mike carey

I’m attending. Looking forward to it.

Can confirm. I've been a few times and it was one of the most interesting places I've visited.
Saint Petersburg is no slouch either.
 

@BenjaminNicholas and @Simon Suraci I agree absolutely that it's all work. The escort(s) may have their own reasons for accepting a lower rate than they could otherwise expect, but that doesn't detract from the basic fact that it is still work, not vacation. I wouldn't try to second guess what any one escort was thinking when they accepted such an arrangement and nor should a client presume that it was in any way a vacation. When I read the post that prompted this discussion I read it as reporting what the escort(s) said, although you interventions makes me doubt my initial reading of it. (To be clear, I didn't think the quote marks indicated their direct words, rather, I thought they meant it wasn't literally a vacation, just something a bit like one.) But then what I think doesn't matter.

There will be a variety of opinions about what 'should be' the going price in any city, but 'should be' doesn't make it so. Escorts have the option of setting any price they want, and clients have the option of paying it or not. The going rate in a market is what it is, what someone thinks it should be won't change that. Is hiring an escort a luxury? Maybe, maybe not. Not all escort experiences feel like a luxury, and from reading these forums as long as I have, a luxury price tag is no guarantee of a luxury experience.  Businesses like to portray their products or services as luxurious but reality bites, and they have to offer a product that's truly outstanding or offer a service tailored to a price point they can achieve. Escorts are not exempt from that economic reality. As @BuffaloKyle said $300-400 seems to be where the NYC market has landed. You can wish it were otherwise (higher or lower) but don't hold your breath.
I'm not altogether sure that this thread will elicit any new insights that threads about prices haven't already offered, but we can hope.

Yes, Red Square, or as it was known before the Revolution ... Red Square.
I agree that there is much to impress visitors in Moscow. The Metro is up there on the list of those.. Although we in the west know about the Kremlin in Moscow, but kremlin is the word for a citadel in a city so Moscow's isn't the only one in Russia.

I was in Ireland a couple times and loved it.  I felt like I was adopted Irish and accepted as an insider.  I taught storytelling at a University as a week long workshop and had a great experience.  I didn't teach storytelling to the Irish.  Basically, I taught them when to stop.

Me too.  I no longer try and do everything when I travel but I try to enjoy what I'm doing and tell myself I can return.  It relieves some internal stress. Both new places and return visits are generally great. But FOMO is real.

Ahhh…..
Lenin’s tomb is one of my favorite structures in the world. I’m so thankful that post Soviet Russia didn’t tear it down.
In fact, the Kremlin and all of Red Square, is all pretty incredible.
But Saint Basil’s Cathedral is just….odd
I also love the Stalin buildings.
And the Bolshoi is magical.
Hope that’s enough to get you started. Moscow is incredible.

The Moscow subway is indeed stunning, but I’m not so sure it’s "underrated".
It’s pretty world renowned and in general rated very highly on "must see" lists.
Unfortunately, I doubt most of us will get to see it again in our lifetime.
Sic transit gloria mundi

What the world needs is fewer unemployed proofreaders.
How could people not see these unintended messages? Amazing! And Hilarious.

@BenjaminNicholas and @Simon Suraci I agree absolutely that it's all work. The escort(s) may have their own reasons for accepting a lower rate than they could otherwise expect, but that doesn't detract from the basic fact that it is still work, not vacation. I wouldn't try to second guess what any one escort was thinking when they accepted such an arrangement and nor should a client presume that it was in any way a vacation. When I read the post that prompted this discussion I read it as reporting what the escort(s) said, although you interventions makes me doubt my initial reading of it. (To be clear, I didn't think the quote marks indicated their direct words, rather, I thought they meant it wasn't literally a vacation, just something a bit like one.) But then what I think doesn't matter.

@BenjaminNicholas and @Simon Suraci I agree absolutely that it's all work. The escort(s) may have their own reasons for accepting a lower rate than they could otherwise expect, but that doesn't detract from the basic fact that it is still work, not vacation. I wouldn't try to second guess what any one escort was thinking when they accepted such an arrangement and nor should a client presume that it was in any way a vacation. When I read the post that prompted this discussion I read it as reporting what the escort(s) said, although you interventions makes me doubt my initial reading of it. (To be clear, I didn't think the quote marks indicated their direct words, rather, I thought they meant it wasn't literally a vacation, just something a bit like one.) But then what I think doesn't matter.

@BenjaminNicholas and @Simon Suraci I agree absolutely that it's all work. The escort(s) may have their own reasons for accepting a lower rate than they could otherwise expect, but that doesn't detract from the basic fact that it is still work, not vacation. I wouldn't try to second guess what any one escort was thinking when they accepted such an arrangement and nor should a client presume that it was in any way a vacation. When I read the post that prompted this discussion I read it as reporting what the escort(s) said, although you interventions makes me doubt my initial reading of it. (To be clear, I didn't think the quote marks indicated their direct words, rather, I thought they meant it wasn't literally a vacation, just something a bit like one.) But then what I think doesn't matter.

