Latina in Hong Kong

Some of you may have been following my adventures and know that I met a special person (now boyfriend) “J” who is the best friend of Bryce, whom I met while filming Project Runway All Stars. Well the stars certainly aligned, the timing finally became right for us (both dating other people when we first met), and now we are in this full-blown relationship that has changed my life.

J works and lives in Hong Kong, which is crazy for me because when I dated online, I wouldn’t even consider somebody who lived outside of Manhattan. But, I guess the Universe had other plans for me.

I’ve never been great at long-distance relationships, I just feel like you’re in this bubble where everything is great because you’re so happy when you finally see each other….until it isn’t anymore because someone gets tired of well, the distance. I think to really fall for someone you need to see ALL sides of them. Not just when things are seemingly perfect. You need to see them when they’re drunk or sick. Can you both handle the day to day normalcy of life? All of that is what makes a real relationship. So I took another huge leap and followed my instincts and my heart to see if this man was as wonderful as he seemed, and got on a plane first to Bali (to celebrate his birthday) and then to Hong Kong to be with him. It’s been I think about three weeks now?! We’ve had our first fight, we’ve been in a car accident together (more on that in another post) and we are experiencing what an ordinary life would be for us. And I love it. And I love him too.

I’m planning to move to Hong Kong sometime next year and the idea is not as scary as I thought it would be. Breaking the news to my parents probably will be. There are no guarantees, but as my friend Joel told me today, “even if the relationship doesn’t work out, you should be proud that you opened yourself up that much.” I’ll always be back and forth to New York City very frequently for work projects, and I’ll still be doing my all to change and improve women’s health and Latino health — I’ll just be changing my home base to Hong Kong. I’ve always wanted to expand my audience, my message and my brand, and it looks like that time is now. I’m reinventing myself one more time it seems, truly being vulnerable and having faith that this is where life was taking me all along.

Have you ever moved for love? Do you think I’m crazy LOL. Let me know! I would love to hear any advice you have to give. Don’t forget to follow my adventures online on Twitter and Instagram, follow the hashtag: #LatinaInHK