The Path Less Travelled: My Unusual Progression Into Sex Work

I was 28, nearly ten years into a military career working as an aircraft technician in the Royal Canadian Air Force. I no longer found my job challenging in the way it once had, dissatisfied with the misogynistic attitude of my new unit that had confined me to an office well before my time and I had begun to dread going to work with a fury that was nearing desperation. The constant, all encompassing demands of military life were beginning to take a major toll on my mental and emotional wellbeing, and I was longing to break free of the institutional ecosystem that permeated my every waking moment.

It was 2012, and the world’s dynamic was beginning to shift, my personal morals no longer aligning with those of the Canadian Armed Forces.

One Friday night in June, after yet another soul crushing day, unable to fathom another ten years that mirrored the previous ten, I turned to one of the few things that culled the panic that had become far too common a companion.

As I read through the escort adverts on Backpage.com, laughing at some, mentally correcting the grammar on others, my thoughts turned to one of my favourite memories from my childhood.

Growing up in a very rural area, a trip “into town” was a big deal, and there was no bigger deal than the annual Christmas…