Quito’s Stunning Basilica del Voto Nacional – Globetrotter Girls

Basilica del Voto Nacional I’m back in South America! And it strangely feels like I’ve never left, even though it’s been nearly eleven months since I said goodbye to Colombia. But considering I was in Mexico until mid-April and then again a whole month in November, it shouldn’t be too surprising that everything feels strangely familiar. The Latin America traffic craze, the bustling markets and town squares, the noise (horns, speakers, megaphones), the street food vendors everywhere. There were a few things though that made Quito, my first stop in Ecuador, feel different: 1) there are many women in traditional native dress, with long skirts and braids, hats and colorful shawls, which remind me a lot of the native dress in Bolivia. And 2) The altitude! Quito is the second highest city in the world (only La Paz sits higher), and with an altitude of just over 9,200 feet I definitely felt the affects of it. I don’t think I’ve been to a place that high since traveling around Bolivia three years ago.

By Dani – Full Story at Globetroter Girls

Ecuador Gay Travel Resources

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Forty-Eight Hours in Austin, Texas – Globetrotter Girls

Austin - Dani, Globetrotter Girls When I visited Austin for the very first time last year, I didn’t really know what to expect. My plan was to spend a month in the capital of Texas, hoping this would give me a good amount of time to explore the city whose slogan is ‘Keep Austin Weird’. Even though this slogan had me suspect that I’d love the city, I had no idea just how much I’d fall for Austin. With dozens of live music venues, excellent craft beer, countless food trucks, plenty of outdoors activities, especially along the river, and an overall laid-back attitude, the city won me over during my month there. Because I had the advantage of being able to spend four full weeks there, I took my time to explore every nook and cranny of the city, but I know that most people come to Austin for a quick weekend getaway. And while I’ve already shared 33 Things I Love About Austin, I wanted to give you a more structured overview of how to spend a weekend in Austin. Here is my perfect weekend in Austin for you – including places to eat and drink, what to do and what to see on a first-time visit: Friday, 2pm: Welcome to Austin Luckily, nearly all Austin hotels are conveniently located downtown, which makes it easy to explore the city on foot. If you’re not hugely into walking, I recommend you take advantage of Austin’s easy-to-use bike sharing system. The shared bikes, called B-Cycle, have a great ‘Weekender Pass’, which gives you three full days access to the bikes for only $15 and includes an unlimited number of free rides up to 60 minutes (a 24-hour pass is $12).

By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls

Austin Gay Travel Resources

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Lesbian Ixtapa with Olivia Cruises

lesbian Ixtapa Since Autostraddle’s very first year of existence, I’ve been asking the goddesses — and every ad person we’ve ever worked with — to get me on an Olivia trip. It almost became a running joke, how much I wanted to go on an Olivia trip and how much everybody in my alleged group of supporters was unable to make that shit happen. For a good six months I honed an e-mail draft that I planned to send directly to Olivia, taking matters into my own hands, but never took the plunge, continuing to hold out hope that somebody who knew what they were doing would sweep in, pick me up, and drop me on a cruise ship with thousands of lesbians, barreling towards some beaches or glaciers. Finally, in early 2016, the heavens opened up and bestowed upon then-Business Director Alex Vega an email asking for a meeting — they wanted to work with us on introducing Olivia to a new generation of travelers. Olivia, which began as a record label for women’s music in the early 1970s and later transitioned to a travel company, is the most successful lesbian-owned lesbian-targeted business of all time. Much like Autostraddle birthed A-Camp, Olivia Records birthed Olivia Travel. Since their first cruise in 1990, which sold out in a week, the company has been providing much-needed safe spaces for gay women to have a kickass vacation and connect with other people like them. Which brings me to our trip! In November 2016, Team Autostraddle hopped a plane to a place none of us had ever been before: lesbian Ixtapa, Mexico. Our travel crew included me, our Business/Design Director Sarah Sarwar, and Abby and Kaylah, who’ve both worked at A-Camp. Before we get too deep into this, let’s get this out of the way: Abby was my fiancee when we planned the trip, but as of a week or so prior to the trip, that was no longer the case. So we were definitely setting ourselves up for success! Would we still have a blast? YES. Well, here’s our very true story, as told by me, Sarah and Kaylah.

