What this site can offer

[Tomcal]

I got a email from BT on "how to make the site better..." I found out this is sent to new members and after my absence i am considered a new member!  :-).

 I don't have a succinct answer.  but I can say that truly great friendships can be found on the site, and long terms friends and travel companions can be made.  It seems a lot of people go thru several "phases" in their life as friendships go. we have our HS friends, most to all we lose as we go thru college,  our college friends we tend to hold on longer but many tend to dissipate as careers/job moves/marriages and the ineventible friendships formed there.  I have all the above happen to me, but now some of my closest friendships and 5 of my closest friends are guys I met through the Old Hooboy site and Boytoy.  This alone I think makes it worthwhile to putting yourself out there and participate in the forum(s)! 

You can do it to your comfort level, for example I rarely if ever enter into discussions regarding politics or religion as they invariably generate more "heat then light" and you are not going to change some else's mind as they are as dead set in their beliefs as you are! I have friends of different political and religious beliefs then myself,  we avoid those topics.  But the immense fun I have had since 2001 when I met my first Hooboy friends is something I wouldn't have had if I hadn't participated in these forums!

80% of my trips to Brazil, Montreal, and Prague and Barcelona has been with friends who understand and participate in the same activities I do!

I have had the pleasure to travel and/or meetup with OZ, Lucky, Townie, Lurker, and several others from this site and it really has been fun. So give it a shot! 

[TotallyOz]

Tomcal, I agree. The trips I have taken with you and Firecat and Hooboy and others have been the best trips I have taken.  In fact, back before this site, it was Hooboy that convinced me to retire and start traveling.  79 countries later, I am still appreciative of his advice.

Back before I went to Thailand the first time, I met TampaYankee, Firecat, MarcAnthony and more in Montreal.  I always had a blast there.  It was fun stuff and it was a wonderful retreat from NYC. A few of those guys visited me in NYC for a gay pride and that to me as one of the most amazing weekends of my life. I had so much fun that weekend.  I can't even count the number of trips to Montreal and the tips to sexy twinks at Taboo.

I was lucky to be in Thailand and Brazil with Hooboy on several occasions before he passed away.  I have been lucky to be in Brazil with Firecat, MarcAnthony and others on a trip long ago and to be in Brazil with Tomcal and FloridaRob.  I have been in Thailand with Firecat at least 20 times or more over the years and it is always fun to hang out and spend time with people who like to go hoing. I have met up with Lucky in several places and Townie in LA quite a bit.  I met Lurker and Townie in Phoenix one trip for dinner and had a good time. I met Planetime in Thailand and wow, so many others over the years.

I could go on and on but Tomcal is right. The friends that can be made from a site like this is amazing.

And, I also find that those friends I have made from this site are ones that I truly value.

[MsAnn]

One of my best friends I met on the Internet. Who knew.

[Suckrates]

 

For me, its not about what something can offer ME....  its usually about what I can offer it. 

[Lucky]

It would be hard to count the number of posters that I have met from both this and the other site. When I started the Palm Springs Weekend, the number grew even more, especially as Oliver found ways to expand from the original idea. Before that, I lived in New York CIty and a group of us would get together for dinner and head over to the Gaiety on a Friday night, followed by a trip to Stella's hustler bar. That's where I first met Tomcal! He was going to take my seat after I left for the bathroom! There is no secret that I have met around 100 posters, but the late Jackhammer was a favorite, along with Charlie, lookin, Lurker Speaks, the late funseeker22, Oliver, Totally Oz, a guy whose screenname was ltlrnr or close to that. He has also passed away. In New York, I often saw Cooper and foxy, tazmanian, Will,- the list just goes on and on. I am not even including the escorts I met, although I should mention my favorite, Anthony from the Gaiety who danced with Tino Lopez, Jason Carter and Kristian. I had best stop or this will look like a phone directory and I no doubt forgot to list someone who I would definitely have listed had I not become old and senile. Forgive me if that was you!