Posted: 4/3/17 | April 3rd, 2017
In this guest post, Dani from Globetrottergirls shares her tips and advice to help you plan the ultimate lesbian friendly travel experience!
When I started planning my first trip to Latin America in 2010, I wondered what it would be like to travel with my girlfriend in strictly Catholic countries, many of them known for their culture of machismo.
Would we be safe?
Would we get the chance to connect with local lesbians or meet other lesbian travelers?
I had traveled extensively around Europe and I’d been to LGBT hot spots in the us but had no idea what to expect in other parts of the world. Back then, there wasn’t much information online, and social media wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is now.
Today, planning a lesbian trip has gotten much easier since then. Still, if you are not traveling to a lesbian or a pride festival, planning an LGBT-friendly trip can be daunting and overwhelming.
Where do you start?
How to go about finding queer-friendly destinations and meeting other gay travelers?
Like me, a lot of lesbians (especially first-time travelers) feel more comfortable traveling in an environment where they feel safe. with that in mind, I’ve compiled this ultimate resource for lesbian travelers, including websites you’ll want to bookmark for trip planning, LGBT-friendly booking sites, travel opportunities for same-sex couples or lesbian solo travelers, and how to meet like-minded people during your trip!
Cuprins
1. Trip-Planning Strategies
2. how to find Lesbian-Friendly travel Companies
3. how to find Lesbian-Owned and -Friendly Accommodation
4. the best Lesbian tours and Cruises
5. how to meet other Lesbians While Traveling
6. how to travel safe as a Lesbian
1. Trip-Planning Strategies
Maybe you’ve already got a destination in mind, or maybe you’re completely open. If this is your first international trip, you might want to play it safe and visit a country with liberal views on same-sex relationships — and not one of the 70 countries that have legal LGBT discrimination.
The us department of state is a good place to start to gather LGBTQ travel Information, including some pointers on staying safe as a queer traveler.
Both the international Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex association (ILGA), a nonprofit human rights group in Geneva, and the international Gay & Lesbian travel association (IGLTA) are excellent resources. The former has a detailed overview of sexual orientation laws around the world, and the latter has good trip-planning tools.
Damron publishes a complete travel guide by and for lesbians every year, including listings in North America, South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and major cities in Europe and Asia. It also includes festivals, lesbian tours, and conferences, as well as information for vegetarians and multiracial couples and on wheelchair access, among much more.
Passport magazine is one of the only gay and lesbian travel magazines still in publication in the United States. It covers LGBT travel, culture, adventure, and style. It’s the perfect go-to if you’re looking for some lesbian travel inspiration.
If this is your first trip abroad, and you don’t want to travel too far from the US, I recommend Costa Rica, which is very LGBT friendly. Manuel Antonio has plenty of gay-owned hotels, and Playa Samara, my favorite beach in Costa Rica, even has a lesbian-owned B&B right on the beach.
Mexico is one of the countries that surprised me most in terms of gay-friendliness: Not even in San Francisco did I see as many gay couples openly holding hands and making out in parks as I did in Mexico City!
Moreover, Puerto Vallarta is the “gay capital” of Mexico, and along with the nearby beaches of the Riviera Nayarit, it makes for an easy getaway from the us — where you can be out without worrying about how you may be perceived.
2. how to find Lesbian-Friendly travel Companies
The IGLTA has a comprehensive list of all of its official partners, which include companies like Delta, Hilton, Marriott, and Disney.
Expedia has a separate section for queer travelers, featuring LGBT-welcoming hotels and guides to top gay hotspots.
3. how to find lesbian-Owned and -Friendly Accommodation
The best place to look for lesbian-owned and lesbian-friendly accommodation is Purple Roofs, the world’s largest travel directory of LGBT-friendly accommodation. Over 4,800 bed & breakfasts, hotels, vacation rentals, and other properties are listed. simply type in your destination and all available properties there will be listed. You’ll see right away if it’s lesbian or gay owned, the price per night, and a description of the property.
Another option is to look for tag Approved® hotels, which are those that are not only LGBT friendly but also support the LGBT community in their employment policies and services. (TAG stands for travel Advocacy Group.) There are around 2,000 suchhotels, including several big chains, such as Hilton Hotels, Marriott, Sheraton, and The W. similar to Purple Roofs, you can type in your destination and be shown a listing of all tag Approved® hotels there.
