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Day 9 (Hanoi) We both got up late morning, ‘B’ likes his 8 hours sleep but after that he’s usually up & running so a good companion on trips away. After making use of the walk-in shower together and a bit of mild playtime, both felt hungry so went hunting for somewhere new for breakfast. Just walked around until we spotted an interesting small restaurant. Jesus the coffee in the North is nice but soooo STRONG. Viet style breakfast for me and ‘B’ went for a kind of Pizza (made me smile ordering it for brekkie but all good…keeps him happy) again just getting his foreign food fix whilst hanging out with me. Very heavy rain showers last night so grabbed a large brolly from a local shop, think there was some type of storm passing thru VN at the time. We just went for a wander around afterwards and found ourselves back at the Cathedral again which funnily enough had a Sunday service on, I suggest ‘B’ go in (get his RC fix) and I just lurked at the back watching proceedings…I doubt there’s enough time in those confession booths for me to run over my myriad of sins! It was good for him as he went and sat down said a few prayers and dropped something in the donation box, think he took a couple of discreet pics too to keep the family at home happy. Afterwards I queried if he wanted a haircut / style and being the former BKK boy he was got a prompt affirmative and we went back to our little street and found a small shop run but a bevy of cute Viet guys and with AC for me to cool down, was getting damn hot after the rain showers. Gave me a chance to eye up his stylist (damn cute!!) and of course keeps ‘B’ happy. He looks hotter with shorter hair imho, went for the classic Viet shaved sides and then bit more styled on top. After about an hour & a few thousand Don later we headed off for an afternoon shower / nap. I emerged from the shower to find him ‘pulling himself off’ (to use an English expression) buck naked on the couch…clearly feeling horny again so the towels went flying and I did my best to assist his aroused condition which ended up with a nice couple puddles of Vitamin D on his lovely 6 pack. Have a feeling he was taking advantage of being away from the family to get as much sex as possible (probably difficult in a shared family home in Ha-Tinh I dare say)…who am I to object! Great thing about the old quarter is there’s a lot you can see just by walking around on foot so a few hours later we headed out and went to the lake and just wandered around soaking it all up. Seemed to be very popular place with the Vietnamese families on Sunday in general to go hang-out there (few pics below). At some point ‘B’s brother (same mama) video called him from BKK, imagine his surprise when he clocked me wandering around Hanoi alongside him…lol. The 3 of us have a funny relationship and it would take too long to explain here, but basically 1 of them pimped me out to the other years ago so we’re on fairly equal terms although younger brother does get a bit of the green eyed monster at times. Dinner in the local restaurant in our street, then over to the Café by the cathedral for some Ice Cream smoothies and drinks on the Terrace, great place to hang-out at night…seems popular with the younger locals especially. The day ended with us just wrapped around each other and both feeling relaxed & content. Day 10 (Hanoi) Kicked off the day with a Video call from ‘B’s family in Ha-tinh, his dad was online first and at some point I got asked to speak to him so I seem to have been ‘declared’ to them, I could see the family joining dad peeping at me so I guess our little trip to Hanoi had got some excitement back home. ‘B’ seemed to be slowly drip feeding them the truth until today we were just both lounging around talking to them (with him translating for me). After breakfast I suggested we go buy something for his dad so he had something to take home to him, think Dad asked for a ‘warm jacket’ at first and after a fruitless search of several shops with numerous offerings being rejected (his dad’s not into fake ‘The North Face’ jackets which seem to feature VERY heavily out there). We then tried to find some local Tea and after a bit of a hunt and ‘B’ asking some locals for advice we ended up in a smaller / quieter street that seemed to have shops selling Tea / Coffee in bulk…quite interesting and the sort of place I would never found without ‘B’ helping me. A couple of large packs / different types of Tea procured we headed off to lurk in the shade of a funky looking local coffee shop, coffee culture here could put some parts of East London to shame…lots of young Vietnamese just hanging out enjoying time together. A pal of ‘B’ also from Ha-Tinh was on the bus to due to arrive later that day and wanted to meet up with him that night so we decided not to travel to far from base until he landed. Said pal ‘Viet B2’ turned up late afternoon looking a tad hot and bothered after his journey, I remembered him from about 15 months ago in Screwboys (he’d gone home), another very handsome lad, polite and quite gregarious. B2 ducked into the shower and came out later showing off his very nice footballers style upper body and washboard ABS, looked like he’d grown a bit since his bar days but very striking boy, he prowled around the condo a bit and nodded his approval to ‘B’. So appears I’m entertaining 2 handsome Viet boys tonight…after a quick check both were hungry and we marched out looking for a restaurant, B2’s eyes were scanning everywhere, don’t think he’d stayed in the Old Quarter before. I rashly told them to pick the restaurant for dinner, so after wandering a couple of streets B2 picked out some fairly upscale French / Viet place, the dinners looked like the more well-heeled end of Hanoi and we headed upstairs where there was more space. B2 was up for a beer which was good with me as B was on a dry month so my previous 2 days had been dry too and a drinking partner was welcomed. Heineken’s duly emptied (rather rapidly) whilst B quaffed his shake and we ordered up another round, dinner arrived and to be fair was pretty damn amazing, really nice French / Viet fusion type dishes. The boys ordered up some type of local sweet / sour soup too and it was game on, actually really nice just seeing them both chow down. Asked the boys where they wanted to go after & both said Cathedral so off we went in search of more evening drinks and a nice Terrace to chill on, them of course doing their social media thing (good face for friends at home). B2 was quite inquisitive asking about me either directly or via ‘B’, he said he remembered me from 15 months ago when he worked Screw-boys (I never offed him back then). Got the feeling they were up to something and at some point over a 3rd or 4th round of Heinekens B2 looked at me coyly and then spoke to B in Viet, B then smiled and declared to me that quote ‘next time B2 go with you’…I nearly spluttered back up my last glug of Heineken…where the f**k did that come from then I thought? They seem to have just decided it by themselves…lol (typically Viet). Pimped out yet AGAIN! Did get me smiling inside though…lol…did my best to look coy (very very badly). B2 had to get back to his campus as studying in Hanoi so we bailed out early and headed back to the condo first, I left them to gossip a bit (probably plotting god knows what for me!). B2 headed off to his campus after a nice hug and genuine thank you for the dinner, said he felt very happy with his friend…good enough for me. Showered and then to bed with my horny guide whom I spent the next hour trying to satisfy and putting a dent in my supply of ‘Astroglide’. Both dozed off feeling happy and relaxed I also got a nice thank you from ‘B’ for the evening before sleep, I just said no problem and I knew it was a special night for them both.

I'd love to meet him! Years back, I was with ihpguy in a sauna and he recommended a guy to me that I never would have gone with. Not twinky, not my type at all but I thought what the hell. Holy shit, the sex was an 11 or a 1-10 scale. He was amazing and I saw him several times. Being the most beautiful is not always the sexiest. But, sexy comes in many different ways.

