This is the third and final installment of my hobby history. Here are links to Part 1 and 2 if you haven't read them yet.
Part 1
here
Part 2
here
I was a pretty active hobbyist early in my hobby career. Like most of you, I had to take a forced timeout for Covid. Once the lockdowns eased, I binged a bit at the few AMPs that were available and scored my first STD. After years of partying without consequences, my number had finally been drawn. If I had only listened to the words of wisdom from my first hobby friend.
Though I didn't know it at the time, this marked the beginning of the end of my hobby life. This thankfully treatable STD prompted some reflection. Before Covid I probably would have gotten my pills and once I tested negative I would be right back out there. However, this forced timeout made me ponder the new landscape and whether it was worth it anymore.
Hobbying felt different after the lockdowns. The AMP scene had a different vibe. I wasn't having a bad time, but I also wasn't having a good time. Back when I started everything was an adventure where I met a lot people and made a lot of friends. After Covid everything seemed more mechanical and it felt like I was just going through the motions and checking boxes. The women I was seeing seemed to have the same attitude.
There were also way fewer AMPs and a growing rift between the prices charged and the services rendered. YMMV and the classic "the menu might expand after multiple visits, but only if she likes you" seemed to become the norm. My hobby interest started to wane and I began finding other things to do with my time. If I am being honest, I enjoy my new (and much cheaper) hobbies a lot more.
Increasingly, my hobbying became more browsing the review sites and less going to AMPs. I typically wouldn't spend much time on the sites and quit logging in every time I visited. Eventually, I forgot my password and was no longer able to log in.
The websites did provide some residual entertainment value though I found myself caring less and less about what little was getting posted. Nothing I read now makes me want to get off the couch and check it out. This is a stark contrast to when I started and had to check everything out. You know your hobby career is done when the review sites no longer get you excited. I can't even definitively recall my last AMP visit. That should tell you how long ago it was and how little it meant to me. As I was putting this together I didn't recognize any of the places or the women in the recent reviews in the AMP section. I had to go back quite a ways before I recognized anything or anyone. Made me realize how long I have been out of the game.
Some of my continued viewership was at the request of two good friends I made at some of the SubAmps who asked me to send notifications if I saw reviews of them. Both of these friends have either obtained a massage license and transitioned to legitimate massage work or have moved on to other careers. I am trying to get one of them to write up something where they explain what life was like on the other side of the hobby and share stories of the crazy customers they have seen. So far I have not been successful in this endeavor. You guys have no idea what these women must endure sometimes.
I was a little curious about how much I had actually hobbied and I did some digging and tallying. Best I could calculate, I invested (or blew) about $35k on the hobby. No doubt that money could have been better spent elsewhere. I realize that is a small pittance compared to what some of the ECCIE OGs have spent over the decades, but its more than I wish I had spent.
I never had any interest in trying Greek, BBFS, hotels, strip clubs, or streetwalkers. My entire hobby experience, with the exception of one experience, was solely with Asian women at AMPs. The one exception was when I visited an Asian at an apartment (not one of the studios in Dallas) a few months into my hobby life. The whole apartment experience just wasn't for me and I didn't do it again. My hobby life was not particularly wild, at least by the ECCIE community in Dallas's standards.
I will start wrapping up this up here. My hobby life by no means required closure, but it did require some reflection and making this provided that reflection. Writing this was an enjoyable experience and I highly recommend others do the same when they decide to exit.
One of the motivations TinMan had when he wrote his hobby history was to teach newer hobbyists from his mistakes. I found this particularly novel. My first hobby friend knew a lot about the hobby and cared enough to send me off with some wisdom. I will do my last bit of service to the hobby and offer some advice of my own for the newer hobbysists out there.
First, be smart about how you hobby. When you decide to exit, you want to be able to exit like it never happened. Please don't engage in activities where you risk getting an incurable ailment, a child support payment, a criminal record, or a tarnished reputation. None of these permanent, and life changing calamities are worth a few short minutes of fun.
On this note, I should probably talk a bit more about the STD thing. STDs are a real aspect of the hobby life. I caught one myself and there are plenty of posts on this website from other people who have caught one. If you stick to oral your chances are low, but they are by no means zero. I caught mine from oral. Also know that many people have an STD but have no symptoms. In short, if you play, get tested on a regular basis. Don't stick your head in the sand and pretend STDs don't exist. Many hobbyists do this because the thought of an STD kills their fun.
