The Type of Man that Pays for Escorts in Prague.

Nicholas Timpson, a 32 year old journalist from New Hampshire, discovers exactly what it’s like to be the type of man that hires escorts in Prague.

I’ve been pretty vanilla my whole life. I played football in high school, got great grades, never really got into trouble, graduated at the top of my university class for journalism, and just married my girlfriend of five years. Needless to say, when an article asking about escorts in Prague came into my inbox, I wasn’t sure what to do with it.

I had never even considered what type of man hires escorts in Prague, or really any city for that matter. To be fair – I didn’t even know that escorts in Prague where a thing. My immediate reaction was something less than revulsion and something more than morbid curiosity. Once the question had been introduced into my consciousness, I couldn’t stop asking myself about it. So, I did what I always do when a headline becomes an itch that is in desperate need of scratching, I turned to my beautiful wife for help.

“I think it’s probably all types of men.” She said simply. Katie, my new wife and girlfriend of five years is working towards her Ph.D in biology and she has an uncanny way of being absolutely pragmatic about nearly everything. “I imagine it’s a much more normal occurrence than you’d think, but to be honest, I don’t really know anything about it. Maybe we should go find out.” I think it’s important to note here that Katie has wanted to go on vacation the the Czech Republic for as long as I can remember, but between my job and her education, we hadn’t had time.

Fast forward a month to her break from school during the summer, and we’re on a plane headed for the Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague. Katie had already found some way to do a load of research into escorts in Prague, extracurricular of my own. What we both found out is that it is a booming business in the capital city. While escorts in Prague maybe some of the best known in the world, they are definitely not the only ones. An estimated 1 in 20 men pay for sex, and there are between 40 and 42 million prostitutes in the world. A number of the men who have paid for sex are single, however the majority of them self report being in some sort of relationship. Age and occupation statistics give no real concept of the “type” of man that engages in the services either. The numbers only seem to correlate to one conclusion: All types of men pay for escorts in Prague.

Shortly after we had arrived, we were able to secure an appointment with Racheal, a woman who has been working as an escort in Prague for seven years. She consented to the interview on the conditions that her name be changed and both my wife, and myself came to enjoy the experience. Katie was thrilled. We asked Racheal that she treat us as she would any other client, and take us on the typical “date”. We started the night at one of Prague’s many great restaurants. Racheal revealed that a ‘typical’ date wasn’t so much of hard line rule and that she rarely sees the same desires in different clients. She started off by telling us that there are essentially two main types of appointments with an escort in Prague. An incall, where she and the intending gentlemen meet up at her own place, or an outcall, where she engages with her gentleman caller at any number of events and concludes the evening in a hotel room secured by her client. Katie and I had selected the “out call” option and decided that a formal dinner was an appropriate way to start the interview.

Racheal told us that it wasn’t uncommon for her to meet men in restaurants or bars before retiring to the agreed upon room. “Trust is such a huge part of what I do. I have to trust my clients, and in turn, they have to trust me”. When asked about what type of men secure her services, Racheal surprised us by letting on that it wasn’t just men who procured her services. “I regularly do work for women and couples as well” she purred coyishly, throwing one of her warm and inviting smiles Katie’s way, which, I happy to report was definitely well received and genuinely returned.

As the night drew on, Racheal continued to thrill and endear us with stories of her many clients. She told us that, in general, her customers are not the misogynistic, disgusting beasts that one would expect, but caring people who are more in search of intimacy than they are in search of just plain ol’ sex. “I think one of the greatest misconceptions people have about escorts in Prague is that they are no different from a common street walker that you’d find in any other city.” Racheal added that herself, as well as most of her coworkers take great pride in the work they do. Few are addicted to anything other than the sex work itself. They take impeccable care of their bodies, health, and education. Most are multilingual, owing to the large amount of business that they see from other countries. Katie asked about what most clients search for in a paid sexual partner. Racheal responded by telling us that it seemed to her that most of her clients were just looking for simple intimacy. That the lives they lead are generally stressful or very busy. Most have needs that they feel can’t, or won’t, be met by their partners.

Paying for sex gives the purchaser the power and confidence to ask for what they really want. And any escort worth her wages asks. Sometimes fetishes or kinks are the core desire, but often, Racheal says that most of her clients are just exploring their own sexualities and desires. “They’re intention isn’t to hurt, or to get hurt. If it was, they wouldn’t have to keep me a secret. I think most times, I just fill a gap or a need that they have, that they don’t feel comfortable or confident enough to enjoy outside of transactional sex”. It’s important to Racheal that her clients not only feel comfortable, but also wanted. Listening to clients and engaging with them is a large part of her job. “It’s rarely all about the sex. I think the only similarity I see between clients is that most are looking for someone who is interested in them, in what they have to say.” In her seven years as an escort in Prague, Racheal has seen and learned many intimate things about people and their respective sexualities. “The thing is, you just never know. You can meet the nicest guy; well respected, happily married, father of four, and all he wants is someone he can eat cake off of and not feel bad about it.”

While she refuses to talk about her personal life, Racheal does admit that she is well educated and grew up in the city. After we finish dinner, Racheal takes us on a locals tour of the city, it’s an incredible place and she knows all of the best bars, discos, and views that the city has to offer. As we stroll down one of the warmly lit streets in the the city center, she also tells us that getting in to the business happened by happy accident and wasn’t a desperate act. She reveals to us a story that could be familiar to any number of people I know. She had just gotten dumped by who she thought was the love of her life, and decided to treat herself to a drink. At the bar, she began commiserating with a man who was in town on business from England. They ended up smack in the middle of a heart to heart over her martini and his whiskey rocks. “I thought I was just picking up a really nice, lonely guy from a bar for a one night stand. The next morning I found two hundred euros and a note saying thank you on my bedside table”. In that moment, she realized that maybe sex work wasn’t all the horror it was cracked up to be, and that anyone, from any background, and with any story, could potentially be her next client.