I'm seeing $300-$500 for the first hour, and the second hour is nearly always discounted. So $500-$900 for two hours. 
That said, I disagree with the OP's sentiment that hiring is a "luxury." The Median household income in NYC is $77,000, which works out to roughly $42/hour. So, an escort is already making 6-8 times the hourly wage of the average person. 
Now, if an escort averages two clients per day, even at the lower end of $300/hour, they'd be making over $150,000 a year—nearly double the median. 

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll get onto it.
Seriously, when the topic was started there was a, probably small, chance that it would discus a link between happiness and the general level of well-being in society, which is a health issue of sorts, so a fit for the Men's Health Forum. It has not. It has remained a general discussion of the factors that might affect how happy people in various counties were with their circumstances. That discussion fits better in the Lounge.

Just find somebody with a skilful sensitive tongue to tally an estimate of the number of rings accumulated at point of consistent nocturnal tumescence cessation and that reveals age.

We will alert the Bureau of Escort Affairs.
But seriously...the market determines the price. If the market will bear $300 - $400 per hour and it doesn't bear $400 - $500, escorts will charge $300 - $400. Escorts who try to charge more will quickly learn they can't get more.

If you look at the multiple of median income :: median home price, housing in most regions of the country is shockingly expensive.  College tuition has soared, increasing far faster than overall inflation.  Forget social media, a grasp of simple arithmetic will make young Americans realize that housing & debt are crushing them.
But I agree, social media can make them even more miserable, like salt in the wound.

The thread title leads with a loaded assumption, as if something the US and specifically its young people have done is somehow the 'cause' of what is perceived as a decline. Young people being less happy than their elders is an almost universal global phenomenon. To pick one issue, home ownership in Anglo countries at least is more difficult than it was, and as new entrants to the market this affects young people more, to the point in Australia that many of them feel completely excluded. So of course they are less happy than their elders, who are already home owners, and perhaps less happy than they themselves were last year. Young people in the US aren't on their own. Second, this survey is about the relative standing of countries. There is nothing that I could see that said the aggregate absolute level of happiness in the US has declined, only that it has fallen in the list of countries. Even if the overall level of happiness in the US had increased, the US would still have gone down the list if the happiness levels in other countries had increased by more.
So, probably nothing to see here, but don't let that get in the way of a clickbait thread title. In some ways things never change. Old people who've created the problems and insecurities that many young people face (and, granted, many of the positive aspects of our societies) rail, as ever, over the ingratitude of the young. How very dare they feel unhappy with the world their elders have wrought.

Theories with a couple of these wacky results. Perhaps the people of Libya are so happy because Gaddafi has been dead for over a decade. Perhaps the people of Dominican Republic are so sad because there's a lopsided shortage of men compared to women due to all of them being professional baseball infielders elsewhere all over the globe. (Moderators : please don't relocate to the sports section). 🤣

That's generally the goal with professional services - more revenue from "rocks" and just filling in gaps with "pebbles."

I just had dinner at a restaurant in Lisbon Portugal (Europe) tonight and the owner was demanding that the customer take back his tips. She was rather pissed that the customer gave her a tip.
She serves good food and has great Yelp reviews; you should try it. Her restaurant's name is: Frangasqueira Nacional. Check it out on Yelp to see her glowing reviews (puts any RM review to shame).
And if you don't believe me that she would feel insulted at tips, try even leaving one Euro and you'll hear her go off at you. (saw it first hand tonight. I love Europe and its non-reliance to tipping culture.)

I figured putting my tip in your hand might be pushy or jumping the gun tho. Must be my prudish American sensibility.

This is a great tragedy the details of which will play out in the coming hours. For Australians of a certain age it brings to mind the collapse of spans of the Tasman Bridge in Hobart after it was hit by the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra in 1975. Twelve people died, seven of the ship's company and five people in cars that fell 45m from the bridge into the River Derwent. This disaster has the potential to have far more victims who were doing no more than driving along a major highway. We can but hope that there are far fewer casualties than is now feared. Requiescat in pace.

This is a great tragedy the details of which will play out in the coming hours. For Australians of a certain age it brings to mind the collapse of spans of the Tasman Bridge in Hobart after it was hit by the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra in 1975. Twelve people died, seven of the ship's company and five people in cars that fell 45m from the bridge into the River Derwent. This disaster has the potential to have far more victims who were doing no more than driving along a major highway. We can but hope that there are far fewer casualties than is now feared. Requiescat in pace.