This is just my personal observations and findings:

A lot has changed in the hobby during my hiatus.  Some of it I'm a bit taken back by...seems dangerous, some are just normal changes as the entity we call the hobby evolves.  One thing that really sticks out to me is the rise in rates and required deposits for short, local visits.  

The hobby seems more dangerous to me.  I'm not implying it was necessarily safe before but the danger level and the risk ladies are taking seem to have grown.  There seems to be more and more reports of incidents on the blacklist and more ladies are sharing negative experiences with me than ever before. There seems to be a lot game playing and sometimes real fear.  I screen pretty well so I haven not seen any of these guys.  I did weed a few out through my screening process.  

The world has gotten more dangerous as the old is crumbling down.  I don't see why the hobby would be an exception to that, it is part of the world we all live in.  Just like I see certain aspects of the world not as safe as they once were, I see the hobby the same way.  Ladies and gentlemen are taking a great risk and getting the right ladies and gentlemen together can be challenging at times.

Travel has gone up in price significantly since I last toured.  Besides a few visits to loved ones, I didn't travel much during my hiatus and lost touch of the cost of travel.   Wow, have things changed!!!  Flights have gone up but still can be found at a decent price if I book early enough.  I usually fly coach.  Hotels are a bit more as well, especially in decent areas.  A girl needs to eat and to get a meal delivered can double the price in fees if there isn't a restaurant that does their own delivery.  Getting groceries delivered is a disaster and expensive.  Uber isn't cheap - especially during a snow storm.  Renting a care isn't cheap either.

The cost of advertising has gone up.  

Take all that and add it to the regular costs of providing, at least the way I do it, things get expensive.  With what we invest in touring or providing great service to our local communities and my perceived higher number of undesirables I do understand the higher rates and deposits.  It makes sense to me and I don't like it.  I'm left with raising my rates as well.  This makes it not possible for me to offer the hour at a reasonable rate so I start at 90 minutes. I can add value by adding time instead of raising my hour rate ridiculously high.  

As much as I hate doing it, I need to raise my rates. Those of you who are on my UTR list may have seen them a bit higher.    This makes me more mindful about keeping my location and meetings high quality and myself as well.  If we are going to ask gentlemen to pay more as our expenses rise, we need to ensure they are seeing us as worth the rising rate, getting the best experience we can offer and respecting them, their privacy and their desires.  We need to match the rate we're asking, before, during and after the meeting.  Gentlemen get more reluctant to pay higher rates for new (to them) ladies and who can blame them??? Give them security, discretion and respect and you've already raised your value.  

I do not plan to start taking deposits except for travel dates (as I've always have)  unless I begin to personally feel the need to.  Thus far, I see no need.  

Blessed Be,

Becca