Preface: I proudly generate and collect bad/bizarro AI art. Just look at that thumbnail. An alien’s first Photoshop? A toaster’s artistic phase? Who knows, but I’m obsessed. My AI prompt: “Stressed-out but triumphant dad on a road trip in Oregon, lots of computers, Bigfoot chilling, minivan, world burning.” But seriously, WTF is Bigfoot doing to my kids?
Life was rolling along just fine in April 2018. My day job was busy, Honey Butter was steady, and I had somehow managed to do the impossible—take a week off.
The plan was simple: a jam-packed road trip down the West Coast to visit colleges with my kids, starting in Seattle and ending in sunny San Diego. We’d see the schools, log some serious miles, and maybe squeeze in a beach or two. Easy enough, right?
Somewhere in the heart of Oregon, admiring the postcard-worthy scenery, my phone buzzed with what seemed like a routine client email. A website issue, I thought. A quick fix later that evening, and I’d be back to being Dad. Spoiler: it was not routine. By the time we hit the California border, my inbox had turned into a war zone. Godaddy and other major hosting companies had gone full scorched earth on escort websites, shutting them down preemptively. No warnings, no explanations—just pure digital annihilation.
And here’s the kicker: all my clients were independent escorts with nothing to do with trafficking. Yet, thanks to the newly minted FOSTA-SESTA law, their websites were collateral damage. This wasn’t just a hiccup. This was an all-hands-on-deck crisis.
The .NL Revolution Begins
Close to 30 clients. All in danger of losing their sites. All panicking. And me? Trapped in the middle of California with two bored teenagers and a minivan. It felt like I’d been thrust into some underground resistance movement. Thankfully, a rogue lawyer on Twitter came through with a lifeline:
- Host your site in the Netherlands or Switzerland.
- Snag a .nl or .ch domain.
- Make sure the servers were physically located there.
It sounded simple enough… until I realized the sheer scale of what had to be done with 30 stressed out clients. I calculated I could migrate one site every 2-3 hours if I worked like a machine. The good news? These were fresh domains and new hosting, so no painful transfers were required. The bad news? This was supposed to be my week off, and I had to work covertly to get it all done.
By Day, A Parent on a Mission; By Night, A Freedom Fighter
By day, I was the perfect proud poppa—navigating college campuses, asking questions about financial aid, and making memories with my kids. By night, I was a digital insurgent, relocating websites to foreign servers and setting up new domains. Rest stops became makeshift command centers. Hotel Wi-Fi turned into my lifeline. I didn’t sleep, I barely ate.
And the pressure? It was relentless. My clients weren’t just losing websites; they were losing their livelihoods. This was about survival. Meanwhile, my kids—oblivious to the details of my side gig—wondered why Dad was suddenly glued to his laptop at every stop. They weren’t quite old enough to know the specifics, and I wasn’t quite ready to explain. Keeping it under the radar added another layer of complexity, but we managed to navigate the chaos together.
Eventually, I migrated them all over — with most still hosting there.
The Noble Idea with a Not-So-Noble Fallout
Let’s give FOSTA-SESTA its due credit: the idea was noble. Target trafficking, protect victims. But the execution? A complete mess. Independent escorts, who had nothing to do with trafficking, were caught in the crossfire. Their websites—a key tool for vetting clients and staying safe—were wiped out with zero regard for nuance.
The fallout didn’t end there. Even now, years later, trying to subscribe to a newsletter service in this industry feels like trying to smuggle classified documents. The threat was real then, and it’s still lingering in odd, persistent ways.
The Takeaway
That week was one of the most stressful of my life. The constant juggling of work, family, and crisis management pushed me to the brink. But what truly stands out isn’t the chaos or the exhaustion—it’s how the escort industry came together like never before. This is a community already known for its ability to unite and lift each other up, but this was on another level.
People pooled resources, shared knowledge, and worked tirelessly to get everyone back in business. The sheer determination and resilience on display were inspiring. It wasn’t just about saving websites; it was about saving livelihoods and proving that, even in the face of overwhelming odds, we could rise together.