Woman who went to visit her new boyfriend ‘for the weekend’ reveals how she ‘accidentally’ moved in during lockdown after putting off going home – despite meeting only FOUR times
- Lauren Arris Cartwright, 27, flew to Bolton last March to visit her new beau Dan
- But her flights back to Northern Ireland were then cancelled when lockdown hit
- Lauren and Dan ended up moving in together during the first Covid lockdown
- The couple had only met each other four times before she started living with him
- Now, Lauren has made the move to Bolton permanent to start a new life with Dan
A woman who went to visit her casual boyfriend for a weekend accidentally moved in with him when lockdown hit last year – and she has no plans to move back home.
Lauren Arris Cartwright, 27, flew from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, to Bolton, Manchester, for a weekend trip to visit her new boyfriend Dan last March.
But when lockdown hit just days later and Lauren’s return flights were cancelled, the couple ended up accidentally moving in together, Manchester Evening News reported.
Lauren Arris Cartwright, 27, pictured attending a wedding in August 2020, accidentally moved in with her beau Dan (above), who she had only met four times, after the Covid-19 lockdown hit last March while she was visiting him
Lauren had flown from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, to Bolton, Manchester, to visit Dan for the weekend, but ended up stuck there after her flights were cancelled amid the Covid crisis
Before the trip, the couple had only seen each other four times after being first introduced at a friend’s wedding just three months earlier.
Despite only planning to visit for the weekend, Lauren has started a new life with Dan in Bolton after falling in love with the town, and the smitten pair are set to move into a new home together.
‘It was really hard at first,’ Lauren explained. ‘When driving to the airport on the Friday, my dad jokingly said, “You better come back on Monday”.
‘All I had with me was just a few bits of clothing, makeup and my toothbrush – it really wasn’t ideal!’
Lauren had been furloughed from her Topshop job in the first lockdown, but decided to permanently move to Bolton to live with Dan when the store reopened in July
Lauren’s flights continued to get cancelled and she gradually started to love her ‘crazy life in Bolton’, which was ‘very different’ from her quiet and rural life back in Coleraine.
She had been furloughed from her job at Topshop at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and as her travel home kept getting put off, she kept on staying.
In July, as the shop prepared to reopen, she had to decide whether she would return home or not.
Lauren could have returned home, but she had ‘fitted in nicely’ to her new life and preferred it to living back in Northern Ireland, so she decided to stay with her new beau.
She said: ‘I had a chat with Dan but we just agreed that I was really happy here so I just decided to stay.’
Despite only planning to visit for the weekend, Lauren has now started a life in Bolton with Dan and the smitten pair are even planning to move into a new cottage together
Lauren got the boat back to Northern Ireland in July to pack up her belongings, before returning to Bolton to permanently move in with Dan after their relationship thrived during the first lockdown.
In September, she started a job at AO in Horwich, Manchester, as a member of the customer service team.
But Lauren admitted that they have now outgrown Dan’s flat, where they lived during the first lockdown, and plan to move into a cottage together.
She continued: ‘It’s a really cute wee cottage. I’m sick of living in this flat now so we thought we’d get something bigger.’