Hoover42

If you think that’s anal, I didn’t even go into other additional grooming routines I have (not related to masseur prep (which includes body scrubs, soaks, bubble baths, and facial masks).??????
 
I’ll never be offended by being told that I’m “too clean”. I wear it like a badge of honor... ?

As everyone has a different take on Hygiene, I’ll be more specific:
 
Showering:
Shower RIGHT before your massage.
Wash your hair.
Wash your face (if you have any facial hair, pay extra attention to your beard and moustache, as food particles, sauces, and daily grime and gunk can get trapped in there)
Wash your body:
Scrub your:
Neck, shoulders, in (and behind) your ears, your arms, arm pits, back, chest, stomach, inside your navel, the front and back of your legs, both sides of your hands, in between your hands, under your fingernails too.
Get the tops, bottoms of your feet and scrub between your toes too.
Then pay close attention to the GOODS.
Wash your entire dick. The head and shaft, and if you’re uncut, pull that skin back, and soap up under that hood too. Wash your balls, your taint, and then scrub your entire ass.... your butt cheeks and your ass HOLE, get all up in there too. Once you’re squeaky clean, soap up and do it all over again.....
 
Then thoroughly dry off and moisturize.
 
Grooming:
Make sure your finger nails and toe nails are trimmed.
 
Trim your nose hairs and make sure no huge boogers are in there and that no boogers are dangling by when you breathe.
 
Oral Hygiene:
Brush your teeth (thoroughly)
Brush your tongue (thoroughly)
Floss (a piece of trapped food could cause your entire mouth to smell, even if you thoroughly brush) if flossing causes gum sensitivity, this can be remedied by getting a thicker/wavier floss and by flowing more frequently (this builds up the strength in my gums).
Use mouth wash.
And pop a mint in your mouth once you’re done and are on your way to your massage.
 
Check those ears and get rid of any wax.
 
You’re officially squeaky clean and are ready for a massage whose mileage may vary ?
 
 
Hygiene no no’s before a massage:
 
Skimping on the showering: “Wash ups”, and “bird baths”, just don’t cover it. You need a full shower from head to toe.
 
Not washing that butthole:
A lot of guys believe that letting soapy water run down their butts is sufficient for washing their asses. This is a no no. Spread those checks and wash that crack.
 
Assuming that your daily shower has you “covered”:
Even if it’s a sedentary desk job, your morning shower does not leave you sufficiently clean enough for an evening massage. While you’ve been enjoying your day, you’ve been pissing, crapping, and incubating in your sweat, oils and juices in your clothes all day. The masseur will smell things that you can’t.
 
 
If masseurs had a forum where they’d give their top pet peeves, hygiene would be on the top of the list.
 
Trust me on that.

For the last 21 years Hooboy's forum under Daddy's guidance, and then under Daddy entirely after Hoo died, functioned as therapy and true social networking. Never met him unfortunately, my gratitude is immense.

I'm so sorry ?
 
Thank you, Cooper, for helping Daddy, and thank you everyone for your fellowship in this forum.

I love solo travel.
There are also some great gay tour guides in many cities around the world.
I’ve had great experiences with local gay tour guides in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Barcelona and Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv and Jordan....not so much
A quick internet search should turn up what’s available.
Do you’re homework.
Read their online reviews.
And if you don’t feel like your hitting it off with your guide, don’t hesitate to cut the tour short and take off.
 
The only down side right now is that sitting at the bar is pretty much forbidden world wide.
For some reason sitting at a table alone for dinner is uncomfortable for me, but I’m fine eating alone at the bar.

I love solo travel.
There are also some great gay tour guides in many cities around the world.
I’ve had great experiences with local gay tour guides in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Barcelona and Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv and Jordan....not so much
A quick internet search should turn up what’s available.
Do you’re homework.
Read their online reviews.
And if you don’t feel like your hitting it off with your guide, don’t hesitate to cut the tour short and take off.
 
The only down side right now is that sitting at the bar is pretty much forbidden world wide.
For some reason sitting at a table alone for dinner is uncomfortable for me, but I’m fine eating alone at the bar.

Solo travel is for me, the best way to travel. You can be as outgoing or as introverted as you want—and you can change almost everything about your trip on a whim. Two years ago I was in Europe for a month. I only planned on visiting one friend in Switzerland. The rest of my stay in the continent was going to be what I felt like doing; I crossed off eight new countries (the Baltic states and a few micronations) on top of the usual suspects like France, Germany, and Spain.
 
