Close to shaving my head

[kanyon]

I'm 2 months shy of turning 30 and have been battling hairloss for 9 years. Regaine worked a treat for me for 7 years but it no longer works and I'm now using Proscar to try and keep what little hair I have left. I've been sporting a combover over the last 2 years which is semi-convincing to the untrained eye (eg. strangers).

Since Regaine stopped working, I've considered (but always been too scared) shaving my head. I think it would look horrible and would be a shock to everyone who's come to know my combover, especially work colleagues.

I feel now might be the time to shave it. I'm about to go on a 5 week holiday and escaping Winter to enjoy lots of time in the sun overseas. I'm going away by myself so I'm thinking maybe I should shave it just before I board the plane. I'll get a killer tan, could grow a solid beard and come back with a completely new (bald) look.

I feel like a change from my everyday life, like a long holiday presents a good opportunity to change things up and would be easier than going into work any normal day with no hair. It seems the holiday gives me a good excuse. Unfortunately if my shaved head looks as bad as I feel it will, 5 weeks isn't long enough for it to grow as long as I have it now and as long as I need it to hide my scalp. So there's no going back.

The other option is to keep holding out until a revolutionary treatment is out there maybe in a few years.

Has anyone out there exposed themselves and shaved their head, and what was the response? How did it make you feel? What did you tell your friends when they first saw you with a shaved head?