By Riese – Full Story at Autostraddle

Guerrero, Mexico Gay Travel Resources

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Planning a Safe Trip as a Queer Traveler

airplane - pixabay Andy Hicks, owner of HIX Inc., a small health care technology consulting business in Denver, travels frequently. And as a gay man, he said, he’s enjoyed acceptance in many destinations — even in Cuba, where he traveled this year with his partner. “We didn’t know what to expect,” Mr. Hicks said. “We had zero problems.” The travel industry offers gay travelers everything from special cruises and tours to gay-friendly hotels. But there are still many places in the world, including many countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, as well as Russia, where laws or social customs create an unwelcoming and unsafe environment for travelers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. More than 75 countries consider consensual same-sex sexual relations a crime, and in about 10 countries a person could be put to death for being gay, according to the United States State Department. “Today, it is important for a L.G.B.T. person to understand the laws and how they are enforced and the culture of the countries and even cities where they visit,” said Bruce McIndoe, chief executive of iJet International, a travel risk management company. In an environment of religious extremism, he said, “individuals are more likely to lash out or take unilateral action against assumed members of the L.G.B.T. community.” IJet, he said, has seen increased requests from clients to help prepare and protect their gay and transgender travelers after the mass shooting at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub last June and other episodes.

By Tanya Mohn – Full Story at The New York Times

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Forty Eight Hours in Austin – Globetrotter Girls

Austin - Dani When I visited Austin for the very first time last year, I didn’t really know what to expect. My plan was to spend a month in the capital of Texas, hoping this would give me a good amount of time to explore the city whose slogan is ‘Keep Austin Weird’. Even though this slogan had me suspect that I’d love the city, I had no idea just how much I’d fall for Austin. With dozens of live music venues, excellent craft beer, countless food trucks, plenty of outdoors activities, especially along the river, and an overall laid-back attitude, the city won me over during my month there. Because I had the advantage of being able to spend four full weeks there, I took my time to explore every nook and cranny of the city, but I know that most people come to Austin for a quick weekend getaway. And while I’ve already shared 33 Things I Love About Austin, I wanted to give you a more structured overview of how to spend a weekend in Austin. Here is my perfect weekend in Austin for you – including places to eat and drink, what to do and what to see on a first-time visit: Friday, 2pm: Welcome to Austin Luckily, nearly all Austin hotels are conveniently located downtown, which makes it easy to explore the city on foot. If you’re not hugely into walking, I recommend you take advantage of Austin’s easy-to-use bike sharing system. The shared bikes, called B-Cycle, have a great ‘Weekender Pass’, which gives you three full days access to the bikes for only $15 and includes an unlimited number of free rides up to 60 minutes (a 24-hour pass is $12). ]]>

Snowy New York – Globetrotter Girls

Snowy New York After returning from Israel, I only had a few short days in Germany before I boarded a flight back to New York – just enough time to pack up my clothes and a few other belongings I wanted to bring to New York with me and hug my friends and family goodbye. When I arrived in New York, I learned that I’d been lucky – had I flown a day later, I wouldn’t have made it to New York, because a massive blizzard hit the city, causing over 1,700 flights across all three airports to get canceled. That blizzard was the first real snowstorm I’ve ever witnessed! Yes, of course we get snow in Germany, but not like this. Seeing the city get covered in 10 inches (30 centimeters) of snow in the span of a few short hours was an incredible experience for me – I was amazed to see how quickly New York transformed into a winter wonderland. I watched the spectacle from the inside of a warm coffee shop while I was working and couldn’t resist taking a couple of walks through the snow, even though I decided NOT to bring my winter jacket with me to New York (I brought a vest because I figured it’d be enough for my last few days of winter).

By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls

New York City Gay Travel Resources

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Best View of Tel Aviv – Globetrotter Girls

Tel Aviv View - Globetrotter Girls I spent the bigger part of the past week in Israel before returning to Berlin, where I was greeted with snow. It couldn’t have been a greater contrast: On Thursday, I went running in a tank top on the beach, and on Friday I went running across icy & snowy Tempelhof airfield. After a couple of days in Jerusalem we took the bus to Tel Aviv and spent my final days in Israel in what is one of my favorite cities in the world. It was the perfect way to end my trip – after a few chilly days, the weather was sunny and warm, and we splurged on fancy hotel right by the beach, using a discount code for Hotels.com. We did all the things I love doing in Tel Aviv: morning runs along the beach promenade, strolls through Carmel market and Jaffa flea market, eating lots of sabich sandwiches (I fit in two visits to the legendary sabich sandwich place on the corner of Frishman and Dizengoff Str). Luckily we took advantage of Tel Aviv’s bike sharing system, which I discovered during my last visit, and cycled off some of the calories.