And if you do test positive, you have a duty to tell others. One issue this website used to have was people being attacked and accused of hit jobs when they would post about testing positive for something. I understand that some of this is because there were legitimate hit jobs between the AMPs back in the day. In fact, there is a certain board member who actually posted photos of customer vehicles outside of one of the AMPs to deter people from going there. Hopefully we are better than that now. If you don't want to post it publicly, at the very least find the woman who you think gave it to you and let her know. Its going to be an uncomfortable conversation and she likely won't be happy with you, but its the right thing to do.
Second, the women who work at AMPs are human beings. I have been fortunate enough to know a few of these women away from their AMP lives. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, and our good friends who take care of us when we need them. They aren't objects for us to use. Treat them well. Sometimes they have bad days. Be patient and understanding when this happens. You have no idea what these women have to put up with sometimes. If you find a women who you suspect is being trafficked, abused, or in some other form of distress, you have a moral imperative to drop your hobby interests and help her. Many AMP women are not trafficked or controlled, but some are.
There is a lot of misinformation out there about trafficking. Contrary to what the media might have you believe, trafficked sex workers aren't chained up in dungeons at night. The control is much more subtle. Most of the time these women are sold lies about how they can have a better life if they come to America. The people telling them these lies then offer to smuggle them into the country for a small fee that sometimes isn't so small. This debt is what is used to control them and coerce them to do things they may not freely do on their own. Given their limited English and the fact that they often come here with no education or skilled trade, the tips provided through massage work is the only way they can make a living and have any chance of ever paying these debts off.
AMP women who speak relatively good English, work in massage stores (not hotels or apartments), have legit massage licenses, live locally, don't bounce all over the country every month, and have their own cars and apartments are much less likely to be trafficked. Be a decent person and try to get your services from women who are less likely to be in this horrible situation.
Third, the general public doesn't realize how little it knows hobbyists or the hobby life. There are variety of reasons that explain why hobbyists choose to hobby. Some want sexual relief without any commitments. I remember one hobbyist saying that he isn't paying for the sex, he is paying to be left alone after the sex. For some hobbyists, its a financial decision that is viewed as a cheaper option than a "steady" relationship.
Contrary to the image created by the many Karens in our society, hobbyists are not all losers or monsters. Granted, some may be sex addicts. But for most of these men, an outright purchase is they only way they can take care of a biological need. This act alone doesn't make them a bad person or a loser. I always rejected the incel loser narrative pushed by a small group of women who simply hate men. Always remember that their problem isn't with sex work - its with men. Visiting a sex worker who you know is truly independent and not under the control of another person does not make you a bad person. Don't allow these obnoxious pieces of trash convince you otherwise.
Fourth, this is short but VERY important. Be mindful of what the hobby can do to people if they get in too deep. Please, don't become addicted or "fall in love" with one of the women. Take a time out every now and then to enjoy other hobbies. AMPs can be part of your life, but they shouldn't consume a huge piece of it.
I hope this advice is helpful to some of you newer guys who embarking on your hobby life.
As I close out this history let me say that the amount of change I have seen in the hobby since Covid makes me wonder if us who hobbied before the pandemic constitute some sort of final generation to partake in the world's oldest profession. When I started in 2016, the hobby was pretty laid back and you could enjoy yourself with relatively few worries. Nowadays every time you visit an AMP you have to worry about a sting operation or some TickTok douchebag looking for attention. Quite a tossup as to which one of these is worse. A lot of women seem more interested in pumping their OnlyFans profiles than meeting clients and it seems as if many of the men are okay getting off with AI generated girlfriends rather than doing it with actual women.
Long story short, if you are still hobbying, enjoy what little is left while its still available. I don't know that the hobby will entirely disappear, but I do see it becoming something that it is unrecognizable to us who hobbied prior to the pandemic.
And with that final thought - I'm officially out of the hobby. Thank you if you read through all three parts. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Best wishes AMP brethren and sisters.
Thank you for the memories.
Reflecting on a hobby life that has come and gone Part 3: Exiting the AMP life
