This week, Shaun comes to you solo from Seoul, South Korea, for an episode that’s part travel diary, part dating debrief, and part emotional field note from the road.

After a muted-mic false start, a pastry reset, and some solo wandering, Shaun reflects on the strange clarity that can come when you’re alone in a new city. From there, he answers listener questions about sex, desire, independence, receiving love, and the confusing ways intimacy can stir up old survival patterns.

In one question, Shaun unpacks why someone might seem interested before sex, only to pull away after intimacy happens. Maybe desire was running the show all along. Or maybe something deeper is at play, like the Madonna-whore split, where someone struggles to hold another person as both sexually desirable and emotionally worthy.

He also responds to a listener who has built a deeply independent life — running a business, raising two boys, buying her own car — but struggles to receive love, compliments, or support. Shaun validates the strength it took to become that self-reliant, while gently naming that independence can also be a survival mechanism. Receiving, he says, doesn’t mean giving up your power. It starts with baby steps: letting in a compliment, asking for help, trusting safe people slowly, and noticing what happens inside when you don’t have to do everything alone.

If you’ve ever been alone in a beautiful city, wondered why the “chemistry” suddenly disappeared, or struggled to let love in because you’ve had to hold everything together yourself, this one’s for you.

In this episode:

Why Shaun is solo in Seoul
Travel, solitude, and the thoughts that catch up with you
Why someone might lose interest after sex
When desire is driving the connection
The Madonna-whore split, explained simply
Why receiving love can feel uncomfortable
Independence as a survival mechanism
Giving energy vs. receiving energy
Asking for help without losing your strength
How trust is built slowly, with safe people

Links:

Paradise Band (Kasima's birthday band) — Spotify and Instagram
Needles Tattoo Studio, Hongdae — Jackpot + Red Lip
Culinary Backstreets Food Tour Seoul
Last week's episode with Laura Griffith https://youtu.be/fXm0bi-rZeE?si=l0TD9ZOiqCMcFoGp
Voicemail line: 415-494-9559
Email: podcast@thelovedrive.com

To submit a guest, please do so here: https://shaungalanos.com/podcast/

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Connect with Shaun:

Love Camp: https://shaungalanos.substack.com/p/summer-camp-isnt-just-for-kids-love

Retreats and latest offerings: ⁠https://bit.ly/m/thelovedrive⁠

Read my blog: ⁠https://shaungalanos.substack.com⁠

The Love Drive Podcast: ⁠https://shaungalanos.com/podcast/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thelovedrive/⁠

More About Shaun: ⁠https://shaungalanos.com/about/⁠

Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thelovedrive⁠