EphemeralStick
Andie of the House of Queer
Been kind of a ghost on this site lately. Its a darn shame since youre all a bunch of beautiful bastards but I guess it can't be helped.
When I first found this site I was working as a male escort in the suburbs of Chicago. Escort is kind of a stretch, lets go for call boy, it's more accurate. This was back in the summer of 2010. I was morbidly depressed and spiraling deeper. When i wasn't fucking or drinking I spent most of my on the various subforums of 420chan. It was in one of those forums where someone posted about trainhopping, another user directed them here and i figured "hey, that sounds curious" and clicked my way over.
instantly i became enamored. i never thought of traveling before and was slightly amazed that it was something that could be done. after a few days of lurking i became hooked on the idea. I asked questions, read the newbie info, and started to get an idea. It wasn't until a few months later in october 2010 that i decided to meet up with former StP users Diagaro, Spoon, and Foxtail on an island in Charleston, SC. Diagaro wanted to put together some sailing crew, the whole thing sounded cool but we never got it moving. Still the times we hared on that island were unforgettable.
Over the course of the next 3 years i just sort of drifted. I never became a full time traveler, mainly because i was always just searching for a place to settle down and call home. My parents were never fond of the whole being gay thing (which is putting it nicely) and i come from a very fucked up, emotionally abusive household. I didnt do much to help the situation considering one of the main reasons i left chicago in the first place was because i was tired of everyone and anyone thinking of me as a cheap whore. As i traveled i was always looking for a place to just settle down and live peacefully, somewhere i could be at peace, you know? Then, Summer of 2012 i came back to chicago to attend the NATO protest, which kicked off a lot for me. After the summit ended i stayed in Chicago and couch bummed around various friends places. we were having a great time just getting fucked up and doing crazy things all the time. it was great. Eventually i found myself living on this girls floor in this tiny P.O.S. apartment in Logan Square (a NW neighborhood of Chicago). While living there i started whoring around again, even tired my hand at porn for a brief moment, (wasnt for me). while living there i ended up hooking up with a neighbor, lets call him Chris. We had fun times it was cool, then he propositioned me to be his assistant.
Chris is an artist, you see. A pretty darn good one at that. At first all i did was organize shit and sort of help out. wasnt too special and i only worked once or twice a week. welll come january 2013 the girl i was living decided to move and made it clear it was time for me to move on too. sooooo i went to Ocala and then NOLA. While in NOLA i worked as a stripper, once again trying to settle and find my place, eventually that got old so i made enough money to get a greyhound back to chicago to live with that same girl again in her new place while i figure out what i want to do. this was around the end of March of 2013. shortly after getting back into town Chris contacted me and told me that business was picking up and he could use some help. So of course i say "why the fuck not?". Well apparently business REALLY picked up. At first i lived the apartment with hertwo roommates paying $75 a week for the couch. Business, however kept picking up and eventually i was making enough to pay for a fourth of the rent, which ended up happening. Now i have my own room as well as a full on career. Chris no longer sees me as his assistant but as his co-artist for his business and is mentoring me in how to be my own self employed artist. after 3 years of searching i finally found the home that i longed for. Chris has become more of father to me than i ever had and now i feel like i have the means to finally start giving back to the community that helped me find my way.
I never meant to be a full time traveler, I have a lot of respect for the people who are. It feels like that chapter of my life is closing, at least for now. Now i work towards a new future. I hope to save up enough and be successful enough to purchase a warehouse space in Chicago, a place where all will be welcome. I guess what I'm trying to say here is,Thank You StP. I couldn't have done it without you.
~Andy
When I first found this site I was working as a male escort in the suburbs of Chicago. Escort is kind of a stretch, lets go for call boy, it's more accurate. This was back in the summer of 2010. I was morbidly depressed and spiraling deeper. When i wasn't fucking or drinking I spent most of my on the various subforums of 420chan. It was in one of those forums where someone posted about trainhopping, another user directed them here and i figured "hey, that sounds curious" and clicked my way over.
instantly i became enamored. i never thought of traveling before and was slightly amazed that it was something that could be done. after a few days of lurking i became hooked on the idea. I asked questions, read the newbie info, and started to get an idea. It wasn't until a few months later in october 2010 that i decided to meet up with former StP users Diagaro, Spoon, and Foxtail on an island in Charleston, SC. Diagaro wanted to put together some sailing crew, the whole thing sounded cool but we never got it moving. Still the times we hared on that island were unforgettable.
Over the course of the next 3 years i just sort of drifted. I never became a full time traveler, mainly because i was always just searching for a place to settle down and call home. My parents were never fond of the whole being gay thing (which is putting it nicely) and i come from a very fucked up, emotionally abusive household. I didnt do much to help the situation considering one of the main reasons i left chicago in the first place was because i was tired of everyone and anyone thinking of me as a cheap whore. As i traveled i was always looking for a place to just settle down and live peacefully, somewhere i could be at peace, you know? Then, Summer of 2012 i came back to chicago to attend the NATO protest, which kicked off a lot for me. After the summit ended i stayed in Chicago and couch bummed around various friends places. we were having a great time just getting fucked up and doing crazy things all the time. it was great. Eventually i found myself living on this girls floor in this tiny P.O.S. apartment in Logan Square (a NW neighborhood of Chicago). While living there i started whoring around again, even tired my hand at porn for a brief moment, (wasnt for me). while living there i ended up hooking up with a neighbor, lets call him Chris. We had fun times it was cool, then he propositioned me to be his assistant.
Chris is an artist, you see. A pretty darn good one at that. At first all i did was organize shit and sort of help out. wasnt too special and i only worked once or twice a week. welll come january 2013 the girl i was living decided to move and made it clear it was time for me to move on too. sooooo i went to Ocala and then NOLA. While in NOLA i worked as a stripper, once again trying to settle and find my place, eventually that got old so i made enough money to get a greyhound back to chicago to live with that same girl again in her new place while i figure out what i want to do. this was around the end of March of 2013. shortly after getting back into town Chris contacted me and told me that business was picking up and he could use some help. So of course i say "why the fuck not?". Well apparently business REALLY picked up. At first i lived the apartment with hertwo roommates paying $75 a week for the couch. Business, however kept picking up and eventually i was making enough to pay for a fourth of the rent, which ended up happening. Now i have my own room as well as a full on career. Chris no longer sees me as his assistant but as his co-artist for his business and is mentoring me in how to be my own self employed artist. after 3 years of searching i finally found the home that i longed for. Chris has become more of father to me than i ever had and now i feel like i have the means to finally start giving back to the community that helped me find my way.
I never meant to be a full time traveler, I have a lot of respect for the people who are. It feels like that chapter of my life is closing, at least for now. Now i work towards a new future. I hope to save up enough and be successful enough to purchase a warehouse space in Chicago, a place where all will be welcome. I guess what I'm trying to say here is,Thank You StP. I couldn't have done it without you.
~Andy
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