Image of Amsterdam’s red light district at night by smudo.

There are what seem like a bazillion blogs written by sex workers of all genders, vocations and nationalities — for fun, personal blog-therapy and for profit, all over the lube-slick Internets. But blogs by their clients are rare, and thusly pretty fascinating. I became Internet pals over the years with one of the more well-known blogging “johns” who wrote of his first-person experiences and ratings of service providers at Viewing the Local Antiquities, until he stopped last April. I got a tip in my inbox a few days ago that the largest and most popular prostitution nightclub in Rio was just declared “state property” by the government and how it’ll be turned into an art and sound museum by March (putting up to 1000 workers out; I have a quick news post about it for Fleshbot tomorrow). But I got a chance to cruise (pardon the pun) my tipper’s blog, and he’s quite a dedicated client — and also an accomplished writer, very articulate and is exploring the boundaries and definitions between sex work and traditional relationships in detail. I haven’t seen candor like this in quite a while, especially without romanticizing the sex worker and client exchange. (In my opinion, anyway — I know plenty of sex workers but have never done sex work myself so I know I have a singular view, and this is a caveat because I’m sure someone will disagree with me.) He writes on Sex Tourism / Sex Travel - Adventures of an Average Joe about himself saying,

I’ve been a dedicated sex tourist since 2003. In other words, I love fucking foreign hookers, especially in Brazil. Not that I like paying for sex. But the working girls I’ve met have blown me away. It’s a long way from my conservative roots as a yeshiva boy and later an advocate for tougher anti-crime laws. I’d always considered the idea of paying for sex repellent. At least until my first trip to Rio de Janeiro. It turned my world upside down. Now I’d marry the right Brazilian hooker in a heartbeat. (Of course I’m so commitment-phobic, finding the “right” girl seems unlikely.)

In recent years I’ve written extensively about my experiences with sex tourism for Hustler, Maxim, and other magazines. I’ve been to Rio de Janeiro about a dozen times. I’ve also enjoyed sexcapades in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

This blog exists to give you a titillating glimpse at “alternative possibilities” regarding sex and romance. I have no desire to shove my outlook on sex tourism in the face of anyone with moral objections to prostitution. There are good reasons why many people consider the world’s oldest profession immoral. Many prostitutes lead lives of inconceivable pain, trapped in a spiral of drugs, disease and abuse. But other working girls are as grounded as you and me (hopefully more than me, because I’m a fucking basket case) and they’re comfortable with their profession.

Link. He also has all of his articles online, if you want a bird’s eye of his experiences paying for sex around the world. Interesting stuff.