I started off by "sneaking" up to the adult bookstores in Philly, just because I was curious. bought some dirty magazines but that was about it. stumbled into usasex guide around 2005 I think. (was married - still am)
still was a bit dubious that this stuff was real. mostly though during that time I belonged to a swinger site by myself and was young enough (and young enough looking!) that the milfs and cougars went nuts for me. also used to meet an occasional chick from yahoo messenger. ha remember? who could forget!?
but, eventually, you hit your late 30s and one of your usual flings looks at you and says "wow, you put on some weight" (while I'm kneeling in front of her, fist deep in her fat puss, in her hoarder house in prospect park lol
so, 2014 rolls around for me. finally beat a gambling addiction, had all this extra money all of a sudden, so I visit my first spa while in Florida on a family vacation. around that time someone on usa posted "don't start this hobby, because once you do, you'll never stop. it just becomes easier and easier" and he was right. I've driven as far north as Trenton, as far south as DC, and everywhere in between. a few of the times I visited two providers in a row. a lot of times, as I'm leaving a provider smearing hand sanitizer all over my face, I say "that's it. I'm done"
and sometimes when I'd go to some of my favorites, like Lisa at aura, I'd say "ok, I really think this is it. I'm going to scratch this itch with my atf and I'm done"
I got wrapped up in a mess locally right before the pandemic. was off for the day (so was the wife) and I start getting phone calls that I don't recognize. I knew who it was. saw a fed issued charger driving past my house. hopped in the car to collect my thoughts. more calls. finally end up meeting them in a public place. dumb idea, but what do you do? the next step was having them come to my door (or my work - they threatened that btw) I used to talk big on these boards and say "oh, don't be an idiot and talk to LE"
when they're riding through your neighborhood it's a whole different ball of wax. they had me narrowed down to one of two people on a board. basically, they wanted leads on underage rings in Delaware. they came to the wrong dude. lol I resorted to calling one of these better call saul online lawyers who, believe it or not, was good. I was legit scared, butt he eased my mind. the fbi ended up getting the guy they wanted (actually they already had him) and I was never so relieved when that guy took a plea deal.
anyway, so I will say that the first 5 or 6months of 2020 I was pretty good. I got a lot more cautious and stopped doing business in Maryland. there's good reason there's no Maryland board on here. their laws are much different than some its tri state neighbors.
I kind of try to keep it to once a month. I'm trying really hard to stop. it's tough though. gambling was easy. jerking off does help, but I get into these things like "oh, I have some free time, which I rarely do, I better take advantage of it!"
I try not to think about how much I've spent over the years. honestly, I'd definitely say that fewer than 50% of the experiences I've had over the year were worth it. I agree with 856mixr ".. Nothing worst than that post nut realization. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a monger visit and said to myself I should’ve just jacked off."
anyway... lots of good advice in this thread. if you're a new dude reading this, just stop now. don't cross over the threshold. there is very little chance of turning back.