Freeballing as fashion, lifestyle and fetish Part III

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Traveling Alone -- Where to go, how to, and how not to (go alone).

Traveling Alone: Where to go, how to, and 

how not to (go alone).  

 First published on my JustUsBoys blog on October 30th, 2005 at 12:17 PM

[Part of several responses on a gay travel discussion board on JUB.]
The following is a collection of separate entries that I've made on gay travel .

Warm places to visit during winter (in North America and beyond):

South Texas or San Antonio, New Mexico, San Diego or Arizona would probably feel very warm compared to those bitterly cold (but sometimes sunny) days where most people in North America live. Looking for a great travel destination to get away from the winter cold and blahs?

I always recommend Hawaii (of course)-- take in at least two of the islands (Oahu and the Big Island ). How about the Caribbean islands - -although I've never been. Mexico and points south could be great... I want to visit Belize, Costa Rica or Honduras. Brazil and Argentina also get high marks for warmth - both temperature and cultural and subcultural too. It does not get any 'gayer' than Rio or Sao Paulo during Carnival and Gay Carnival(s).

I think Australia would be great -- in time for Gay Carnival (maybe it has another name) -- not only Sydney but visit Cairns, or even Melbourne, Brisbane for their special features. New Zealand is rated as one the best places to visit on the planet. There are also other great places in the South Pacific.

I'm dying to return to the Canary Islands - but it is not quite warm enough until March. However, South Africa would be a blast during our winter. Maybe West Africa -- Senegal or Ghana.

By the way, what about NOT traveling alone?

You could try finding a travel partner or join an organized trip or tour. For example, sometimes your college or a university in your area or even across the country, sometimes offers organized study-tours that may fit your schedule, budget and choice of location as well as really getting you deeply into some aspect of the culture you visit.

They are generally set-up by the continuing education division and professional association and other types of groups/organization sometimes offer them too.

Gay-oriented tours/trips

Have you (or has anyone else) had experience with joining an organized group trip as a single (gay) man? How was it? Would you recommend it?
Does anyone know of how / where to connect with some good gay (or all male) travel groups or organized trips?

I have a partial list here but hope other can add more:

Kalani (Gay men's retreat during certain weeks at this Big Island Hawaii resort (add dot com to find the web site).
You can also stay there without participating in a retreat or conference.

Gay.com has a gay travel section that may have organized trips to some place warm during the winter.

Travelocity and Orbtiz seem to have a special Gay and Lesbian travel section with some organized tours.

There are Pride celebrations in warmer spots (some already mentioned).

You might find a travel buddy -- even here on Dudenudes.com or try one of the other such as Hardbuddies.com has a travelers and expanded invitation section so that you can try to hook up both BEFORE you go and also when you get there.

QTmagazine used to have ads for travel buddies, but I don't think it worked very well or was popular enough.

Is there another site that does these kinds of things to get travel partner together?

Craig's List lets you post ads -- but they may not be your cup of tea -- so to speak.

Specialized tours or adventure or sporting trips
Gaysports.com and gayoutdoors.com may have links to some possibilities.
Also, there are a couple of tour operators for gay cruises, guided tours and scuba diving or sail boat trips, such as, alysonadventures.com
and underseax.com. These latter types tend to be quite expensive.

=================================

My Trip to Provincetown and to Croatia

=========== Provincetown ===========

There is plenty to do in Provincetown, MA. Herring Cove is THE hot spot -- it is a national/state (?) park but it's the mecca for most people who love the sun, sand and naked butts in Cape Cod and all kinds of people across the Northeast.

You can walk to Herring Cove from the town going down Commercial St, over to Bradford St, or ride a bike (NOT into the dunes, please) or drive a car (parking costs an entrance fee to the park), go left after the ranger station and park as far left as you can, then walk to the beach and to left about a half-mile or more - Provincetown is great in any season, but it's all the better with the hundreds of naked guys in the summer. The cruising in the dunes gets pretty hot too.

