Been thinking about going to International Mr Leather (IML) this year. In some ways it would be a blast, but in other ways I’m not sure it’s right for me…

If you haven’t heard of IML – it’s the premier leather competition – this will be the 30th year. Leather title holders from come from all over to compete to be named “IML – International Mr. Leather”. For attendees it’s one of the top events for the leather community. If you’re in the leather lifestyle this is when you get to prance around a top notch hotel for days on end in nothing but leather. Just want to wear a leather jock strap? No problem…

But it’s also a great place to have sex. Some people have described it as one huge orgy. Even things that don’t involve actual sex are sexually charged… And over the last 10+ years apparently it’s become not just a big orgy, but a big bareback orgy. It’s a major event for “take all loads” bottoms…

Reasons To Go…

• Up to 5 days of as much sex as I could want
• There will be a lot of bareback bottoms available to fuck – some of which should be incredibly hot
• It will be good to be back in the leather and S/M community – been away for far too long
• Should be a fair number of opportunities to felch loads
• Could probably arrange to share the room with a cumhole and watch him take loads all weekend (and then felch them out of his ass)

Reasons To Not Go…

• Probably need Cialis or Viagra to keep up and not feel like I’m missing out
• I’m not a social butterfly and won’t have a group of friends to hang out with – could be weird socially
• While it’s not crazy expensive, it’s not a cheap vacation either
• I don’t fit into a lot of my old leather anymore – need new stuff (more money)

So, I’m just not sure… I feel like it’s one of those things I should do at least once… I just want to buy a little leather, find a way to get some Cialis, go, and enjoy myself – both sexually and in terms of getting back into leather and s/m. On the other hand I’m a bit afraid I won’t feel like it was worth it when it’s all said and done…

What do you guys think? Should I go? Any suggestions for the “male enhancement” issue and the social issue? Any of you gone by yourself before? How friendly are people to complete strangers? Any hot cumhole bottoms want to share a room?

Update: A reader e-mailed me privately with an answer that was pretty much the perspective I was looking for…

Hey, i was reading your blog and saw that you’re thinking of going to IML this year. I’d recommend it … i went last year on my own, for the first time, and had a blast. I’m going again this year, already booked the room and the flight.

About the social thing … i was on my own, but men were definitely friendly to me, and there are so many guys there that there’s always someone to talk to, flirt, hook up with, etc. it was a bit of a trial for me to try and meet new guys, be more social, and it was a total success, but it’s really just a good, warm welcoming vibe anyway so it’s easy to be friendly. and to be honest, i’d spent some time on some of the more leather sites … www.recon.com and www.bigmusclebears.com … and i recognized a lot of the guys there and made some dates in advance and all that worked well.

As for sex … it is the USA after all, and it wasn’t the total orgy/bathhouse experience i was expecting, to be honest. i love drinking piss and thought i’d spend an afternoon in the cans near the leather marketplace, but the hotel staff were policing the cans pretty thoroughly and not much was going on, which was a real drag. I heard even some people were threatened to be kicked out for public sex. But there was enough going on, you could walk around the hotel floors and pick guys up, or doors were left ajar, or messages on doors to walk in, that kind of thing, but it wasn’t as much a free-for-all as i’d expected. there were some bareback parties that i knew about, but the trick is to find out about them beforehand. i didn’t go to them because i was worried about the safety thing (i’m still confirmed negative, so have to be picky about who dumps inside me), but i did let one chicago guy i’d chatted with beforehand dump in me, and we already got a date for next time to do it again.

It was a great time … it’s really one of those absurd summer camp bonding type experiences, you have to suspend any sense of irony and just enjoy the testosterone and the sex. i even had a great IML/summer camp romance thing with a big ol’ raunchy fucker daddy type that was totally hot and totally sweet. and i met a lot of guys from where i live that i’d seen around but had to go to chicago to actually get to know them, and now hang around with a few of them still. So it’s just a great good time, you should definitely go and enjoy. and i’m happy to answer any other questions you might have (as a second-year IML goer) … and of course happy to take your load any time!!

I wrote back asking whether it was worth it to go for all 5 nights…

yes, definitely. last year i went from wednesday to monday, so missed the last closing out party … getting there a day early was nice to just sort of ease into it. i also had the chance to go out in the city a few times just to hang out, i think it would be kind of sad to spend 5 full days in a hotel in chicago without seeing some of the city. and this time i want to spend a few hours at the baths one night, my buddy went last year and said it was pretty intense there. there’s a lot to cram in!

this year i’m going thursday to tuesday, all 5 nights. and i’m bringing a laptop with me this time too, lots of guys were hooking up or finding out about parties online.

So given what he said, I think I may try to go…