While Purple Roofs focuses on small, independent businesses, tag features mostly bigger hotel corporations. The advantage of tag is that it features many hotels that are members of travel reward programs, so if you are into travel hacking and looking to use points in a lesbian-friendly hotel, the tag website will be more useful for you.
Not every lesbian cares if she is staying in explicitly LGBT-friendly accommodations. So if you’re not sure of the kind of place you’re checking in to, you may well run into this issue: having to decide if you are comfortable requesting a double bed when you are given two single beds. I don’t know how many times my partner and I were shown a room with two beds after explicitly booking a double bed. most receptionists simply assume that two girls traveling together are friends or sisters; rarely do they assume that they are a couple.
I do remember situations in which I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask (in Malaysia, for example, where LGBT rights are largely unrecognized).
If you’re confident enough, you can ask for a room with one bed instead, which is what I started doing after I got tired of squeezing into a single bed with my girlfriend. but not everyone is comfortable doing this, so if you want to be 100% sure that you’re welcomed — especially when traveling as a couple — I recommend booking lesbian-friendly accommodation.
4. the best Lesbian tours and Cruises
There are several providers for lesbian tours, the biggest one being Olivia. Olivia offers all-lesbian vacations, ranging from resorts to cruises. Olivia always buys out a whole resort or charters the entire ship to make sure the trip is a safe space for women so that they feel like they can be out without worrying about anything.
In addition to ships or resorts filled with lesbians, Olivia also offer the best lesbian entertainment on their vacations, including artists like Melissa Etheridge, the Indigo Girls, Wanda Sykes, and Lily Tomlin.
Olivia is a great option for couples, but also for solo travelers who can’t find anyone to travel with but aren’t ready to go on a trip by themselves. one of the things that make Olivia special is that women come together on their trips to meet new people and form friendships, and many women travel with Olivia over and over again.
Diva Destinations is a UK-based lesbian tour operator that offers hosted lesbian group holidays around Europe, for example, the Women’s festival in Lesvos, Greece; a golf-themed cruise; and river cruises around Europe. (These are not limited to lesbian travelers from the UK, by the way.)
R family Vacations, founded by Rosie O’Donell, started out as “R family Cruises” but has since grown into other kinds of LGBT family vacations. In addition to its popular family vacations for lesbian parents and their kids, the company has launched an “Adult Vacation” line, which offers kid-free vacations, not strictly for lesbian travelers but both gay men and women. In contrast to R’s family vacation line, the adult holidays aim to connect LGBT travelers without kids.
Another company that offers mixed cruises (for gay men as well as lesbians), is Aquafest Cruises, which specializes in discounted LGBT cruises to destinations such as Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, and Asia. Aquafest’s cruises are considerably cheaper than other gay and lesbian cruises (including the above mentioned R adult Cruises), and it also offers themed cruises around celebrations like Mardi Gras and Halloween. entertainment on board includes lesbian get-togethers, singles get-togethers, theme dance parties, gay Olympics, stand-up comedy, cabaret, and celebrity singers.
Out Of office is a newer travel start-up that arranges high-end holidays for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender couples as well as gay-friendly flights, hotels, transfers, and excursions. It also offers several itineraries aimed at lesbian travelers (guaranteeing that the tour operators and hotels used in the itineraries are lesbian-friendly), and group trips for LGBT travelers to destinations such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, and China.
5. how to meet other Lesbians While Traveling
These days, the easiest way to meet other lesbians while traveling is through dating apps (even if you’re not looking for a hook-up). I’ve met other lesbian solo travelers this way while backpacking through South America, had a girl show me around Milan, and got a great introduction to Tel Aviv’s lesbian scene, all of which I wouldn’t have otherwise. I am still in touch with most of the girls and happy to return the favor when they’re visiting new York.
The dating best apps to connect with other lesbians are HER (the most popular lesbian one) and all-gender dating apps like Tinder, OkCupid or PlentyOfPeşte. De asemenea, ea are o listă de petreceri lesbiene, întâlniri, festivaluri și multe altele, astfel încât să puteți verifica ce se întâmplă în locul pe care îl vizitați.
O opțiune excelentă pentru a întâlni lesbiene care călătoresc este prin grupuri de canapea. Nu trebuie să rămâneți pe canapeaua unui străin dacă nu doriți – Couchsurfing are, de asemenea, mii de grupuri pentru tot felul de interese, inclusiv grupuri de lesbiene și queer. Iată câteva grupuri lesbiene, sunt membru:
Pur și simplu postați despre o călătorie viitoare și vedeți dacă se întâmplă să călătorească alți lesbieni să călătorească în aceeași zonă sau să locuiască în locul pe care îl vizitați.
