David Seng certainly found his visit to Generator London life-changing when he visited back in May 2007. Little did he know that within just a few years he’d have gotten married, moved to the USA and become a proud parent to young Vincent. All thanks to the charms of a certain lovely lady he met in the Generator bar!

David’s Story

My brother and I came to London when I was 25 to celebrate his birthday. We were both living in Boise, Idaho (USA), at the time but he had spent a couple of years living in London back in 2001 and was keen to go back. He therefore booked us into the Generator as he remembered it from his previous time in the city.

We were given drink coupons when we checked in and, sitting with my brother in the bar, we soon started chatting with the people at the next table about where everyone was from and what had brought them to London. The conversation moved on to who had heard the most ridiculous national stereotypes and, upon hearing I was American, a table of neighbouring Canadians were eager to point out they’d heard many more American stereotypes than I had!

When it was my turn to list those I’d heard about people from Canada, the ears of one of their group pricked up and quickly joined the conversation.

Her name was Eliane, she was also 25 and as soon as she joined our table we got on famously.

Eliane (far left) takes advantage of the Generator bar on her 1st night in London

By now our group had grown to include several tables pushed together with people from all over the world bonding as they eagerly shared their American jokes.

I soon learnt that this French Canadian / Portuguese beauty was travelling through the UK on a month-long backpacking trip on her own. She’d booked into the Generator because she’s seen it recommended on a backpacking website as she was doing her research. Her intelligence and great sense of humour shone through as we chatted (she tells me it was the same qualities in me that she became most attracted to) and it was little surprise to learn she was taking a well-deserved break from working on her PhD in Social Psychology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario (Canada).

The day after meeting at the Generator bar Eliane invited me to join her on the next stop on her backpacking trip, Bath. I happily ditched my brother and his anti-sightseeing ways for the day and headed West. We had a great day and I caught one of the last trains back to London. As soon as I got back to Generator I quickly stocked up on Internet usage so I could keep in touch with Eliane – I have fond memories of spending an hour or so each evening sitting in the computer room messaging and emailing her for the rest of my time at Generator.

Back on US soil I quickly bought an international calling card so I could hear Eliane’s voice again. We spent the next few months talking everyday, sometimes for over five hours at a time! While she finished her PhD and I completed my studies, we used every holiday and long weekend to travel to see each other. As I finished my Secondary Education certification first I stayed with Eliane in Canada until she’d completed her doctorate and we decided where we would go from there.

Eliane & David Seng – married

Eliane was offered a position at the University in Odessa, Texas (USA) so we decided to postpone a Canadian wedding so we can move there. Despite the culture shock of life in Texas, we managed to plan and celebrate our wedding in July 2010 on the beach in Waldport, Oregon.

The next chapter of our story arrived in October 2010 with the birth of our son, Vincent, and last summer we had the enormous good fortune to move to Providence, Rhode Island, forever leaving Texas behind!

With our third anniversary coming up this summer, we’re hoping to return to Europe – and to Generator London – in a few years time when Vincent’s a bit older to celebrate our fifth anniversary.

Eliane & David Seng with their son Vincent, aged 2yrs

And David has a final word for anyone worried about travelling alone.

Eliane and I both really enjoyed how easy it was to meet people at Generator and, given our subsequent stays at other hostels, we both feel that Generator is definitely one of the most welcoming properties. It’s great for those travelling alone as well as groups thanks to the friendly staff, clean and safe building and numerous places to hang out and meet people. We would 100% book at any of Generator’s hostels when travelling in the future.

You can’t beat a London love story. A heart-felt congrats to David and Eliane on your upcoming anniversary celebrations from all at Generator and thanks for sharing!

At Generator we love nothing better than hearing back from our guests with heart-warming tales and serendipitous stories of how we helped bring them together so if you’ve got one of your own, please do drop us a line via social@generatorhostels.com. And if we use it on the website we’ll even send you a goodie bag as a thank you.

February is the month of love across the world and many couples are busily planning romantic things to do with their better halves. Whether it is a moonlight stroll along Unter den Linden in Berlin, dinner for two at a heart warming French restaurant in London or visiting the romantic figure of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen; European cities are held to be some of the most romantic in the world.

Many countries in Europe celebrate the day in the usual way with cards, flowers and gifts of chocolates, but some have their own quirky traditions.

Valentine’s Day Traditions

In Denmark the traditional ‘Valentinsdag’ gift is pressed flowers especially white Snowdrops. Also as with many countries the Danes send cards or notes but the sender signs with a series of dots, one for each letter in their name which is called ‘gaekkebrev’ and the messages are often humorous and not overly romantic. If you guess who sent you the card they have to buy you an Easter egg!

Italians are well known for their passionate nature and so Valentine’s Day is a big deal there; a day especially for lovers. Often couples will announce their engagement to their families and friends on this day. In olden times young unmarried girls used to sit by their windows watching men go by on Valentine’s Day in the belief that the first man they see will be their husband within the year. A traditional gift in Italy are chocolate covered hazelnuts called ‘Baci Perugina’ in which has been concealed a slip of paper with a romantic message. I love you in Italian is ‘Ti amo’.

The Spanish go all out and give bunches of red roses to their paramours. In Barcelona you will be lucky and get two days to celebrate your love – in addition to Valentine’s Day there is St George’s Day. La Dia de Sant Jordi is Catalonia’s national day, celebrated on April 23 each year. Unusually, gentlemen buy their loved ones a book to honour this most gallant of saints, who was said to have saved a princess from a dragon.

In Scotland, as may be expected, there is a great party where single men and women get together. Couples are paired up by picking names out of a hat, which is not very romantic but can be good fun.

In England traditionally lovers composed romantic poems or songs for their beau’s; what could be more romantic than words of love penned by your other half?

The Alternatives

However, if you are over all that romantic stuff and are travelling in Europe in February you will find many clubs and bars have singles nights or traffic light parties on Valentine’s Night to tone down all the hearts and flowers. Traffic light parties are a great way to break the ice; wear green to indicate ‘you are on the look out’ (or something like it), wear orange or yellow to say ‘maybe, baby’ and if you wear red this means a ‘no go!’.

Check out our Valentines Events in our hostels in Hamburg, Dublin and Copenhagen and get yourself ready for this year’s cupid.