I'm not much into going to a gay bars, but there are some good ones in P-town; the streets are crowded and the restaurants are great -- the great one has long lines so plan accordingly. Renting a bike for a day and riding the National seashore park is fun. After 5 days you'll probably want to do something different -- if you have the time (and some $$ to burn), I recommend a day trip to Boston on the hydrofoil (or ferry). It's $55 round trip but you can basically walk (or take a subway) to downtown Boston and see a lot historical sights for free.

Anybody traveling to P-town may see me walking down Commerical St or Bradford in my see-thru shorts or jogging pants. Give me a hoot..
Otherwise, see you 'au poil' on the beach.. from Pensacola to Montreal this summer.

Update: Great trip to Provincetown in August. I stayed for 4 nights at Dune's Edge Campground, a family oriented but gay-friendly place just off Hwy 6A as you approach P-town. You can find it via Google. It is a 10-minute walk from Commercial St. During the winter, you probably cannot camp -- although you might also try Coastal Acres Campground. For stays during the winter, you could try some of the B&Bs or inns or look at Redweek.com or a similar site to rent a timeshare.

===== Croatia ========

I traveled by train from rainy Budapest but it was clear and sunny on the Croatian coast (here is a pic from Rijeka on Monday, Aug 29). It was drizzling in Zagreb that morning but clear by the time I got to Rijeka. So a cruise to some of the outer islands would have been fabulous (weather wise) if I had had more time.

I decided to return to Budapest where cruising for hot men was easier -- I also had a gorgeous day getting naked at Donau Island in Vienna on Aug 31.
So I think the weather is variable but there seems to be some likelihood for some good weather on the Croatian coast even when it is rainy inland - still locals should know better and take the advice to see local weather forecasts online.

I could not stay as long as I would have liked so I will just have to go back.
I went by train from Budapest -- of course flying would be cheaper or is there a quicker way to get to the Croatian coast. I've heard the ferries from Italy are good.. Anybody got a better idea?

Next time I want to go the supposedly great nude sunbathing beaches on the Croatian coast.. I gave up on doing so this time from Rovinj because the buses seemed to be so infrequent..where is the best place to find out gay guys interested in sun/fun and hopefully sex on the beach?

A Joint JUB Dudesnude Grindr Gathering - Is it Possible?

So I hope someone who reads this will try it out -- even if you can't really attend the events on March 28 and March 29  in Honolulu.

Since I don't know the everyone's e-mails (nor would I send it to EVERYONE even if I did), but I do need a couple of people to try to see if the Eventbrite works.
One major stumbling block to actually organizing an DN event or party is the fact this is not a email LIST or group (Yahoo or MSN, etc). So there iis no way to send everyone a message (apart from site host / web admin) - and they should NOT have to organize events AND run / host this site too.
So here's the link and hope you can make it (or at least try to send a RSVP or decline the invitation).
It will give me (and maybe someone in a different location) a resource for helping to organize a JUB/ DN event (if it works).  I am using Eventbrite.com for posting and disseminating information about my events:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nude-beach-march-madness-party-march-9-10-2018-tickets-39245150301

 
It seems that JUB (JustusBoys.com), Dudesnude.com and Grindr members are hosting small gatherings across the US. Is anyone here actually participating in those -- attending and/or planning one? I wonder if other large online virtual communities  could do the same? Would there be any benefit of trying to hold a joint party/gathering to get men from several of these large groups participating?

That brings up the idea of a "joint" cross-group event? After all , isn't that what PRIDE events or the annual gay street fairs (such as Southern Decadence, Dore Alley, etc) are all about?
I am not nixing the idea of a  solitary or exclusive party or convention or other event. I am just making some suggestions so a bigger and more populated event might actually happen. For example, we could hook-up with an existing event and thus attract more members to attend. I am also explaining what I think is needed to be decided in order to get one organized.

At least, we could start by having local JUB or Dudesnude.com members sponsor one event at a major Gay Pride / Gay Carnival event (on their continent or region).

As I thought (and wrote) more about it the idea of a Dudesnude-JUB Gathering seems more possible and more fun -- so I have started making real suggestions (at least on Dudesnude.com). I have approached the idea to anyone here -- except through this blog entry.