By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls

Israel Gay Travel Resources

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Life Lately and Upcoming Travels – Globetrotter Girls

Green Card - Dani Phew, where do I even begin? Let’s start with the good news: I won the lottery! No, I didn’t win a million dollars, but I won a green card.. i.e. permanent residency, the right to live in the US. Did you know that you can win green cards? Chances are that if you are from the US, you aren’t aware of the fact that your country gives away 50,000 immigrant visas through a lottery. Or at least most Americans that I told I won a green card didn’t know that this was possible. And most foreigners I’ve met in the past few months who I told about my green card win had heard about it but didn’t think it really existed, they thought it was more of an urban legend. But yes, the US have an amazing initiative called The Diversity Visa Program, which was introduced in the early 1990s to attract immigrants from countries with low immigrant quotas. You can enter every year (it takes place in October, running all month), and it’s completely free of charge. The only requirement to qualify for the DV lottery visa? You must have a high school diploma or its equivalent; or within five years of applying, at least two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years’ training or experience. Some countries – those that sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants (those issued green cards) to the US – aren’t eligible to participate, but millions of people from all over the world enter the lottery every year hoping to make their ‘American Dream’ come true : to emigrate to ‘The Land Of Opportunity’.

By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls

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Spa Day at the Dead Sea – Globetrotter Girls

Dead Sea, Israel This past week has been an absolute roller coaster of emotions: I got my passport back from the US consulate, with only two days to spare before my flight to Israel, and returned to Israel where I was reunited with one of my favorite people in the world. Sadly, it went downhill from there: first, the half-marathon I was supposed to run yesterday was canceled due to bad weather (heavy rain in the desert means flash floods), and I had trained so hard for this race in Germany’s arctic temperatures this month. And then there was Trump’s first anti-immigration action which caused this brand new immigrant to feel more anxiety than ever before. I’ll leave my full thoughts on that topic for my monthly round-up next week, but this and his other political actions definitely put a damper on my mood. The plan for the rest of the day yesterday – post-race – was to spend the day at the Dead Sea, in which I floated during my first visit to Israel, and which was one of my favorite experiences in Israel, and to treat myself to a spa in one of the hotels on its shores, but since to get there, we’d have to take the same road that my race would’ve taken place on and which was closed because of flash floods, we had to change our plans.

By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls

Israel Gay Travel Resources

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Twelve Essential Restaurants In San Francisco – Globetrotter Girls

La Taqueria - Globetrotter Girls San Francisco is one of the most popular cities to visit in the U.S. – and not only because of the Golden Gate Bridge or its iconic Cable Cars, but also for its diverse food scene. From Mexican and Central American food to Chinese restaurants and authentic Italian cuisine – there is nothing you can’t get in San Francisco. Since there are literally hundreds of restaurants you could go to, I’ve selected ten restaurants you shouldn’t miss on a visit to San Francisco. Of course there are dozens of others that are also worth visiting – so don’t see this as an ultimate guide, but rather as an ‘appetizer guide’ to get you started. This is the 2017 edition – 12 restaurants that are worth including in your San Francisco itinerary. Some of these restaurants have risen to fame in recent months or are brand new and buzz-worthy, others are all-time San Francisco classics, and then there are a couple of fine dining gems. Without further ado: Twelve essential restaurants you need to visit in San Francisco: 1 BEST BURRITOS: LA TAQUERIA The Mission District is a mecca for foodies – thanks to its large Latino population, you find a myriad of Mexican, Latin American and Central American eateries here, and to choose a place for a burrito can be overwhelming. I suggest La Taqueria, which was recently awarded the title America’s Best Burrito. Head there to find out if they deserve this recognition, but the continuously great reviews and long lines speak for themselves. What makes the burritos here special is the fact that they don’t have rice. Instead, the flour tortillas are filled with pinto beans, meat, and toppings that include salsa, guacamole and hot sauce.

By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls

San Francisco Gay Travel Resources

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