Hedo III Trip Report - Oct 12th to 19th
Shaky Jake & Token Slut (the rest of the WWWers know who we are from that)
Well we finally got home from our rookie trip at 1am this morning, and we figure we should get a trip report written as soon as possible, before some of the details fade from our memory. We'd found the trip reports invaluable before going, and the intent of this one is really to try to help some of the fellow rookies thinking about making the trip. As a responsible 30's couple, with three kids, a good job and well respected in our community we had doubts about how "Hedonistic" we'd be on vacation, and were anticipating the trip with a mix of excitement and trepidation. If you're feeling the same then read on.
The journey - no point in going into lots of flight details here, although our decision to fly during the night and arrive at Mobay in the morning was a good one. We didn't lose a day of our vacation travelling, and when we arrived at Hedo early afternoon we were feeling a little tired which helped our body clocks adapt to the Hedo schedule. The bus journey took about 2 hours including a stop of about 20 minutes for red stripe. A couple of hints here for rookies - we'd read about grabbing some red stripe for the bus journey in case the driver didn't stop and so we went out of the front of the airport to the kiosk. It was a zoo out there with locals jostling us continually to offer rides, smokes etc. When we headed out to the bus we passed another kiosk which was much quieter, so be patient and wait for that one. Also, we'd read lots about being offered drugs with some people saying it had never happened to them, and others saying it had. We got five offers before leaving the airport, but a couple of those went right over our heads - if someone asks you if you like to party, they're referring to smoking, not drinking dancing or any other activities J
The resort - on arrival we had no room ready but that was no surprise so we had a stroll around to orient ourselves and grab some lunch by which time our room in the 700 block was ready. This was a great location, close enough to the nude pool, but far enough away that we could sleep at 4am without worrying about the hottub noise. While I was comfortable with being nude before we left, my better half wasn't so sure; topless was definitely OK, and nudity may be. Well we headed straight to the nude beach and stripped, because we figured that the longer we waited the bigger a deal it would become, and it was probably easier to "get it over with". So for all the rookies out there, who've read this repeatedly, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. By the end of the week, my "maybe" nudist wife HATED putting clothes on, and when we arrived at Mobay for the trip home we couldn't believe how weird everyone looked in clothes. All the things you'll read are true.
(i) no-one is in any way judgemental - we're all different shapes and sizes - SO WHAT ?
(ii) people are very easy to strike up conversations with when they're nude - this may just be that nudes are naturally more outgoing but whatever the reason its EASY to make nude friends
(iii) guys DON'T have to worry about getting "wood", or if someone tries to get you started (naughty girls) then just think of baseball or dive into the pool. J
The rooms were adequate, but not great. Yes, there are some damp spots on the wall and ceilings. Yes, the water temperature in the shower can turn you into an impromptu break dancer. Yes, there are ants in the bathroom and maybe elsewhere (we had a lot of fun getting them drunk with little pools of rum cream on the counter top J). Yes, the mirror on the ceiling is like something from Ripleys, but you can have a lot of fun maneuvering into positions that stretch or shrink various body parts. The point is that you'll spend so little time in your room who cares. Similarly the food was good but no great - our personal favorite was Munahana, but we also ate at all of the other restaurants and the variety was good. Bottom line is that if you want a great room and wonderful cuisine, stay at the Waldorf Astoria and miss all the sun and fun at Hedo.
The Staff - the staff were great. Always helpful and courteous and really seemed to appreciate some simple manners; I guess please and thank you can go a long way. The ECs were wonderful and ALWAYS seemed up for some fun. I have NO idea how they can be so permanently happy and enthusiastic working the hours that they do; we went for a late snack one evening and they were rehearsing a dance routine on stage at 1.30am. Then the next morning, they were up running the "Hedo token trade in", when we arrived for breakfast just after 8am.
The People - Well I have to admit that I thought from all of the trip reports, that the glowing accolades about the wonderful people you meet at Hedo were a bit over the top, but now I suspect it may have been understated. We went as part of DennyP's WWW group and that was probably the best decision we made.
If you can imagine arriving at a party which is in full swing with everyone already a little drunk and doing crazy things, and you don't know anyone, that's how I think our first day would have been if we'd traveled alone. There's a good chance you'd be sitting on the edge of the party trying to figure out how to get involved, and the longer it took I think the harder it would be to break the ice. Now at Hedo, I'm sure if you were at the bar or in the pool you'd have a conversation going quickly, but if you sat back on a lounger away from the pool I think you could comfortably stay on edge of things. When we arrived we had folks waiting to meet us and drag us into the fun and that REALLY helped. Don't get me wrong; if you want to stay on the edges you can, and many people did, but if you want to join the party, having that "mini party" waiting sure helps.
I could thank ALL of the folks on the trip for helping us fit in, but in particular Curtis & Debbie, John and Diana, Larry & Angela, Brian & Heidi, Dean & Patti, Dennis & Karah, Kevin & Lisa and Denny and Sharon were constantly partying with us. Thanks guys for helping us have the best vacation EVER.
Theme Nights - Travelling with the WWW group meant we had two sets of themes, some of which were WWW specific and the general Hedo themes. Masquerade, PJ and toga nights seemed quite well supported by the general resort population with 70's less so (although I didn't recognize Angela as a Charlie's Angel her costume was so good) and almost nothing for glitz and glitter. As a group we also enjoyed patriotic night and glow night, and we were easy to spot with our purple togas. We had SO much fun planning for the theme nights and buying/making things to wear. As with most of Hedo, your experiences will be what you make them, and the more you throw yourselves into them, the more fun you'll have.
PDAs and stuff - we'd read all sorts about the extent to which these do or don't happen. Within an hour of our arrival at the nude bar there were body shots happening, which confirmed that PDAs DO happen in daylight at Hedo III, and not just after midnight as we'd read in some reports. I'd stress that maybe our definition of PDA is different to others, but the couples we saw doing body shots seemed damned affectionate to us. J
Whether you participate in these things is entirely up to you. The activity during the day seemed to be restricted to the pool and hottub, and if you didn't want to see it you could easily have avoided it. Similarly if you did want to see it, there seemed plenty to see. We never saw anyone being told to stop, although the activities during the day were a little less blatant than at night. As to involvement with any other couples or singles there that seems entirely up to you. We never had any experiences of pushy behavior; it was more a case of things happening fairly naturally and consensually or not.
Observations - we'd read in advance about the importance of setting firm ground rules with your partner about what you're both willing and unwilling to do once you get to Hedo. I think if we'd done that we'd have set boundaries that were too restrictive; until you're both in the Hedo environment for the first time I think its hard to determine what is and isn't OK. However, we did set rules that if anything started to happen that either of us was uncomfortable with we'd both stop immediately. Basically we both had to say yes, but either of us could say no. We also agreed that if one of us was tired at night and wanted to go to bed, we'd go together so neither of us was left in a situation which the other couldn't veto. Similarly we agreed that if either of us was off doing activities during the day that the other wouldn't play any games in their absence. This seemed to work really well for us. After 19 years together we were still madly in love with each other before our trip, but now I'd say we're off the scale; if nothing else our vacation would have been worth it for that.
We heard a lot of people talking about having to go back to the "real world" as they were getting ready to leave Hedo. If Hedo is the place where you can relax and be yourself, without worrying about the expectations of friends, relatives and colleagues, then surely THAT is real life, and what we come back to is unreal as we fulfill the roles we think other expect of us. What Hedo seems to do is pull that real person out off you and magnify it. As long as you can be comfortable with who that person is then you'll have a wonderful time and will be thinking, as we now are, why didn't we go sooner and when can we go back.