Există o altă utilizare pentru grupurile Couchsurfing: puteți vedea dacă există grupuri LGBT sau lesbiene în orașul pe care intenționați să îl vizitați. Majoritatea orașelor mari au grupuri neobișnuite și au întâlniri periodice. Sunt o modalitate ușoară de a vă conecta cu comunitățile din întreaga lume.
Meetup.com este o opțiune similară, dar cu grupuri despărțite în mai multe interese specifice. New York City, de exemplu, are grupuri pentru „lesbiene care brunch”, „lesbiene negre” și gay douăzeci de lucruri, pentru a numi doar câteva. Pur și simplu parcurgeți grupurile de întâlniri din locul în care călătoriți și alăturați -vă unei întâlniri care se potrivește intereselor dvs.
Facebook devine, de asemenea, o modalitate din ce în ce mai populară de a vă conecta cu alți lesbiene și puteți căuta grupuri lesbiene, precum și evenimente din orașul în care călătoriți.
Alăturați -vă grupurilor pe care le găsiți interesant și RSVP la evenimentele de care credeți că vă veți bucura. Dacă sunteți confortabil să ieșiți singur, verificați dacă există bare sau petreceri lesbiene în timp ce vizitați.
6. Cum să călătorești în siguranță ca lesbiană
După cum am menționat mai sus, ar trebui să faceți o cantitate corectă de cercetări înainte de călătorie despre destinația dvs., mai ales dacă călătoriți în străinătate.
Care este poziția țării cu privire la relațiile de același sex?
Există legi care permit discriminarea împotriva persoanelor LGBT?
Au existat incidente care implică Queers?
Este un subiect controversat dacă călătorii gay și lesbiene ar trebui să viziteze țările anti-LGBT, dar știu o mulțime de lesbiene care sunt dispuși să călătorească în astfel de locuri. Așadar, dacă visul tău este să urci pe Kilimanjaro, în mod evident, vei tonifica PDA-urile acolo, având în vedere că Tanzania este o țară în care actele sexuale de același sex sunt crime pedepsite de către stat.
Dacă nu doriți să riscați să fiți agresat ca lesbiană în afara și cu suferință, atunci nu călătoriți în țări despre care se știe că sunt sever homofobe. Alegeți -vă destinația cu înțelepciune și călătoriți doar într -un loc pe care îl vizitați confortabil, mai ales când vă aflați într -o călătorie solo. Eu, de exemplu, pot bloca catcall -urile și fluierile care sunt comune în America Centrală, dar știu alți lesbiene care nu pot face față acestui tip de machism.
Dacă călătorești ca un cuplu, te vei descoperi foarte mult PDA -urile, așa cum am menționat în articolul meu anterior: Lesbian Travel: 4 lucruri de știut.
Când călătoriți singuri, luați aceleași precauții pe care le iau alți călători de sex feminin solo: Fii inteligent în stradă și vigilenți, ascultă-ți întotdeauna sentimentul de intestin, fii conștient de împrejurimile tale și nu-ți aprinde obiectele de valoare.
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În calitate de lesbiană, este posibil să fiți mai îngrijorat de prima dvs. călătorie în străinătate decât prietenii dvs. drepți care nu trebuie să se gândească la discriminarea potențială și la legile anti-LGBT, dar atâta timp cât vă faceți cercetarea și planificați-vă complet călătoria, dvs. Nu trebuie să -ți fie frică. Dimpotrivă: probabil că veți fi surprins să vedeți cât de primitoare sunt cele mai multe locuri ale călătorilor lesbiene.
Dacă doriți să fiți în siguranță, mergeți cu o companie de turnee lesbiene pentru prima dvs. călătorie, dar după ce am călătorit în întreaga lume în mod independent de ani de zile, pot spune sincer că nu m -am simțit niciodată amenințat nicăieri, pur și simplu pentru că am luat totul Precauțiile necesare pentru a rămâne în siguranță ca călător lesbian.
Călătoria mi -a oferit atât de multe experiențe de neuitat, m -au conectat cu alți lesbiene din întreaga lume și mi -a arătat câteva dintre cele mai frumoase locuri de pe P