Nafis Delowar, 26, met his sweetheart D’arcy Flanagan, 24, a month ago on TikTok and the pair have been speaking daily ever since – they decided to meet in the Italian city
A romantic duo clocked up an impressive 2,300 miles to meet for their whimsical first date in Venice after a month-long digital courtship on TikTok.
Nafis Delowar, 26, and D’arcy Flanagan, 24, struck up a connection online that was so strong that distance didn’t deter them not even the hefty 480-mile stretch between Nafis’ London abode and D’arcy’s home turf in Dundee, Scotland.
The idea of a first rendezvous took flight when D’arcy, plotting her return from a solo Venetian trip, casually floated the idea of dropping by London but Nafis, a bar manager with a flair for grand gestures, proposed they meet in Italy instead.
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Their Venetian encounter stretched over three enchanting days, during which Nafis admitted: “It was a bit strange meeting her in person for the first time because I felt like I knew her so well already. It felt natural pretty quickly and we really enjoyed the city.
“We spent most of our days walking through the streets, looking at the architecture and sitting down to eat whenever we felt like it. We probably went on 20 first dates on the three day trip.” Their pre-holiday interactions had been filled with endless phone conversations and daily messages.
Even with Nafis working nights and D’arcy’s daytime hospital role, they made it work, chatting incessantly which built the trust essential for their adventurous leap into an in-person meet in a different country. Nafis shared his unique first date experience, saying: “I was definitely aware that it was a different experience for a first date and a lot of people might not do the same.”
He also expressed his concern for his date’s comfort and safety: “I was especially concerned about how she felt regarding her safety and asked her a hundred times if she was sure she wanted to do it.”
Reflecting on the success of their unconventional choice, he added: “I’m glad she was because once we were there we realised it’s very difficult to have a bad first date in Venice!” The smitten pair are already making plans to reunite: Nafis revealed: “I run events and I’m doing one in London for Halloween which she says she might try to get a couple days off for.”
Looking ahead, he mentioned potential future travels: “Either way, we both have some time in November and are considering a trip to Budapest.”
Nafis first shared a video on TikTok on October 1, explaining that he was travelling 2,000 miles to meet D’arcy. The video has since been viewed over three million times. Nafis has also since shared another video of photos from their trip together, which lasted 72 hours before they both returned home.
