Your marriage ends, you’re devastated, you’re lonely… what do you do? Most people crawl under the covers or drown themselves in Netflix. Me? I started throwing cocktail parties. And it worked.

What began as a weird experiment to fight isolation turned into nights full of laughter, wild conversations, and new friendships.

In this episode, I share how hosting parties pulled me out of depression, why they beat dating apps and awkward networking events, and how chips and cocktails ended up being the cheapest therapy I’ve ever tried.

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Less than 100% satisfied with your social life? Just got knocked down by a breakup or divorce? Cool—let’s do something about it. I’m creating a discussion group limited to 100 people. Several people have already signed up. Don't be left out.

Get on the waitlist

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Connect with me:

Personal homepage: ericmelchor.com

Newsletter: Connectionswitheric.substack.com

Free nights, no dishes, no bedtime stories—sounds like freedom, right? Wrong. It’s a trap. I got on Bumble, went on a bunch of dates, and realized I wasn’t building a life, I was wasting one. Separation gives you time, but unless you give that time a goal, it turns into Netflix, bad dates, and distractions. In this episode, I talk about how I ditched the swipes and started building something real.

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Less than 100% satisfied with your social life? Just got knocked down by a breakup or divorce? Cool—let’s do something about it. I’m creating a discussion group limited to 100 people. Several people have already signed up. Don't be left out.

⁠Get on the waitlist⁠

---------------

Connect with me:

Personal homepage: ⁠ericmelchor.com⁠

Newsletter: ⁠Connectionswitheric.substack.com

Separation sucks, but you know what sucks more? Only seeing your kids on alternating weekends like you’re some kind of visiting uncle. Screw that. I got an apartment two streets away, and now I’m basically running a shuttle service between my place, their mom’s place, and the school. Breakfast, school runs, going to the park after school, Mario Kart, —whatever it takes.

Look, I’m not saying I’ve got it figured out. Half the time I feel like I’m just bribing them with ice cream so they don’t notice Dad’s not around some nights of the week. But here’s the deal: separation doesn’t have to mean being a part-time parent. It just means showing up—even when it’s messy and sometimes awkward.

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Less than 100% satisfied with your social life? Just got knocked down by a breakup or divorce? Cool—let’s do something about it. I’m creating a discussion group limited to 100 people. Several people have already signed up. Don't be left out.

⁠Get on the waitlist⁠

---------------

Connect with me:

Personal homepage: ⁠ericmelchor.com⁠

Newsletter: ⁠Connectionswitheric.substack.com

Five years ago, I was living the American Dream: six-figure salary, nice house, two new cars, fancy daycare for the kids. Fast forward to today—I’m in Romania, separated, speaking broken Romanian at the grocery store, and throwing cocktail parties just to make friends. How the hell did that happen?

This episode is the story. COVID hit, I lost my job, daycare shut down, and my newborn wouldn’t sleep more than 20 minutes. So what do you do? You move halfway across the world to Romania, obviously. Cheaper cost of living, family support, safer schools. Sounds great on paper… until you realize you’re basically Michael Keaton in Mr. Mom—except with worse pay and no one clapping at the end.

So yeah, this is me—telling the story of how I went from cushy Houston marketing exec to expat dad winging it in Bucharest. It’s messy, it’s funny, and hopefully, it makes you feel a little better about your own life choices.

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Less than 100% satisfied with your social life? Just got knocked down by a breakup or divorce? Cool—let’s do something about it. I’m creating a discussion group limited to 100 people. Several people have already signed up. Don't be left out.

⁠Get on the waitlist⁠

---------------

Connect with me:

Personal homepage: ⁠ericmelchor.com⁠

Newsletter: ⁠Connectionswitheric.substack.com