Day 11 We had problem parting with each other in the morning, neither he was in rush to leave which I appreciate nor I was keen on being alone it seems , it was bordering on romantic that long good bye of ours. I promised I will off him once more before I go home but also warned I have other plans for today. He even extracted taxi money from me which is real rarity but I felt he deserves it , if only because that no rush attitude. Usual Foodland breakfast, I swear one of waitresses , veteran there smiled shyly when she saw me with different guy than just 2 days ago. Upon return to hotel they stopped me saying my room is being cleaned now so I used that forced break to survey Kessara hotel nearby in the historical wooden house. It had security guard outside and looked very upscale, I was wondering how other guests would react if I stay here few nights and was bringing different hunk night after night. Despite costs I may be tempted to try in the future, LOL Then I did planned – went to dentist as I had some job to do there. I’m always using Dr Smile on Silom at Patpong. I was lucky as they had space in half an hour even if I did not have appointment. 1.5 hr. of torture and I still left smiling – bill came to much less than I budgeted for leaving me quite a few baht for debauchery. Then a bit of touristy things, went to Wat Hualampong passing by recently closed BBB Inn, door were opened so I could enter inside to see that demolishing process already started. Lots of sweet memories from there but if Roman Empire could disappear, BBB Inn was not immune. Still sad. Whole block now is half abandoned and it’s matter of short time before walls will fall down. In Wat Halampong I noticed that live cows are gone unless they moved them to some obscure corner. From there I took deliberately shortcut to Surawong by soi Wat Hualampong to see Magic Touch by Tree. Easy to spot so went inside , immediately question was asked if I want men or women and it turned out for men to men massage they have other ‘office ‘ around the corner where I was promptly escorted and assigned therapist. Twink without much of English but quite adept in using google translator. Another weak massage with weekly Bahrain’s output of oil lavished on me. Guy himself was pleasant and quite a looker but whole exercise was less then thrilling and at end spoiled by him typing on the phone that he is not salaried , works for tips and his customers are giving him usually 2000- 3000 tip. Sure but not me, gave him 1000 , we both smiled, I chalked it mentally off to experience but I liked place itself, very well organized and appointed and chances are I will give them another chance , there was something I don’t know what that I liked about the place, certainly not oil bath though. In the afternoon after bit of rest in hotel I went again to Senso , again hoping M will be there. And again having goose bumps on approach, what the hell is with that place and Arena that they give me such feeling ? I feel like first timer in those two places and let me tell you it’s very nice feeling. M was there and even approached me but only to tell me that he is already reserved by guy sitting on the couch and finishing his beer. Third time and third not lucky as I really like the guy but I smiled which was easy as I was at dentist today and hoped next time it will work. In my earlier trips I would be upset but over years I learned that it’s best not to bet that our dream guy will be there when we have hots for him. But often we tell guys we will be back and never do so it’s kind of two way deception highway. But it would be nice to see somebody I have so much chemistry with. Rescue was at hand though , Jack , seen last week already and on the same level of skills , personality and body built . So off we went for 1.5 hr session with superb massage and even better masseur. I like how Senso guys are positioning themselves during massage so they do their job on my carcass and at the same time I can do some survey of their charms. Sure place is expensive but I rather have great session for 3000 than oil bath for half of that, but that’s me I guess. Of course it was nice to see Namu , now the boss there again. Whole experience of meeting few of my best massage guys of all times at the same time heated me quite a bit so I marched right to Sala Daeng with next mission – MY Hero in Sukhumvit soi 11. It was while since I was there last time. Place is shiny with upscale feeling , several guys behind the glass , all hunks in various stages of hunkiness and all trying to bring my attention to them. I was only customer at the time . I know , low season and only Wednesday but still it felt strange as I remember that place being very busy . I was really spoiled for a choice but settled on wide shouldered and tall guy, Kim. 1.5 hr session paid 1100 ( less that at Senso where it stands at 1490 ) and off we went to clean and modern room , he directed me to shower and disappeared for few minutes , than showered himself which was quite a spectacle to observe, well built, smooth , well equipped, you get it . He warned me that he is not a gay and went on with massage in true Hero fashion, fast , strong and short. For 1.5 hr session we were done in 15 minutes. But since I had proper massage today I did not mind hoping we can utilize saved time somehow and it worked. It was actually great pleasure to survey such a great body , even if it was already third great body today. I wanted him to be sandbag for me and he played along. 1900 tip well deserved not for what he did but for what he was. Not sure he enjoyed it but surely I did. On my way back to Silom civilization it was another hunk at BTS, very look alike Boonthoon from Tawan. I don’t think it was him although he seem to steer at me as much as I did at him but at last that had effect of prompting me to go to Tawan again, first time since day 1. I came just before show started. Last week I promised Dam #16 , tall , smooth and dark skinned very quiet guy that next time I will be in the bar I off him. He was nowhere to be seen but I asked mamas an if he works today and he went to get him from wherever he was hiding. In meantime Tiger spotted me but I told him he already was my choice on the first day and today belongs to his colleague. Request for tip, nice try was rudely dismissed reminding him he got his tip Sunday last week when I offed him. We both laughed. Waiting for Dam I noticed new body , #11. Well built but not body builder with very handsome face. Roy is his nick. He noticed my interest too and immediately approached me so I invited him for a drink telling him I’m taking somebody else today. Dam showed up so I had pleasure of two hunks , one on the right and one on the left. Not sure who , one of guys or mamasan suggested I tale both but I said that I take two guys only if one fucks another which is actually the truth, exception apply but rarely and not today. So idea was dropped but it was very pleasant to be squeezed between two such bodies at cost of 400 per drink each. Dam , usually very reserved was more active than usually so I guess low season bite him and he was happy to land off today, I learned later his first in 5 days. It felt very promising and feeling proven right quite soon. In meantime show was on , tipped two J/O show participants 100 each , gave Roy 300 for his time and letting me to place my hand here and there and invited Dam to get the hell out of here with me. It was good move to keep my promise to return and off as marching to hotel he seemed very happy and guy is usually very reserved so it was telling. In the room he was not reserved at all let me tell you , I offed him before but this time he was dynamite, wow. And not stupid either, when noticed I enjoy our time together like asked if he gets more if stays longer tomorrow. Ok I promised 1000 extra payable at 10 a.m. and this energized him even more. I really felt like I did good deed tonight and he did his part too. It was almost morning when we finally fell asleep. Great finish of day 11 , day when I had pleasure to be with no less than 4 great bodies, each one worth flying to BKK for.

First of all and before anyone says anything, let me point out that my anxiety is getting better. This time I am opening a thread "only" two months before starting the trip. It is booked. I am flying American, the ticket was about U$S 800-900. I convinced two friends from Daddy's (one of them was my trip partner to CDMX last April) to join me. I thought, if had so much fun by myself, imagine if we are a group. They are planning hiking excursions I am not going to join. I am planning days in the beach and orgies. We will meet in the saunas I am sure. We rented a 4 BRs Airbnb about two blocks away from the place I rented in July, in Copacabana, close to Posto 5. It costed about U$S 100 each. The description for the place states that parties are allowed, so I am already having quite intense fantasies. If anyone is going to be around, it would be great to connect. Italo is teasing me through WhatsApp Italo from WhatsApp.mp4

my friend talked to Rudolfo the owner of Lagoa last night and he told him the remodeling of the new facility is going along well but now the are shooting for a December 15th Grand Opening! So when i am there the first week of November i will be saying farewell visit to the old place with many fond memories over the past 18 years i have been going there!

It’s fair - and I’d guess, usual - to ask about bottom/top/versatile. The rest seems inappropriate to me @Kieran. You would ordinarily ask about these matters in private with the guy you’ve chosen. No manager can know exactly what each guy will do or not do in private. My ‘take’ on your report is that perhaps the manager thought you were a guy who just wanted to talk about sex, look at the guys and then possibly not hire, ie a time-waster. It would explain the unusual request for money upfront. I’m glad the money was readily returned to you before you left.

Personally, when I'm in London again I shall rejoice that safe sex practices are still in force. I am protected when the boys are protected.

Boy69 what does Vinapu’s budget have to do with you? We have people on here in all stages of financial success or lack of it. I have no idea of what you make or Vinapu makes, nor is it any of my business. The way you put it is your jealous of his spending pattern. You say you enjoy good hotels and restaurants. Nothing wrong with that, I do to. But others prefer to stay in more economical hotels and eat street food and share their savings with the guys they meet. What I spend or he spends or they spend, should mean nothing to you. You spend what works best for you. We all work or have worked hard in our lives to get here. Not up to you to tell us how to spend our money. Enjoy your trips to Thailand the best way you can. Don’t worry so much about the rest of us and what we have or don’t have.

