Hi Nichole,
This is a question I have pondered for years now, as most people don't end up visiting Portland all that often. So guys are constantly asking me to come visit, LA, Chicago, New York, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, you name it.
I have close friends in many of those places even. But I feel very hesitant to spend $500 on a plane ticket, fly to Chicago, and then take the risk that the gent will get spooked at the last moment by his wife, or lose his play money at the race track, or get sick, you name it.
So I generally end up telling guys, they can buy my plane ticket and book my hotel room, unless its Chicago, New York, Philly, Austin, SF, Nashville (all places that I have wonderful places to stay) in which case they can just buy the ticket. But not many guys are free to purchase tickets without worrying about someone else finding out.
So...I tell them, wait for me to go traveling. It's been 2 years since I've been back east for work, and about that amount of time for many other places as well, I'm just not one of those girls that tours all the time and sees hundreds of guys in different cities all year long. I like my life at home, I like the woods and mountains, I like my piano and my lover.
I do occasionally drive up to Seattle for work (about 3 hours each way with no traffic) and sometimes that goes well, and sometimes its a drag. I had one instance last winter when I drove up to see a guy, my car heater had just broken and it was freezing cold. When I got there, he had chickened out, said he thought I was too nice to pay for sex. He gave me my fee, but we just ended up eating out. I was totally bummed out, dammit I needed someone to help warm my frozen body, and I could have just stayed home and seen a regular. Other times, its worked out real well to see an individual guy. It all depends on the chemistry and the way things play out.
Probably best to have him send you a money order for half the fee up front to cover travel costs beforehand, that way if anything should happen you don't suffer financially because of it.
thats my advice from one country girl to another.
xoxo
Mandy