At the end of the month I’m going to have a house guest. The marvelous Sam from Snuggle with Sam is coming to Los Angeles and will even be offering sessions for a few days in Burbank! I asked Sam – who has the interesting experience of being a traveling cuddler – to share what that’s like with us. Here’s Sam:
What’s It Like Being a Traveling Cuddler?
In August 2018, I was sitting in a yoga studio in Austin with twelve other people for an all-day class. I was near the end of a three-month Snuggle Tour where I spent about two weeks in various cities to see what working there was like and trying to meet other cuddlers in the cities. It was then that I decided I wanted to go back to Philadelphia to work for a week or two in October.
Philly
The stars aligned for me to be in Philly during that time. I had two friends that had just bought a house right off of South Street, a bustling neighborhood near Center City. I could stay with them in their basement and take Ubers to clients as needed (I very rarely rent a car when I travel unless I absolutely have to. I’m looking at you, Detroit). If a client needed me to find a place for them to come to me, I could book a hotel room through Priceline or find one to use for a few hours to cuddle in during the day using DayUse or HotelsbyDay. The cost of staying in Philly was significantly cheaper than where I lived in Boston. Combine that with the cost of getting out to Philly– a cheap express bus ticket directly from South Station that dropped me off a mile away from my friends’ house– and it all felt like a no-brainer. I could keep expenses low, work as much as I wanted to, and spend time with my friends while throwing a couple twenties to them as a thank-you for letting me take hot showers and use their kitchen.
That kicked off a multi-month schedule where I’d visit Philly seven times between October 2018 and February 2020 for 5-7 days, working with people I had seen on that first visit, as well as new people that found me along the way. I loved seeing my clients in Philly and working with some of them consistently to grow. After the reopenings from the 2020 pandemic, I had made six more visits out toward New Jersey to see a client I met while traveling out to Philly– he was going through a rough transitional time in his life and got a lot of benefit out of seeing me.
Making a Difference
During that time period, I really felt like I was making a difference. I loved my clients in Boston, especially the ones that came back week after week, but something about being only available for a short period of time made my sessions in Philly really meaningful for some reason. I noticed this with other cities I visited too: Chicago, NYC, Detroit, Austin, and Denver all had people that were very grateful to see me even for a short period of time.
But when I started coming back again and again to Philly, I noticed the clients I built up out there were happy to see me every time and were willing to go deeper and share more about what was going on for them. For some of my clients, it was the first time they felt understood.
New York City
In 2021, against my better judgment, I decided to go back out to NYC. I say against my better judgment because after a miserable first time going to NYC for my Snuggle Tour in 2018, I vowed to never go back for a second cuddle trip.
But I got lured into going back out there because people were telling me it was nicer there now. Clients were a-plenty there. And with the pandemic that just happened and people moving away from the city, it would be cheaper to stay there.
(All of that was wrong by the way)
I managed to have two sessions out in NYC over a five day period– not even enough to break even on the hotel room I rented to stay out there, never mind food and bus tickets to get to and from.
And yet, today I’m considering going back out there again someday (no date set).
One reason is because I have a friend that now has a lease on a place in Manhattan and offered to let me stay with him. He used to be a cuddler and understands the unique challenges that come with traveling and cuddling🙂 Even if I’m working while traveling, it can get expensive!
The other reason is one particular client who said I made an impact on him. When I visited NYC in 2021, one of the sessions with a brand new client was right after he went through an intensely emotional shift in his personal life. He really needed someone to truly see the vulnerable parts of him, and I was grateful to be able to see and hold those parts of him– physically and emotionally. I want to see more people like that, and maybe more of them are in NYC.
I love traveling as a cuddler because I get to meet people of all backgrounds. Even before I became a traveling cuddler, I loved traveling by myself and immersing myself into the culture of a locale.
Staying in my home city here in the Boston metro area, I do meet people of all demographics that come in and see me. But we also have our own way of life here.
Boston
The area I live and work in (which for reference, is a twenty minute drive from Tufts, Harvard and MIT) is a highly educated society that oftentimes is heavily focused on the sciences. We’re known for our infamous road rage and crazy drivers, and people take the title of “Massholes” as a badge of honor. People talk fast, and I only really notice that when I travel that only Bostonians often talk at similar speeds as I do. Our roads don’t make sense and people are understanding to a point if you’re late due to traffic– you should plan on traffic especially if you’re going down 93 towards the city or on the Mass Pike.
Yet the micro-culture here in Massachusetts I grew up with and love is to generally be kind with actions, not always with words. Lip service isn’t really something people do here (except maybe in office settings, but office settings seem to give lip service to employees in every geographical area). We might seem cold and suspicious if you randomly say hi to any of us for no reason other than politeness, but if you ask any of us for help with directions we’ll happily tell you– and even throw in when you’ll see a Dunkin Donuts so you know you’re going the right way. On top of that, I’ve been fortunate and lucky to have always felt safe walking anywhere here at night.
A Breath of Fresh Air
Not every place I’ve traveled to has been the same way in all of those respects. Every place has its quirks in how people live their lives. And I find it fun to try to adapt to the area and inject my own way of life into my interactions when people seem to welcome it.
And as a cuddler, I like being a breath of fresh air for someone from a new area and a different way of living. It’s a big reason why I do this work: to hold space and be with a person in a way they may have never experienced before. Cuddling is one very important part of this work that doesn’t change anywhere I go. But the type of connection while cuddling is filled with so, so much possibility.
And I look forward to possibly connecting with you…
Coming Soon to Los Angeles!
I’m making my first trip ever out to the LA area and taking cuddle clients to have sessions with from September 28th through the 30th in Burbank. I’d like to consider coming back out again, but that’s dependent on how this trip goes.
To connect and see if a session makes sense for you, please email me at sam@snugglewithsam.com.