I am going to miss this place! I went there my first time with Hooboy when my boyfriend and I made our first visit to Brazil. Hooboy was in Sao Paulo and wanted us to visit for a few weeks and we did. He has been there for week or months already and was known by all the guys so he was able to introduce us to some guys that were fun. But, we had met a guy in Rio we both really liked and we flew him to Sao Paulo with us for 3 ways each night. He was actually from Sao Paulo and worked in the saunas there but was visiting Rio while we were there at New Year's Eve. Hooboy made sure we were visited by more than just a few of his friends over our stay in Sao Paulo and our favorite destination was Lagoa! To this day, I still love the place and it is one reason I always stayed in Sao Paulo more than Rio.

I'm not here to argue or defend, but just 2 comment. I think we all have our choices, its our right to choose what makes us happy, and the way I see it, its how Vinapu makes his trip worthwhile which makes him satisfied bcoz the boys he offed or hired obviously also makes him happy, so he just return it with what the boy deserves, that's all it is. Peace!

@NoGagSuckerSF I want to echo "when in Rome". I was fortunate in that my work took me around the world many times: Europe, the Middle East and Israel, South Africa and South America and countless times to Asia. Any gay man, at least those on this forum, would have a wonderful time in the secluded, well mannered bars of Tokyo - but not in your leather getup and pads. You have to adapt to the place and time. Bangkok? They would giggle, hide their faces ad try not to run. Cape Town? Someone will kick your ass. I have not been to San Francisco in some 8 years and ca't really comment. South of Market and the fair may still be a place to array yourself in kneepads and accoutrements -I leave that to others. Santo Domingo? You won't scare them but you will be an oddity to say the least. You will get farther and much better if you leave the fetish outfits at home, blend in, respect the machismo and learn that respecting other cultures means letting go of some of yours. I'm sorry if this offends you as my advice is well intentioned. One can't travel the world with a fixed set of unadaptive requirements and expect to be embraced. The "dicks" you seek are, from Moscow to Tel Aviv, attached to living, acculturated human beings and you should accept them for what they are and not try to impose your own peculiarities on them.

https://twitter.com/oficialtaloX/media Check his twitter

@NoGagSuckerSF: You’re actually still looking for black or Latino dick in San Francisco? While the white gay population mostly looked the other way, the black and Latino population has been almost completely gentrified out / priced out of San Francisco, and the entire Bay Area is increasingly predominantly white and Asian. This includes the formerly African-American stronghold of Oakland. https://qz.com/quartzy/1638972/the-data-behind-the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco/ Since the SF Rentmen prices are out of your budget, I am surmising that you’re not one of the well-paid techies that have invaded the Bay Area and pushed out the poor and undesirables. But even the low-rent gays can’t afford the Gay Capital of the USA anymore. SF is now just a city for the well-heeled predominantly white gays and well-heeled techies. Your $20 - $30 budget might continue to serve you well in the DR, especially with your obsession with black and Latin dicks. You’d be a lot better served, however, leaving your leather / S&M fetish culture talk and gadgets back with your heart in San Francisco, where they belong. Culturally, they are completely out of place. Insert the phrase “when in Rome” here.

spoon already answered and I can agree with what he said. One doesn't fall in love because of plan, it just happens , the same like lighting out of blue sky. I go to Thailand to seek fun not true love and since my favorite guys are mostly straight and engaged or visibly busy on apps or with other clients it's easy to detect transactional nature of our relationship. I'm happy to take just memories with me without any additional luggage.

Just in case someone is lost, we are talking about this guy.

You should feel him in person. He is probably the sexiest man I have ever been with. Not the most beautiful, but indeed the sexiest.

IMHO, this has been the best read I have seen on this website. Very thoughtful, insightful and full of desire to move the gay community and esp. gay escorts decriminalization laws forward. I have to say I truly admire Steven for being so active in this fight and in others. I feel that Lucky and his generation helped pave the pathway for the current legal protections we have. But, as Steven points out, the fight isn't over and others have taken to moving other areas forward. I never thought I'd see gay marriage legal in the USA in my lifetime. It was a truly amazing moment for me. I doubt I'll ever use the right, but I love that I can if I want to. I have also never thought I'd see prostitution decriminalized in the USA. But, I hope I am wrong on that one as well. Hats off to everyone who fights for our community in either small or large ways, whether it be with contributions or letters or marches or posts to raise awareness. They are all needed and appreciated by our entire community.

My goodness, he is sexy!

Very true, I like bar hopping 4 new experience, based on offs and shows, and share the experience to other members, in an explicit way, lol...

Never got asked the money upfront. Did you give a vibe that you might not want to pay, or not be able to? Or maybe you had a new temporary manager who didn’t know how to handle this. As for asking to get rimmed or to get sucked without condom, I never bothered to ask before the sex, all I want is to fuck the guy, so I ask for a bottom guy and that’s it for me, we are good to go. Gonorrhoea is rampant among clients these days and easily transmitted through oral sex. It is not easily detected for several days after you contracted it, especially in the throat. There is a strain that is currently resisting all antibiotics, even ceftriaxone. I am not that surprised that they are trying to protect their boys from it, and by proxy, that also protects their clients, if the boys can’t contract it, they can’t give it to their clients.

As I said, tiresome

Thanks for all replies - various perspectives help to analyse/understand the issue. I was unaware of the apparent popularity of sucking with condoms ( which I've hardly ever encountered in any sexual encounter in any setting, or in porn) I probably didn't look like a "regular" punter ( whatever that may be) and so the manager may have been more cautious. I also didn't realise the etiquette for "brothels" was different to making a personal booking for an escort (in which you DO clarify all services /payment required beforehand). Even though I'd read this thread beforehand, that bit was not mentioned. I should say that the manager, to his credit, did ask my preferred escort to come out and discuss what he'd be prepared to do in the session. This was a private conversation between the 2 of us. But as the sex was too restrictive for me, I declined and was returned my money. I chose to leave with my £100 rather than have a disappointing session I wouldn't have enjoyed. I was not "shown the door" by the manager. I may well visit the Villa again when I'm in the area, armed with this new info. It is clearly cheaper than getting an escort from grindr, sleepyboys, etc (where the apparent supermodels are asking anything up to £250), and I really do like to see what I'm getting - something that's impossible nowadays with digital images, etc until the escort arrives at your door.

I think SP has a better selection of good restaurants and I have a feeling that you liked the Intercontinental in SP more too ;-)

This comment prompted me to think of all the different Bangkok hotels I have stayed in. I could only come up with 19.

