SolaceSoul

We share something in common and we discovered it around the same age. Except my introduction was street trade / hustlers, not the bus station. By comparison, the stereotypical gay scene / clubs / bars (and their usual patrons) never really had much appeal for me. The hustler bars I discovered a few years later were the best combination for me in the States, but in the USA they have all disappeared. Discovering the joys of Brazilian saunas culture over a decade ago was a godsend for me.

This is the correct and decent policy. Just as board members wish not to be publicly identified (and posting on an internet message board, whether in a public or private forum, is public), sauna garotos and gogo boys that aren’t advertising their sex work online do not wish to be publicly identified either. Sauna workers may be gossiping amongst each other about various clients, but they most certainly are not publicly posting about us on internet message boards. Therein lies the difference! I don’t understand why that is so hard for some posters to get.

Wow. Just wow. If I had a dollar for every time I have seen someone that I think is a board poster at one of the establishments abroad… However, I have the decency and the discretion not to post about it publicly and put them on blast.

I don’t understand what this anecdote has to do with Grindr / free sex vs. transactional sex. I could just as easily learn that or similar information from a working guy / garoto de programa — because sometimes, we actually talk, communicate and connect. It’s not like these guys don’t live in communidades, too.

For some people, the need to prove to themselves and others that they are (still) sexually appealing is very strong. In their heads, getting it for free (or less) = “I’m not like those other clients who have to pay because they’re old / fat / fugly.”

This is pretty much the guiding principle for any kind of whoremongering, no matter what your type or preference may be. Clients want to pay for the kind of guy that’s either out of their league or is otherwise unavailable to them back home. I’ve found that to be the case even with those who say they prefer the “boy next door, normal / average” guys — not just those who prefer the so-called muscle gods and supermodels.

In my experience, the non-garoto saunas in Brazil are very similar to the (fast-disappearing) gay bathhouses in the USA — which means, basically, it’s the normal Western gay male social pecking order. The very few really attractive men are there to hook up with the other very few really attractive men. Pudgy middle-aged guys, bears, fem twinks, and other more commonly moderately to less desirables ordinarily “stay in their lanes” and wind up with each other. Not the case at the saunas with money boys — where cash rules everything around you. That’s the easiest and best shot for the average schmoe — who would ordinarily be overlooked by the 8s, 9s and 10s in sexually charged, physically important gay environments like bathhouses and circuit parties — to land an Adonis.

But it’s not. Not in Brazil, at least.

Yes. The expiration date on the visa is for the date entry into the country. The number of days of your legal stay are counted starting your date of entry as the first.

If you do get caught at Brazilian customs, yes you could get into trouble. In the very least, you would be sent back to your home country and lose your visa / entering privileges for about 5-10 years. At the very most, you could wind up in a Brazilian jail / prison. But yes, others have reported that they have not had a problem entering Brazil with poppers (I don’t think they were searched at Customs, though).

Amyl nitrate is consider a controlled substance in Brazil. You can’t import poppers or buy them there without a prescription— at least not legally. But like with any other recreational controlled substance, you can find it there on the black market if you just ask around enough. As for XXL condoms, bring your own — as well as good, synthetic-based lube.

“The violence in Sao Paulo is very location-specific. São Paulo (the capital city, not the state) has 96 districts. 33 of those districts have a homicide rate smaller than the USA (4.8 per 100 thousand inhabitants). On the other hand, 28 districts have a homicide rate higher than in Nigeria. Some districts, like Jaçanã, are more violent than Mexico. Other districts, like Jardim Paulista, are safer than Germany.“ https://expatriateconsultancy.com/is-sao-paulo-safe/

What country are you from? 60 days is an unusually long time to stay in Cuba, especially for a first-time visitor that needs to work from the internet access while there. Cuba only allows 60-day tourist visas to nationals of a handful of countries. Most are 30 days max, that can be renewed for another 30 days once there. This would be quite a bit of a heavy lift for a first-timer with no contacts or relationships on the island.

Deleted.

You cannot open a bank account in Brazil with just a CPF number. A Brazilian bank also requires an RNE / RNM number on the CRNM (the residency card similar to the “green card” in the USA) for a foreigner to open an account. And of course, in order to obtain one of those, you first need to have a residency visa — not a tourist one.

If you’re younger or just don’t “look the part”, you’re just going to have to do the approaching for better results.

If you can make it to 117 around 9 pm on a Friday, you’ll most likely have a waning crowd of garotos and clients. But you should be able to find someone that tickles your fancy. If you’re arriving at 10 pm, it becomes even riskier. Regarding a brief trip to São Paulo, 11 days is enough time for you to manage that.

This part. clients go to saunas for beautiful, available men (must haves), not architecture, dinner menus or stage shows (nice to haves, but not musts).

February is a whole 8 months away. I suggest reading the main forum’s posts on Brazil to get some leads.

I’m unfamiliar with any way for a local or a tourist to access the internet in Cuba other than the scratch cards, and that internet is very spotty and weak. I doubt you’d have much success getting any work don, as most US-based sites are blocked (email is hard enough, but transferring files is next to impossible). My advice would be to skip the trip until you can go without having to use the internet for work. Cuba is a great place to unplug.

Those rules pertain to US citizens and US legal permanent residents only.

But the point is, you’re NOT a local! The average Dominican makes only $4,080 in US dollars every year (which means 1/2 of all Dominicans make even less than that). This is about the same as what the average US resident makes in one month. What the average Dominicano makes in a month, I often spend on just dinner and drinks on a night out in the US. Keep that in mind when you're piddling over a few pesos in the DR. #FirstWorldProblems (I’m preaching to the choir here, I realize. Not targeting you, personally. There are readers and lurkers that might not get this.)

This web page answers all of your questions. https://www.ndangira.net/steps-to-get-cpf-number-in-brazil-as-a-foreigner/

Thermas Lagoa is permanently closed. However, its replacement, Espaço Lagoa, is still very open.

Exactly! I don’t get why some clients (current or potential) don’t get this. Viagra like a lot of pharmaceuticals are available at any farmacia in the DR without a prescription. Just go up to the pharmacist and ask for Viagra and pay for it. There are at least two farmacias on El Conde alone, even more all through Zona Colonial. If you’re not bringing your own stash on the trip, go get your blue pills when you go to the ATM or to get a cup of coffee. Clients looking like Thomas Jefferson or George Jefferson expecting young hot studs to show up to their hotel rooms / AirBnBs all turned on with massive erections. Oy vey! OK, even if you resemble George Clooney, Chris Evans, Ricky Martin or Michael B. Jordan (and if I had a nickel for every time a poster said they were “handsome and fit”…), the same rule applies! (P.S. The garotos at the saunas in Brazil and Barcelona also are all using viagra to maintain those hard dicks. Don’t flatter yourself.!