Although I'm not the extroverted type, I was happy to strike up a conversation with a random patron at a bar, and many of these friends I still keep in touch with. Many of them have even invited me to their cities whenever travel is possible again and I find myself in Europe.
 
I check in with my family here in the U.S. every night that I'm traveling and message friends on Facebook as well, because I don't make a habit out of posting photos as things happen. Call me old-fashioned, but I take a few photos, then I put my camera down and enjoy the moment. Only when I come back home do I photo-dump.
 
Here are my tips, many of them assumes that there's some sense of normalcy back in the world:

Pack light. In general, don't bring a lot of stuff, but it's a lot more important to do so if you're solo. The fewer things you have to mind, the better. Besides, nobody cares if you repeat an outfit several times.
Hostels often have free walking tours (tips appreciated). If you need a way to get your bearings in a new city, these tours are it. Befriend a fellow solo traveler at the tour and ask if they want to hang out.
Going to theme parks by yourself is awesome because many in-demand attractions have solo rider lines. I rode Expedition Everest over at Animal Kingdom so many times until I almost threw up.
Similarly, museums are excellent places to visit. You can spend an entire day just appreciating the works of art they have on display.
Buy a wide-angle lens for your camera so that your selfies don't end up just close-ups of your face. If your phone is your primary camera, get a GorillaPod (or a generic tripod) and a remote shutter instead.
Go with your gut instinct before asking a stranger to take your picture. Most of the time, if you are in the same enclosed space or if they're traveling as a family, you're in the clear to ask. You can also hire a freelance photographer (Airbnb Experiences is a great place to find them) for an hour or two. For my preference—which is to just have photos of me at different spots, none of that staged, emote-y pap—I'm fine with going for the cheapest.
Bars with live entertainment (piano, jazz, comedy, drag) are great if you want to have a drink but not feel pressured to mingle, because there's somebody commanding the attention of the entire audience.

Every since the turn of the century I've lived by the precepts of "Pay it forward", it has produced some amazing results. If you have a chance to watch the movie, it's ok to cry at the ending.
 

 
My favorite payment is to buy several $5 gift cards from Jack In the box and hand them out to the street kids that need them.

Hi, I’ve had the privilege of communicating with some of Guy/daddy’s friends on the West Coast. They’ve known him for close to 50 years. They’ve worked together, lived together, and just hung out. One of them was daddy’s Advocate while he was in the hospital. Needless to say, daddy’s passing had a major impact on them. One of the friends recently emailed me and provided some pictures. He said if anyone is interested to share them. He also wrote about some interesting stories, for example, back in the ‘90’s, daddy officiated at their wedding. Yes, he wore many hats. If anyone would like to see these pictures send me a PM with your email address. For me, that’s the easiest way to do it.
 
Cooper

Thank your for sharing this information. It is heartening to know he had lifelong friends who cared about him and about whom he cared.

Some of the members already know that a few of Guy/Daddy's loooong-time friends have been helping to deal with the situation. I'm one of them, and I just registered so I can provide some info as we can to keep the community apprised.
 
The group of us are trying to gain access to Guy/Daddy's apartment and keys. We've been promised both, but we have to get the keys in person, and we're not in Nevada. The hospital has said that my wife has to get the keys in person, and she's looking into flights that we can afford. Once she gets to Vegas, she'll find out what they will and won't give her. She's the assigned medical decision-maker for Daddy, because no family was located, but she is neither his power of attorney, not executor, so we have no legal standing to get into his accounts.
 
She can file for special administrator status in Nevada, but that only gets her so far. If someone pays for funeral costs, that person becomes eligible to be the administrator, and the administrator (equivalent to executor if from outside of Nevada) has the legal right to get into the bank accounts and to decide who get what of Daddy's possessions. Otherwise, if no will is found, all of Daddy's money and possessions go to the state of Nevada.
 
It's really complicated. We are trying to get around as much of it as possible. First things first, get to Nevada; get the keys; see what's what.

reading this NYO re-post makes me want to cry...I can still picture the glitter curtain -

They can have sex in their partner's apartment, wait till their parents are out of town, in a car, a park, a friend's place, etc.

Is that the same cohort who invented "No-Fap November?"

What a powerful image~ (on so many levels).
~Tyger~