Hello everybody, here is my first-timer experience This is MY experience. I will be happy to answer any questions of those who are like me - firstimers. I'm not going to argue about my possible mistakes with pro visitors to Brazil, I don't want this post to become another exercise in insulting each other. Sorry for these words, but I think an ambience here is very nasty, although I did find very precious information here. I'll compare some points with Thailand, as I was there 50+ times and I think it will be useful for those who visited Thailand And sorry for mistakes in my English So I've stayed 15 days there and I visited Club 117 everyday except two Mondays I am into bodybuilders. So I took only muscle guys. For those who remember golden days of Tawan - guys in Club 117 are smaller! I haven't met really big bodybuilders. Syntol muscles, big upper bodies with small legs - yes, very nice physic and fitness class guys - yes, but only two young competitive bodybuilders, which are not so big as I wish But the faces and bodies of 117's guys are so nice that I'm not disappointed So I'm talking about muscle guys here I was always asked (and always gave without bargaining) 150 R$, including instagram superstars with tens of thousands of subscribers, agogo dancers and the biggest guys in the club I think there an explanation to this fact (some members quoted higher prices) On the very first day I showed to one guy pictures of my ex who is heavyweight competitive bodybuilder. The rumor spread very quickly and muscle guys approached me saying 'I know, I'm not big for you, but you can try me' and didn't ask much. I liked some guys there for talking, sitting together. When they asked me, I bought drinks and food for them. Then these guys started to send to me all new muscle guys that I had not had yet. They told them my price (150) and it always was OK with them. I was extremely excited when muscled beauties approached me and the guys told them - what are you waiting for, undress (if he just came), show your muscle, may be he'll take you On the very first night I asked one guy, who speaks English well, to take me to Lapa for fun. I felt a kind of chemistry between us, although he is absolutely not attractive for me sexually He turned out to be one of the smartest man that I ever met. We talk with him about everything, starting from big bang and graham's number to Austro-Hungarian Empire and brazilian coffee-with-milk politics in Brazil. That night he slept in my appartment and the next morning he said - we are friends, no more money. So almost everyday he stayed with me and slept in my appartment and I never paid him money. Once he asked 300 to pay electricity bill and I gave him, sometimes I gave him 50 for taxi to comeback home. On the second day my phone was stolen. This guy gave me his phone and I used it for four days before he helped me to buy a new phone. When he took me to a disco that I didn't like, he paid himself for that disco. Sometimes he insisted to pay for food himself. He bought some gifts for me when I was returning home Believe me or not, but this is true So, I can't say what is the price for a long stay, although one bodybuilder told me that R$ 1500 for one day is extremely good price and I think it can be lowered down to 600-800R$ I took some guys to my appartment - from 7 pm to midnight it was 300-350 R$ Entance to the club - 60 Room - 40 Caipirinha - 15, smirnoff ,tequila, - 15-20-30 Espresso, water - 6 Food I think 20-30, I don't remember The guys that I talked to told me they usually get R$ 200 from clients (muscle guys) Some advices 1. It is not like in Thailand. In Thailand in a go go if you come at the right time you can see almost all the guys (except those who are taken or have a day off). In Brazil you never know who you meet that day 2. In Brazil you pay for 40 minutes. When you finish, a guy usually comes back to work. In Thailand you pay for a short time, you can talk to a guy while you are going to your hotel, you may offer a dinner together and so on. It's not the case here. If you want that, you should talk about longer stay 3. English is almost non-existent. To my suprise, in Thailand the situation is much better. That makes a longer stay much more difficult. 4. I stayed in Gloria area, 2 minutes walk from the Club 117. It is very convenient. I saved a lot of money because I stayed in Gloria area. If you want take a guy home - it's easy for him, the price is lower. Prices for food and restaurants are lower. For example, fresh juice in my area is R$ 5, copacabana - R$9-11. I ate in a good restaurant for R$ 30-50, Ipanema - R$ 90+ for the same food. Of course, if you like beach, it's a long ride by metro, but there is Flamengo beach nearby 5. Do plan your stay! Indeed, when it's a quiet day in the club, it can be a big dissapointment. During my stay it was wednesdays and sundays. You can expect more guys starting from 6-7 pm. 6. When the club was closed (Monday) I visited Lion's and Point 202 on the same evening. It was a disaster. Lion's was deserted at 7.30, Point was busy, but no muscles at all. So for the next Monday I took a guy for an evening stay with me. 7. I didn't find the way to have a man from the beach. Although I saw some good guys, I do not know how to approach them 7. Brazil is not a holiday destination. In Thailand you can find millions ways to have fun. It's secure. In Brazil I have no idea how I would spend a time with a guy. After visiting a couple of tourist attractions there is only one thing - the beach. In Thailand you may visit huge shopping malls, nice restaurants, take a ride to islands, gardens, markets, aquariums, discos... - endless list. 8. I have already bought a ticket to Brazil for the next trip. It is really nice country and above all - Brazilians! I really loved them

Lhr to Bkk is not a profitable flight. BA offers the bare minimum to keep fares low. It’s not a Business persons route. Same in the US. Flights on the 3 big airlines going to Hawaii. They use older planes and don’t offer much in service. Profitability comes from upfront. Heavy tourist beach resort areas are first time families and backpackers. They want cheapest fare they can get. Most of us are seasoned travelers. Flights going to Thailand, Hawaii, Orlando. They are full of people that have never been on a plane before. They have no idea what to expect. The little things we complain about go unnoticed by so many. Which is partly why airlines can get away with it.

The opening date keeps being extended. I am in São Paulo late December. Here’s hoping for a seamless transition.

Jesus Christ Sir! Visit me in Thailand and let me ward these evil spirits out of you!

In the contrary you are very generous with the boys too generous if you ask me , from what I see you spent on boys between 5 to 10 K a day outrageous amount for my budget , Unlike you I prefer to spoil myself at good hotels restaurants and tourist attractions and boys are coming in second place at my preference that leaves me no more than 1-1.5K for ST or max 2K for LT and I don't lavish tips everywhere.

you are right but time was short so I decided to not adhere to a script but to catch another hunk ASAP. Not that it was big massage at MyHero but guy was big and his attributes enticing so money well spent

I realized I never commented on this topic....so in keeping with the spirit....now I have....

You know that went over these bitches heads...

I looked at some of the BA direct flights for my last trip, they did look good value but only annoyance was they added a fairly noticeable charge for putting bags in the hold, just felt like they were trying to artificially suppress the price you see initially as most people would put 1 big bag in the hold on a long haul. flight..in the end when you added in the baggage costs they were on a par with EVA so I just booked with EVA again.

You are more than welcome, @Lucky. You know me. Always trying to help out a friend. I checked with Elizabeth, and she is quite pleased to let you have the last word, too. She did say that if she does decide to move forward with the talk about decriminalizing prostitution, she would welcome a debate about that on this website, as well as other male escort websites. As opposed to focusing the discussion on a much more boring topic, which is what a horrible, selfish, unprincipled, wildly unpopular, unsuccessful, ugly, small-cocked, old, and tragically stupid male escort I was. Oh, and super long-winded. (I mean, I'm just going for honesty here, okay?) I'm with Elizabeth. Hopefully someday we can have a discussion about why or how to push for decriminalization. (And between us, guys, I'm gonna go with the idea that Elizabeth, who is 70, still counts as a young firebrand.)

Thanks for reply. No, I cannot see any reason for giving the vibe that I couldn't/wouldn't be able to pay - In any case, I'm sure there would be consequences if I tried not to... And I was thinking that agreeing services beforehand was the best approach, but I can now see that the manager would always state the "party line" about condoms, whereas I'm pretty sure that escorts would suck without condoms as a matter of course. Overall, however, I did wonder about the manager. Everything in this thread suggests the managers are excellent, but the one I had seemed simply "strange". He was fairly tall with black hair matted up into big pointed spikes. Does that help to work out if this was a temporary manager, and the reason for my unusual experience?

I guess it was just a matter of time. Gloria Allred accused of advising Weinstein accuser to stay silent Women's rights attorneys? Give me a break. It's high time Allred and daughter Bloom were exposed for the money-grubbing thieves that they are, taking full advantage of their female clients when the money to silence them far outweighed any justice. "Bloom, who has since said that she’s “mortified” about having worked with Weinstein" I'll bet this phony bitch was mortified. Mortified that she got caught in a flagrant two-faced, money-scheming operation to defraud vulnerable women. Mortified that the female media gatekeepers who once showered them with attention might not ever open those free publicity doors again. If I see these two women on TV in the future, speaking on behalf of women's issues, I will write the TV producers and express my outrage. Unethical lawyers who get rich by fucking over their clients deserve to have their businesses destroyed. No more free publicity. Media darlings no more!

Thank you! There is not an obvious gay scene in the same way as BKK, but my feeling was there's definitely an underground scene as quite a few normal (horny) non MB guys plus massage guys etc were messaging me, but my dear guide kept me too busy. Crazy the amount of cute guys everywhere you looked though, I took 'B' for a haircut on that first night (forgot to mention it above) and the stylist was ridiculously cute. I think in the big cities like Hanoi & HCM things are steadily changing though and they're becoming more open, just takes time...plus their culture in the North has a lot more Roman Catholics guys than say Thai / Laos with Buddhists and that plays a big part too.

How recently was your visit ? in the last month or so...or longer? The guys numbers tend to vary as they go home for a bit & then come back.

