Pressure after waiting too long to meet up?

[AnnaPannocchia]

Hi all, I'd love some advice on a situation I am currently facing.

A few years ago I met a guy during a weekend abroad and we really clicked. At the time I was not single, so nothing happened and we stayed in touch on a friendly level through facebook.

Last December he reached out and we reconnected, this time we are both single. We have been chatting since December and he will visit me in London in two weeks. He does not live in the UK and we have both been busy until now, so meeting up earlier wasn't an option.

What I am nervous about is that I feel that this prolonged period of "being pen pals" has built up a lot of expectations over our encounter.

If we met for a drink right after reconnecting, there would have been a lot less pressure. But now we have been texting and flirting for months, he is so sweet but I wonder what if I actually don't like him when I meet him in person?

Do you reckon it was a mistake to keep in touch for so long without meeting up? Is there a way to minimize the pressure and take it a bit easier? From what I have seen so far he sounds like a lovely guy, but there is no way to predict whether the spark will be there or not, is there?

I am slightly terrified, I put myself in a tricky situation and now I don't know how to handle it

I think just meet up and see how it goes, what do you have to lose? Is he putting pressure on or building your friendship up to be the love story of the century when you finally meet up?

You’re massively overthinking this & looking at an issue that isn’t there.

Go, have a laugh, have some fun & enjoy the moment

"s he putting pressure on or building your friendship up to be the love story of the century when you finally meet up?"

Well no he is not putting pressure on me per se, but I almost feel like we've built up this "romance" before even checking if we like each other on person.. It is so abstract and in my experience reality rarely matches expectations in these situations

I had a similar situation like this a few years back. What helped (me, anyway) was just repeating to myself: "am off for a nice drink with a friend. That is all. If anything happens, so be it, but otherwise I am looking forward to a nice friendly drink with a man who has become a lovely friend".

Gah Uh! What happened when you finally met the guy?

We decided we really did like each other and dated for about a year! It was a nice relationship.

More generally (again, this is just for me), I find that dating a few men at the same time in the very early stages helps take the pressure off any one man/potential relationship :)