era' and going with the flow. She said, 'Old me would have gone straight to bed and never spoken to him. But I just thought "screw it". And when I left, I knew I wasn't finished there.'
Returning to Athens with no plan
Three months later, she boarded a one-way flight back to Athens, paying £70 for the ticket. She admitted her plan was 'about as vague as you can imagine,' adding, 'I had absolutely no idea how long I'd stay or where I'd end up next.' She stressed that she wasn't going back for a man, but was curious 'to see whether the universe would put us in the same place again.'
She returned to the same restaurant, but their paths didn't cross. She left a short letter for him, 'thanking him for the summer he probably has no idea he helped create.' She said she wasn't disappointed, realising 'the waiter himself was never really the point of the story.'
A new connection and a new outlook
Later that night, she met another man in Monastiraki Square, and they spent the evening together. She said this man 'has been in pursuit ever since,' but admitted her tendency to be 'emotionally unavailable' might keep the romance in the Mediterranean.
Despite criticism on social media, where commenters accused her of being 'delusional' and 'centring men', Nevill said her outlook hasn't changed. She said, 'There seems to be this misconception that decentring men means you have to stop dating or be interested in romance. But that's not what it means to me; the whole point of my romcom summer was to remind myself that men can be a part of your life without being at the centre.' She added, 'I wasn't interested in tying my self-worth to the outcome of a situation with a guy. And as a result, I honestly have never felt more empowered.'