Thank you, your very welcome...tbh I think your reports are some of the most enjoyable on the forum so that's much appreciated...if you can I'd highly recommend a visit, especially with company, although I did notice that Hornet was fairly active in Hanoi too so plenty of fun to be had. I will try to add some more pics in the next post with the last couple of days there.

For me, sometimes it the feeling does lingers, but somehow, those i really really like, are usually straight, so once i remind myself of that, the feeling quickly dissipate. It is also made easy coz i have access to money boys back home too, and of course with those boys at home, i can also run into danger of developing deep feeling for them. I guess my "picky"ness also helps a lot. Its easy for me to find one thing about the guy that will bring me back to reality. Sometimes little things like i know the guy is in town but didnt tell me, will made me like the guy less. Until i find a guy who tick all the boxes, id say ill never know what its like to fall hopelessly in love with boys. I would say there are a few who almost ticked all of them, but somehow im lucky that logic and rational thinking brings me back to reality. Among the guys that almost ticked all the boxes, basically most of my regulars are straight. 3 are gays but two know have boyfriend, and one told me he is bisex, which i dont mind, but he rarely come to my hometown.

Question for Vinapu and Spoon. With Z and A you clearly met a couple of wonderful companions and you both deserve it, as from this and previous reports you respect and treat the guys exceptionally well. But how do you stop yourselves falling into something much deeper (the dreaded word love?). I know from experience when you return home to an empty house after meeting perfect companions. It hit me with one guy nearly 11 years ago I couldn't stop it happening and we are still together, he says for my life and I believe him

A few more pics (finally managed to get them off my phone...lol)

Day 7 (Pattaya) Had a slow start to my 4th day in Sin City, once I’d finally surfaced checked my Hornet messages and had a reply from a cute Viet massage boy (K the Viet) who was working freelance, we’d spoken before so was just a case of sending him my location in LINE and about 30 minutes later he promptly arrived at the condo. As a 'new one' to me I met him outside (just in case a scary / agressive Lady boy masquerading with fake pics…been there before), but tbh was even cuter in real life and immediately super friendly. Usual banter in the condo then fairly rapidly showers and me stretched out on the bed with him working me over, massage technique again not quite as good a ‘K the Khmer’ 3 days before but decent enough. K the Viet was buck naked from the beginning and clearly horny so the massage was a token 20 mins before we got down to the real action. K turned out to be a voracious bottom (lucky for me!) and the next hour was spent with me busily trying to keep up with his demands! The slightly kinky owner of my condo clearly had a fetish for mirrors around the bed (too many for my liking)...but K kept peering at the one above the bedhead, seemed to be getting off on it so all good for him. Nice chat after the showers and requests from him to meet up again, nice genuine boy and he left with a good addition to his wallet. Quick nap then headed out to town, just caught ColmX arriving as I did, headed over to Boyztown and scooped up ‘K from X-Boys’ for round 2, think we hit a few other bars but I had to get a taxi in the morning to Swampy for my flight to Hanoi. Ended up in Stones bar in Walking street after meeting up with ColmX again plus Vessey and his entourage (2 very cute ‘fire cracker’ Laos boys)…Vessey I can see how you do so well with the guys as masses of charm. ColmX of course did his best to sabotage my plans of any earlyish night plying us with more booze…but was a fun night and the Laos boys were great company. Although I think the pair of them (amongst others!) we’re trying to steal ‘K’ every time I disappeared to the loo! Can’t recall what time we bailed out but I do know I only got 2 hours sleep after ‘taking care’ of my guy, nice session again but ‘K’ was a bit down on power from the late night before but still good fun. My head hit the pillow and was one of those sleeps where it feels like you’ve blinked and then you’re getting back up in the morning! Next up Hanoi!!! Day 8 (Hanoi) Dragged my sorry ass out of my ‘pit’ late morning and finished packing, closed up the condo and hopped in my taxi to Swampy. Nice easy drive with a sensible lady driver in a new Toyota…so good to have a driver who’s not ‘tripping’ on Red-Bull and trying to emulate ‘death race 2000’ up the motorway. Saturday morning so only about 1hr 40 mins and 1000bhat later I was dropped off, checked in with Vietnam airlines who graciously gave me an Exit seat (lovely people). I’d booked the flights a month before when I was still at home in the UK and just liked the hassle free option of flying out of Swampy, plan was to spend 3 nights with ‘B’ one of my original 4 Viet’s who was now living at home after a slight disagreement with the Thai Police over his visa. ‘B’ used to work Patpong 2 and was missing some of the fun stuck in Ha-Tinh. I wanted to see Hanoi again and he wanted to see me so we reached a mutual agreement and he was promptly hired as my ‘guide’ for 3 nights. Definitely the sexiest ‘guide’ I’ve ever had but worked well tbh having a local around as just much easier / faster to get around. I’d booked a condo in the older quarter after checking with him it was suitable, duly approved…to quote him ‘very very ok’ as in the centre of the action. I checked with the owner first he was ok with my friendly guide hanging out…and all good. Landed early afternoon at Hanoi International airport and nice easy experience, just showed the immigration guy my flight home on my phone (in 4 days) and got a visa on arrival stamp…I ‘think’ from memory that’s good for up to 14 days. No hassle with visa paperwork etc, all very efficient. Changed up some monies (oh joy another currency where everything is 10’s of thousands…lol), grabbed a 4G local SIM card and booked my taxi at a little ‘one stop’ shop in the airport, then had a very cute taxi driver in a nice Jap style 4x4 whisk me to the city. Once I’d fired up my phone with the local sim was immediately getting messages from ‘B’ as he knew what time my flight landed as was panicking that I’d not come. Calmed him down, both shared locations on messenger and after 45 minutes the taxi dropped me off in the old town and I headed down a small street looking for my condo, found it and there was ‘B’ waiting outside with a big smile, even bigger hug & looking a bit browner than last time I saw him in BKK (I don’t think he actually believed I’d really come until I did). To his credit he’d arrived the day before from Ha-Tinh and stayed in a hotel overnight so as to be here when I landed. Condo was nice, on the 4th floor of an old colonial style block, access via lift from the ground flr and the owner had opened it up for us so we both just checked in, unpacked, showered and took a powernap as tired from travels. I got gently woken up a couple hours later by a slightly hungry...but more horny Viet boy after pulling the curtains we had a proper re-union, ‘B’ is a happy ‘both’ with me although he’s very str8 acting / fun guy which I like. I noticed he seemed more relaxed and calm at home which was really cool, once we un-tangled ourselves and showered we headed out foraging for dinner. A hundred yards up the road found a small restaurant with some of the best Pho and Spring Rolls I’d tasted in a long while…’B’ opted for something farang style as just said he missed that type of food occasionally from BKK. ‘B’ is a bit of a charmer so pretty soon the waitress went from curious (but polite) looks at the pair of us, to them both chatting away / gossiping in Viet. Doubled back to the condo and my handsome guide requested ‘another’ servicing, seems dinner made him more horny again…it’s a tough life but I do aim to please! Think we dozed off again after that. Woke up later to his phone going and his dad video calling him from Ha-Tinh so I promptly scuttled off into the other room so not to cause him any embarrassment, think family were just curious why he’d gone to Hanoi more than anything. After a bit of wandering around Hanoi at night checking out the Cathedral (keeps his RC side happy), quick pit stop for some street food later of ‘Banh Mi’ sandwiches…basically a combo of the best of French & Viet in a baguette, slices of pate, Viet sausage (as if I’d not had enough Viet sausage already that day!), fried egg, some garden veggies and fresh cilantro and sweet chilli. Basically heaven in a baguette, all for the princely sum of 25,000 Dong (about £0.70p), ‘B’ declared them to be very good and we made short work of them. All good...gotta say I love Hanoi so far! Although the company certainly does help with that, discreet pic of him from BKK (think that was The Raya)...

Some pussy is simply high maintenance, like it or not ...