The realities of actually organizing 'party' / 'convention' - 'round-up' or whatever it is called are daunting if you try to actually get many DN members to attend. Instead, there may be some wisdom in starting on a smaller scale. It does takes a spark -- a somebody(ies) who will take the initiative to set a place/time, have a clear purpose/events/activities, make contacts and coordinate communication. ](*,)

I seems to be a bit difficult to come up with a 'purpose' for a DN party -- if it a sex party/orgy then we'd better call it that. If it's a social gathering or an organizational meeting then we'd need to get that clear. If it a DN sponsored event that is part of another major gay (men's) event or an event or series of events organized for DN (on its own) that's great but we need something to focus on: a parade float, BBQ, camp-out, beach party, ice-cream social, apres-ski party, pot-luck supper (in the nude) etc) then that would work.

If is going to have multitple purposes then that's got to be decided or at least sorted out, but it seems that we're not likely to come up with ONE general purpose because of the diversity of men, locations, ages, and interests.


Still, if somebody got one party/convention organized, once it has been started and successfully held, it would be model on how to proceed with others (or how to improve upon the idea).
Also, why not have them rotate from venue to venue and occur several times a year?-- instead of trying to have simultaneous 'parties/conventions'.

So ... I'll help organize one in JUB-DudesNude Gathering for winter 2005-6. (US (several locations), or Europe would be possible.

The First Honolulu JUB-DN Gathering is easy - I think it should be on January 1st at Diamond Head Beach from 12:00 noon - until about 5pm. If enough guys are interested, then we could set up a BBQ picnic in nearby Kapiolani Park (but the Jubbing around (talk, chatting, playing game and Dudenuding could go on at the (unofficial gay/nude beach under the Light House on Diamond Head Beach. )

Stay tuned below for more info and an Evite (electronic invitation). :D

Palm Springs Dec 22-24 -- we could stay where we like but gather at one site (Inn Exile, CCBC, or wherever) for the main party/event(s). or  Sometime in February 21-March 9 Big Island (nude gay beach party on the Puna shore, accommodation could be at Kalani resort - from camping to bungalows to hotel-class rooms.)

Playa del Ingles / Maspalomas (Gran Canaria, Spain) Carnival 2nd to 12th March
or later March 19-28. There are cheap flights from London, Germany, Amsterdam, Madrid. We could organize shared accommodations at both gay and vacation condo/hotels and have a huge blast on the largest gay beaches in the world during the day (all in the nude) and then split up into small dance/bar-hopping by interest groups at the many clubs in the Yumbo Center in the evenings.

Tampa or South Florida, March 16-19

Maspalomas, Gran Canaria (Nude Gay beach party)
March 18 - 28 (dates to be arranged)

I could attend one in Europe (and maybe help out with one) in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Budapest) in March -- if the Gran Canaria does not work out.



=====================================
Using Eventbrite.com as a way to help organize (and/or just poll the members about enough interest to pursue the idea, and to actually start planning a location/time.

If you guys will indulge me, I have created an Eventbrite event to test its ability to actually find out WHO would attend a JUB/Dudesnude party or Gathering.
The Nude Beach Party on Beach 67 on the Big Island in March 2018 is real - but it is probably not really possible for very most of you to attend.  I realize it is a long way  to attend, unless you live in Hawaii or are already planning to be Hawaiian islands.

If you can or can't, I need a few JUB/DN members to try out the Eventbrite link below:

Since it is may be a BROKEN URL link (yes, I understand very well why it may be), then you can piece together the parts of the URL and send me a reply at the Eventbrite site. Or you can send me e-mail and I will send you an Eventbrite directly. It includes some of the features -- liking polling and who is bringing things, that future JUB and/or DudesNude or Joint JUB-DN gathering hosts might need to know and info they'd need to be able to do collect.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cmnm-party-at-blow-buddies-san-francisco-tues-march-20-2018-tickets-39245323820
 

If the URL link is broken or incomplete, try piecing together the three parts in your browser. I hope you can please try it (if you have time and are willing to test out the Evite system as a possible vehicle for helping organize future events (and more accessible to more numbers of DN members).



Thanx,
Sunbuns (Kelly)

sunbunz  (at) gmail.com
 
Or you could also just write me e-mail and I'll send you a direct  electronic invitation via Eventbrite.