Holy crap, as LatBear said, I feel like I walked into the middle of a pumpkin fight in a nursing home. JFC.
The point of LatBear's generous original post was to mention a very good community-based tour guide in Rio de Janeiro, should anyone from the board need a service like this. How simple and innocuous and helpful that seemed. That guide's Instagram is attached here, again.
But somehow that set off a firestorm of gibberish and misjudgment. Which is sad, and pathetic, and unfortunate.
Once upon a time -- back when I was skinny and had a full head of hair -- this board was an incredible resource. People like Tomcal and Lucky and Namazu and Oz and yes, FloridaRob and LatBear, were unfailingly generous -- and often hilarious -- with their tips and tricks and information that was literally impossible to find anywhere else at the time. In all seriousness, I consider them personally responsible for leaving a corner of Brazil better for their attentions. I am so grateful for this -- and so are many, many, many Brazilians.
I've gone on, over the years, to meet all these people IRL. I've known some of them for more than 20 years, in fact. Many have been guests in my home. They've eaten dinners I've cooked. And I have found them -- to a person -- to be excellent humans. In my experience, they treat the people they meet -- in Brazil and elsewhere -- with dignity and respect, whether an Uber driver, a waiter, or a GP. It's a very telling sign that each of them has longterm friendships with guys they have met in otherwise transactional situations. Mutual respect and an open heart goes a long way in a world that seems to be more depressing by the day.
But the truth is, I stopped reading this board a long time ago because it seemed to evolve into something very far from its origins. Rather than a place focused on fellowship and generosity and good old fashioned advice, it became a snake pit of ridiculous and petty personal attacks, and completely unintelligible rants. Life is so short. And there is already so much negative energy in the world, and in its online universe. I just decided to seek fellowship elsewhere. Which is sad, actually, because there is always another younger generation of guys who could benefit from the collective wisdom of this place. In fact, 9 million tourists visited Brazil this year -- up 45% from last year. And 80% of them say they plan to return. Because Brazil is an amazing country, and it remains a hidden gem. And projections say tourism will increase even more in 2026. How many of these visitors are LGBTQ+? 1 million? 3 million? Who knows. And how many of them would love to have your tips and tricks and great information? Plenty.
But unless something changes, they will not get that help here. Because it will be like walking into a pumpkin fight in a nursing home. Maybe it will change. Hope springs eternal!