Have you been to Hat Yai? I really enjoyed my visit there. They have really good food with mix of Thai and Chinese. There is also one of the best floating markets I've visited and a fantastic stainless steel temple that you can climb into. Hotels there are very reasonable in price and there are many more things to see than I have mentioned. http://www.thailand-guide.com/hat-yai/

Day 4 (Pattaya) After another nap and a tidy up of the condo my taxi came to whisk me down to Sin City, I didn’t book it with my usual company so got slightly stung on the price @ 1600 but was a brand new Isuzu 4 cab type thing and the driver was good company. I have at best mixed feeling about Patts these days, spent too much time there years ago then stopped completely for 2 years, went back for 3 days near Songkran and had a decent time so decided to brave 4 nights there this time again. Arrived at the condo I was renting around 3pm and after a bit of fuss with the management company cause I flatly rejected the first one they offered I got something I was a bit happier with. It’s near Tukcom so basically slap bang in the middle of where a lot of the boys live. About 5 mins after firing up my Hornet it lit up like a Christmas tree and one of the first was from ‘K ‘ the Khmer who used to work massage @ Royal House amongst other fine Pattaya establishments. He’s actually a decent masseur plus damn sexy as has a swimmers type bod with nice mildly built pecs. ‘K’ arrived around 4pm and after setting up a couple of towels on the bed he went to work on me, been together a few times so he was buck naked from the outset, oil massage though (meant to ask him to bring cream) and was working his way nicely up & down me, has a couple of neat tricks like using the mild stubble on his chin to work your back, sounds weird but actually very erotic not to mention the slight brush of his balls as he glides over my butt…heaven. Probably about 30-45 mins of ‘real’ massage and then the lube came out and was my turn to give him an internal massage of sorts, think after about 45 mins there was oil and lube slathered all over the bed towels and us but we both sat back sated and happy. ‘K’ was heading off to BKK the next day funnily enough so chatted a bit post showers and tentatively agreed to try meet up 1 more time before I head home, ‘K’ departed a happy Khmer with a full ST tip and said he was clocking off for the day. I took a powernap then woke to a LINE call from ‘K2 the Thai boy’ a 20 year old Uni student on hols in Patts, can’t remember how we got chatting originally but think was on one of the Apps but quickly migrated to LINE and I guess he spotted me online somewhere so wanted to come over @ 7pm. Never one to say no to a cute guy I showered and got myself together (Berocca is your friend in these circumstances) and got ready for Round 2. I’d never met ‘K2’ before that day and when I did he was as cute but a smidge lighter build than I realized. I have a 50-55Kg rule as I’m pretty tall which basically means if the guys less than that I usually give it a miss, just past experience etc. This ‘should’ have ruled out ‘K2’ and at some point when we were sitting on the sofa’s I decided this and gently tried to send him on his way with nothing happening and 500 bhat for taxi’s & food. His reaction was unusual as basically he said ‘No’ very clearly and then came across the couch to me and started un-buttoning my shirt and trying to pull my shorts & boxer briefs down. I was trying to wriggle out of his way but had this amorous and VERY determined Thai boy hell bent on having his wicked way with me. By then he’d whipped off his shorts too showing off his crown jewels (not bad either), so eventually I gave in and we both went for a shower then got down to it…actually good fun and totally disproved my 50kg rule. Chatted a bit afterwards he’s a maths student studying @ Uni, intelligent boy but quite intense, I gently passed him another 1K to up his Tip to 1.5K asking him to accept it as help for his studies, smiles / kisses all round and after a while he disappeared into the night….followed by a slew of Emoji’s on my LINE. Think I felt a combination of happiness with a bit of relief (I’m pretty damn sure I would not have made it out of my condo alive if I’d not done as instructed)…lol. Been getting a steady stream of LINE messages from him daily. After that I decided to call it an early night as well and truly exhausted. Day 5 (Pattaya) Woke to messages on LINE and Hornet from ‘Cute B’ another Thai boy I’ve known for a couple years, he knew I was coming to sin city and so was expecting his regular exchange of bodily fluids plus discussion about currency exchange rates, to which after breakfast at the Pattaya Beer Garden I cheerfully obliged. ‘Cute B’ works in Winner Boys and has one of the finest bubble butts you’ll find in that town. He came over about 12pm, usual grumbles about lack of customers in general and said he was working as & when he felt like it really, but we had a fun couple of hours and left happy with the usual ST tip burning a hole in his pocket. So that was nearly all my regulars happy (not quite….but nearly all). So yet another nap (yes that’s my secret Michael I basically sleep all day like a Thai boy between sessions), woke up early evening and headed to Boyztown around 9pm, had a quick look around and very quiet, sad seeing the old Panorama closed up…such a big hole at the bottom of the Soi. Headed into Toyboys to have a drink with Mena, not many guys working but I guess was early, a couple caught my eye but nothing to the same level as Patpong and certainly no way near the same volume. Noticed on the other side of the bar a couple of Chinese (rich bitch) types calling guys over for drinks so bearing in the mind the bar was low on boy numbers they basically emptied the stage and had all the boys sat with them which didn’t look great as customers were peeking around the door. The bitches (excuse my English slang) seemed to be multiplying in number too as more of their shopping bag wielding pals joined them…not really what I come to a Gay bar to see if I was honest! So after 10ins of staring at an empty stage I declined Mena’s kind offer of a 2nd drinks and bailed out heading for Cupidol. Cupidol had about 10 guys on stage or around the bar and a few nice ones at that, I clocked a short nicely built Khmer lad that I’d chatted to on Hornet before but never met so after 30mins of drinks & chatting to Mama who was trying to convince me to invest in some madcap plan for a beer bar (in failing Pattaya…no thank you dear!) I escaped her clutches tipping the Khmer plus 1 other boy on my way out the door. I foolishly headed back to Toyboys hoping the Rich Bitches would have moved on…but horror of horrors there was actually more of them and they’d taken over the whole of one side of the bar! I grimly had another drink whilst eyeing up #75 (cute but clearly man) & #41…both Laos boys but the whole ambiance was just not working for me so I downed my drink and doubled back to Cupidol. Called over ‘P the Khmer’ I’d tipped earlier, lovely muscle twink type bod with a nice Y Frame pretty decent Engrish so once we’d agreed the usual parameters I offed him and we headed out of BT, turned out he had a Visa run @ 3am (genuine as he showed me his passport stamps) so both hungry we went to get Thai food in a small restaurant and just chatted a bit, nice boy with the usual story of trying to help his mom get a new house built at home. Noticing the time we headed back to the condo and just lounged on the sofa’s for a bit, quite nice have that tight muscle frame buried against my chest…then he hopped in the shower and was game on from there. ‘P’ did do all that was promised and seemed to enjoy himself and relax, he did try to flip the encounter to him topping but unfortunately he didn’t quite have the equipment for me to let that happen. Post shower hugs and ST tip dispensed and I sent a happy Khmer into the night to catch his bus home, turned out he decided to stay Cambodia with his family for a few days so that was the last I saw of him that trip. Although he’s another who sends thru messages fairly regularly on LINE. Day 6 (Pattaya) Late start to the day, lounged around having a bit of grump at the general state of the bars last night, went for breakfast and then came back to the condo looping around the back of Tukcom to conveniently bring me past the massage shops as I passed the one that is around the back (short end) of Tukcom in the small Soi that links the other 2 main Soi’s a tall Thai boy called out to me, I recognized him from a couple of years ago and waved back but carried onto the condo for a shower. Post shower I though…’bollocks what am I doing moping around in-doors’ so reduced my pocket contents to a minimum, enough for Tips & phone & walked back to the massage shop, sat down outside next to ‘B’ the very tall Thai boy, he’s like 185 tall and has a nice slender build. ‘B’ angling to get an LT visit to the condo but I had other plans later so I said in the shop ok today to which he smiled and led me in. Consulted the slightly confusing menu and then settled on 1.5hours of cream massage. Led up 2 flights of narrow stairs to the massage beds, in true Patts style just separated by a curtain but we were the only ones up there then. ‘B’ asked me if I wanted a shower, I explained had already just 10 mins ago so he went off to get setup whilst I de-robed and relaxed. Nice massage for about 1 hour but not quite as good as ‘K’s 2 days before although his work on my head, hands and feet had me squirming with pleasure. Then at some point he started to strip (without me prompting) and we were off to the races. The room was just a single bed so bit tricky for too much action but we had our fun and left dispensed our Vitamin D deposits, he did in buckets which is always nice (seemed horny). Cleaned up and had a quick (quiet) chat upstairs as someone else had just entered another booth. Tipped ‘B’ 1K and paid out the shop 600 I ‘think’ plus 100 for mama and left feeling calmer & relaxed. I was supposed to meet up with a former Cupidol worker who’d since ‘retired’ and was doing some food stall type gig, but he went AWOL on me so I thought no matter, got dressed & headed out around 10pm, peeked around the door of ABomb but nothing that tempted me. Onto Toyboys again where the Laos mafia were very much on the floor, Lord some of these boys have been around for a while. Toyboys numbers were again dwindling so I finished my drink and went to Cupidol, couple of cuties caught my eye but not enough stirrings in my boxers to off so just called one over for a drink / chat as was quiet and dispensed a few Tips to be sociable. Boredom kicking in (never takes me long) I wandered around to the Soi with Dreamboys & X-Boys, mama Yoko from X-Boys spotted me and pulled me in with the usual assurances of ‘many many nice boys’…as could have been predicted was not quite my definition of nice but had a good chat with Yoko and as the show was coming to an end she pointed to a guy in the shadows at the back (near the bar) and said I should have a chat with him. I didn’t take much notice of this until said boy came on stage and then wow…what a cutie, handsome with a nice swimmers bod and swimmers type pecs….not a 6 pack but still defined. Swiftly called him over & we got to know each other, seemed like a nice Thai boy (later found out he’s 50/50 Thai/Viet which explains a lot!), Top and claims to be Man but I though gotta be worth a try so we talked thru the usual ‘what do you do, what do you like’. He had the dreaded room key for his pal though so could only stay till 4am but more than good enough for me. ‘K the Issan Thai/Viet’ came back dressed in about 2 mins flat and off we went to dinner at the same Thai restaurant I’d been to the night before. Paid Boyz Boyz Boyz a visit in their afterhours bar across the road which was a bit odd as seemed to be lots of Asian HISO types with their girlfriends watching proceedings. I think ‘K’ had a pal who worked there so felt like one of those ‘look what I’ve snagged’ type visits, but was ok for a late drink. Back to the condo and a very nice session ensued of us exploring each other’s bodies, nice / quietly passionate boy (not a fire cracker) but just nice Thai boy next door type, ‘K’ eventually came first and made a nice puddle which I happily added to so all good. As was getting near 4am I tipped him my full LT rate for Patts plus a bit of Taxi money and after some chatting and hugs he left to let his pal into the loom and I went to bed a happy camper.

My my my. Aren't we in a surly mood today @Lucky? Lest we lose sight of it, the OP of this thread seemed to want to make the point that two progressive candidates running for President, Warren and Sanders, are "scared" and "just playing the trumpet themes". My point is that if the LGBTQ community wants decriminalization of sex work, we'll have to fight for decriminalization of sex work. Period. Anyone who thinks these things happen in a vacuum absent any activism or political pressure is entitled to their opinion, and their politics. But then we just completely disagree. I note that Adam has avoided every direct question I asked him about actual grassroots involvement of escorts, the men who hire them, or the LGBTQ community in general on the issue of decriminalization. His point, restated two or three times, I think, is to criticize Warren and Sanders as the "progressives" in the race for not getting way out in front on this issue. I'm not even sure what the logic of singling out Warren and Sanders is. I mean, I could construct an argument that as the only out LGBTQ man in the Presidential race, Mayor Pete is being "scared" for not saying anything in defense of Gay men hiring escorts. But I won't, since I thought the useful thing to talk about would be our own potential for grassroots activism. So I'll repeat what I said above to Adam: Lest anything I said be taken as critical of the LGBTQ community, let me also lift up and stress a point I made implicitly above. I've fought and won lots of David and Goliath battles in my life, as a paid community organizer. The fight I am proudest of, by far, is the same sex marriage fight. And on that one, I was a volunteer organizer doing things like training door knockers and doing phone banks and raising money. To really underscore the point, I'll say it this way. I was a fucking powerless ant. You could have stepped on me and crushed me, because I was nobody and nothing. And that was the beauty of it. The reason we won same sex marriage, I think, is you had millions of powerless ants and their ant allies running around pushing and nagging for change. Any Gay man who ever had a conversation about this with anyone who was undecided or opposed to same sex marriage should feel proud. Because you played a role. LGBTQ folks came out of the woodwork. And about half the volunteers I organized with were Straight people who had nothing to gain, but had Gay sons or lesbian aunts or just thought this was the right thing to do. My favorite quote of all on the issue was Jeb Bush, who at one point said something like this regarding same sex marriage: "Thousands of years of religion and culture are being swept away overnight, and I just don't get it." I thought that was exactly right. He just didn't get it. And it was not that we won the battle of the year, or the decade, or even the century. We changed millenia of oppression. And we mostly did it, I think, because millions of little powerless ants like me, all over the US and all over the world, were willing to push and nag and appeal to people to open their hearts. If anybody has taught the world how to create change in my lifetime, I would lift up the LGBTQ community first and foremost. We were relentless, positive, heartfelt, and successful. So my point is that we - Gay men - of all people should know what we have to do, if we want to create change. I can't tell you how proud I am to be part of the LGBTQ community that did this in my lifetime. If you want to interpret what I said about Oliver and Epigonos (or Daddy/Guy, I would add) as "turning on them," go ahead. You don't know what you are talking about. But you've done this before. It's the way you seem to like to bark. In fairness, there was the time Oliver and I took you to a medical appointment years ago, and you were dripping with sarcasm when you said something like, "Thank you, Steven, for taking time out of your busy day to help me." Your point, of course, was you wanted to make it clear that I was going along for the ride because I was, in fact, on the clock with Oliver. Oliver wanted to help you, and I was being paid. So if you want to bark, go ahead and bark. It's fair. I think it's also fair and factual to point out that they didn't want to lift a finger to do anything on issues like Rentboy, or FOSTA/SESTA, or decriminalization. They did make a few donations, because I pushed them to do so. One way I'm taking this is that Adam doesn't want to do anything, either, other than knock Warren and Sanders. Like I said, that's just fine. I know you have a history of activism, @Lucky, so you can speak for yourself regarding what, if anything, you might think or do on this issue. This is, of course, not a criticism of anything and everything Oliver or Epigonos (or I) have done relating to the pool party. (As you know, I hosted it for two years, at the request of Oliver and Epigonos, since Oliver almost died one year and could not host it himself. He rather enjoyed staying at my house for free for a month recovering, since his treatment required he spend most of that Winter at home. The month he stayed with me at my house as my guest was "off the clock", by the way. I viewed it as the type of thing loving friends do for friends, and Oliver was extremely grateful.) So, no, I'm not "turning on them". Oliver in particular has made the pool party a huge success. Good for him. I think I made it clear that his view (same with Epigonos) is that if politics were to get in the way of a website like Daddy's or this one, and that ended the websites and the party, that's okay with them. They won't organize, or fight. I think that is a fair decision for them to make, and a fair thing for me to say openly. I'm quite sure most people who attend the party feel the way Oliver does. I know that, because I've asked them. They'd rather see the websites and the party end than get involved in anything political. Which is, of course, their choice. One final thing I should say to put this in context. In the course of my escort career I ran into maybe about half a dozen escorts who were either organizers or political operatives - like who worked for a Mayor or Congressperson or something. And I've had clients that were political activists, or elected officials. So I know this makes me an odd duck, in that I have a perspective and a whole bunch of experience that I bring to discussions like this that other people just don't share. My natural instinct on an issue like this is to think, "Can we do something about this? What can we do? How have past efforts to do something worked out?" Frankly, most people's instincts on things like the Rentboy shutdown or FOSTA/SESTA or decriminalization is to keep their heads down, say and do nothing, and hope the storm passes. I concluded a while ago that Daddy's website wasn't really a place that wanted to have discussions like that. Thanks, @Lucky and @AdamSmith. You've now made it clear this isn't a website to have a discussion like that, either. My bad.

If you are looking for an oversimplistic way to think about this, @AdamSmith, here's my suggestion. Look in a mirror. The person you see is the person to blame for why Bernie or Elizabeth (not to mention just about any other politician) will NOT take a stand on decriminalization. I have a long history on this. When Rentboy was attacked, it amazed me how many people I knew very well that looked at Rentboy just about every single fucking day, but would not lift a finger or give a penny to actually support Jeffrey. There were plenty of decent arguments made about how Jeffrey fucked up and brought it upon himself by (fill in the blanks). But pot, meet kettle. These people making these arguments were people who hired escorts all the time, and looked at Rentboy as a daily ritual. And they are going to blame it on Rentboy for being Rentboy? Come on! Same thing with FOSTA/SESTA. Other than the most flaming lefty sex workers, nobody wanted to get involved. At one point I spoke with an escort who has a very solid record of sex work advocacy, and is also a really nice guy. I've marched with him against the Rentboy attack. I suggested we organize a very small group of articulate people and go meet with some of the members of the US House and Senate oversight committees which regulate DHS, which launched the raid against Rentboy. Several of those committee members represent areas (like LA) where there are lots of sex workers and folks who hire them. The basic question I had was: are they persuadable? Are they open to talking about this? This sex worker/activist's basic attitude was: why would you meet with elected officials? They are the enemy. All they will do is side with the cops. In fairness, I'd never tried such a thing. Although I spent a whole career successfully lobbying US Senators and Reps and state and local elected officials on all kinds of progressive issues. So this lefty sex worker - who strongly supports decriminalization - may have been 100 % right. But the point is that if the only people elected officials hear from is the cops and the Moral Marys, and maybe once in a while the most militant sex workers, who do you think they are going to believe? At one point when I was very involved in planning or hosting the Palm Springs pool party, I sat down with Oliver and Epigonos to discuss this. I knew very well that two mostly conservative closeted Republicans were not about to go march in protest, or even meet in private with their US Reps. My point was that if they ever shut down Daddy/Guy's website, you can kiss your pool party goodbye in a year or two. And their reaction was: so what? Other than having a party to let some escorts run around naked, we are not interested in doing a single fucking thing to advocate for our interests in this matter. Which was no surprise. Because people like Oliver and Epigonos were also not willing to do a single fucking thing to promote or support same sex marriage. As hard as that battle was, it was a very different issue, which ultimately yielded majority support. And it always enjoyed majority support and lots of activism among Gay men - at least as long as I was involved in door knocking and fundraising and activism on the issue. So why would anybody expect conservatives who happen to be closeted Gay men who hire escorts to lift a finger to help Rentboy, or decriminalize prostitution? Or even support same sex marriage? Come on! Daddy/Guy was absolutely no good on this issue. He talks a great game. He'll go to jail if need be, blah blah blah. Behind the scenes, I had to work hard to convince him that it really should be okay to post pictures of children on his website. And I don't mean child porn. I mean things like pictures of high school students at marches to end school shootings. Or a picture of a US Senator on the US Senate floor decrying gun violence, with a picture of a young elementary school boy who was killed in the Sandy Hook mass murder next to him. Daddy's point was that any picture of any minor could make him vulnerable to an attack by the Feds, since it could be portrayed as child pornography. Which is to say, he is a wimp. Come on! His basic impulse is to keep everything small and secretive, so he can control it. That works okay for maintaining his website, barely. It is toxic to the concepts of organizing and empowerment. The challenges go even deeper than that. One of my best friends and closest political associates during various periods of my life is a Straight woman who has a reputation as one of the best Gay rights organizers in the US. She is very close to the upper echelons of the US Gay mafia, who funded the same sex marraige (and other) initiatives. Several decades ago when I was a recently divorced community organizer, she was the first person in my organizing network I came out to as a Gay man. She instinctively hugged me, and basically said, "How wonderful!" When I transitioned into escorting and I moved to CA we lost touch completely. Then I started volunteering for EQCA in 2008, right after we lost the same sex marriage vote in CA. She was consulting with EQCA, so we ran into each other at some phone bank event and reignited both our friendship and started planning some local organizing strategies. So after a while I came out to her a second time - this time as a male escort. She was as polite as she could be. But it was as if I was telling her I was having an affair with her husband. It really did not go down well. Right or wrong, I had the sense that she could never really get her mind around the concept. And she is one of the most liberal, tolerant, and open-minded people I know. There is not a lot of polling about decriminalization of prostitution. So what I'm about to say may be wrong. But the polls I've seen suggest it's almost the opposite of support for same sex marriage. With that, the younger you are the more open-minded and tolerant you are. With prostitution, younger people - particularly younger women - are adamantly opposed. I've read a number of articles on prostitution (like where it is legal, in Europe for example) written by professional women journalists. While the articles were factual and objective, the bias still came out loud and clear. Again, the polling on this question is weak. But my sense is that young people, especially women, view prostitution as akin to slavery or rape. With both Rentboy and SESTA/FOSTA, the organizing attempts that were tried - like online petitions - simply went nowhere. Every successful organizing effort I ever led or worked on ultimately and organically took on a life of its own. That happened with same sex marriage. It even happened with Trump. With decriminalization, it has never happened. In theory, there is a solution to the problem. Whether you look at the small cadre of Gay men back in Harvey Milk's day that led the way, or the Tea Party people that resisted Obama and ultimately paved the way for Trump, my experience is that these things always start small, among a dedicated group of people who simply will not stop, and will not be crushed. That in itself does not ensure success. But it is a prerequisite to the possibility of success, I think. So all that is by way of saying, we should all look in the mirror. If somebody is going to lead the way and start the fire, it is going to be us. There is nobody else to do it. Certainly not Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. My money is on them for 2020. Just like Trump and Cruz ended up being the only two that mattered on the Republican side in 2016, it would not surprise me if 2020 comes down to Warren and Sanders on the Democratic side. They are lighting fires daily on all these majority issues - like universal health care, free college, a more humane immigration policy, a wealth tax, income inequality, climate change. While there are huge policy challenges on every one of those issues, there is overwhelming majority support for some type of substantial change. I think they both have a lot of balls, or courage, or leadership skills, or whatever word you want to use. (And they are not alone. I like Mayor Pete a lot, too.) But my point is expecting them to get way out in front on an issue that is probably wildly unpopular - probably especially with the young female activist types they are trying to inspire right now - is just not realistic. As a souvenir, I keep a flyer I got in my mailbox in 2008, right after Obama won and same sex marriage lost on the Fall CA ballot. It was put out by a Black evangelical group opposed to same sex marriage. It quotes Obama saying things that sound anti-same sex marriage. (Hillary and everybody else were pretty much against it in 2008 and earlier, too.) Later Obama argued that he did the right thing, and patiently waited for the American people to come along before he got out there and lit up the White House with the colors of the Gay flag. You could have a great debate about whether that is good leadership, or a piss poor rationalization. My point is, that is the way it works. If we want to move people like Warren and Sanders on decriminalizing prostitution, we are going to have to start by moving ourselves.

Canada also will not cover health care for visitors or non-permanent residents. There have indeed been issues here with people arriving, needing expensive care, and then not paying. Even for Canadian citizens, if you leave the country for more than six months, seven in some provinces, you are dropped from the Canadian health plan for the first three months after you return. And our treatment of Aboriginal people and our record on climate change are both appalling. Canada looks good from outside only because we are next door to you-know-who.