Victoria’s Butchart Gardens – Keep Calm and Wander

Butchart Gardens - Keep Calm and Wander

At Butchart Gardens in Victoria (British Columbia), the flowers will happily welcome you. This is one of Canada’s largest gardens with a designation as a National Historic Site. As you can guess from its name, there are gardens within this huge garden that was made possible by Jennie Butchart, wife of a Canadian businessman who manufactured Portland Cement. Today, the garden receives one million visitors every year and these pictures below will tell you why.

Taking a bus to Butchart Gardens

On a beautiful Spring day, I spent my whole morning strolling from one garden to another. From downtown Victoria, I took a bus early to avoid the heat that was predicted that day. It took me around 45 minutes to arrive there. Though the bus won’t stop at the gate of Butchart Gardens, the bus driver was kind to drop me off at the exact stop/location and walked from there.

Before coming here, it is better to check out the gardens’ virtual tour on their website. If you want to be surprised, then avoid doing it. However, once you arrive and pay your entrance fee, remember to get a map so you will be guided on where to start and go. The dominant flowers here were tulips of different colours.

By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Southern Vancouver Island Gay Travel Resources

Gay Halifax, Nova Scotia – 2TravelDads

Gay Halifax, Nova Scotia - 2TravelDads

Visiting Gay Halifax

Halifax, Nova Scotia is such a beautiful city! Even though we loved exploring the Bay of Fundy and the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Route, our time enjoying gay Halifax was wonderful. There are so many things to do in town, particularly if you love history. A great city to explore on foot, this is our guide to visiting this seaside city with kids.

Give the podcast a listen and follow along with our article below. You’ll find that many of the best things to do in town are very close by, and if the weather is nice you won’t even need a car. Once you start exploring beyond downtown, you will need your own vehicle, especially for going out to the picturesque eastern shore of Halifax Harbour.

Being a historic city with a solid urban core, there are lost of hotels directly in Downtown. You’ll be able to find most of your mainstream travel brands as well as some boutique options. We stayed in the area of Dartmouth for our time there. Dartmouth is just across the Harbour, accessible by the ferry or bridge. Dartmouth is quiet and beautiful, and very near the airport and routes out of the city, so it’s an easy home base.

Full Story at 2TravelDads

Gay Halifax Travel Resources

Pura Lempuyang Indonesian Temple – Keep Calm and Wander

Pura Lempuyang Indonesian Temple - Keep Calm and Wander

Pura Lempuyang (or Lempuyang Temple) is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Bali. It is also one of the oldest and holiest Hindu temples worth going to when traveling to this tropical island.

This sacred temple is two hours drive away from Canggu. The picturesque ride on your way up there is one to be enjoyed with such delight.

Visiting Lempuyang Temple during the pandemic has its good and bad side. There were only very few people (close to none) when we were there. On the other hand, not every temple was open.

By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Indonesia Gay Travel Resources

Indonesia’s Floating Temple – Keep Calm and Wander

Indonesia's Floating Temple - Keep Calm and Wander

Indonesia’s Floating Temple

Pura Ulun Danu Beratan Temple in Bedugul, in the highlands of Bali, gains its monicker as Indonesia’s Floating Temple as it is on the edge of Lake Beratan. However, the structure is not literally floating on the lake. It depends on where you stand, the temple, at a far distance, looks like it is buoyed up. 

On the day I visited it, the water was so low that it didn’t really look like I expected it to be. It was disappointing to me because I already knew how/where I want my photos taken. Backdropped with a gorgeous mountain, the complex reveals its beauty on a sunny day. As it is on the highlands, the weather changes from time to time.

I was lucky that on the day I visited it, the sun cooperated. But as soon as I was done, a thick cloud revealed, and rain came.

By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Indonesia Gay Travel Resources

Ba Vi National Park – Keep Calm and Wander

Ba Vi National Park - Keep Calm and Wander

Ba Vi National Park is a protected park just outside Hanoi. In what supposed to be an hour drive, it took us almost two and a half hours because of the unpredictable weather. It was a fight between the sun, clouds, and fog.

On our way up to the mountain, we would see the sun for a while, then the clouds covered it up – and suddenly a fog would envelop us. We didn’t really plan on what to do there. And worse, we even had no idea what to do and see up there. We just followed our GPS and stopped at a few places that caught our attention.

The road to the mountaintop was not an easy one. You’ve got to drive carefully because of its narrow zigzag-y road where one side is a dangerous cliff. Adding to that is a foggy road that we had to turn on the headlights a few times. As we got closer to the main attraction of Ba Vi National Park, the temperature also changed.

Changi International Airport’s Rain Vortex – Keep Calm and Wander

Changi International Airport's Rain Vortex - Keep Calm and Wander

Check Out the Rain Vortex at the Singapore Airport

The Rain Vortex at the Jewel at Changi International Airport in Singapore is mesmerizing. It was the first “tourist attraction” I’ve seen in Singapore. A friend picked me up at the airport and despite carrying my 14-kg backpack, we took a short bus ride to The Jewel.

The Jewel is a nature-themed zone filled with shopping malls, restaurants, and entertainment emporiums. And at the heart of it is this amazing attraction that collects, what else, water. 

Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Singapore’s Cloud Forest Park – Keep Calm and Wander

Singapore's Cloud Forest Park

The Cloud Forest Park in Singapore is a must-visit tourist attraction at Gardens by the Bay. From the moment I entered, the sound of the man-made waterfall was a welcome relief from the topsy-turvy world outside. The mist that the waterfalls produce was such a fresh, cool feeling that embraced my skin.

I wasn’t really planning to go here because I thought it’s just another tropical garden. But a friend of mine convinced me to go because she really thought I’d like it. And guess what – she knows me well. I did like it!

As expected, plants are everywhere. There are plants that look familiar but most are unknown to me.

By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Gay Split, Croatia – The Globetrotter Guys

Gay Split, Croatia - The Globetrotter Guys

We spent 4 nights in the beautiful city of Split in Croatia and loved every minute.

Split is Croatia’s second largest city in the Dalmatia region after Dubrovnik and home to 250k people.

The historical walled old town lays on the water’s edge and is a maze of pretty cobbled streets, beautiful buildings (including the famed Diocletian’s Palace), monuments and is also a great point from which to travel to the other islands along the coast.

In our guide to gay Split we will cover how we found the city as a gay couple, if a gay scene exists, share our experience of the gay beach, cover the best activities to do in (and from) Split, where to stay and practical tips – we highly recommend that you visit!

Is Split Gay Friendly?

As a country, Croatia is not particularly well known for being progressive and gay friendly compared to other countries in Europe such as Spain.

However when visiting the tourist hot spots, like the case in many countries, we felt very safe and had no trouble at all. We have been to Croatia twice with no issue.

In fact, our trip to Croatia was for a gay sailing trip which finished in Split (the trip goes each year) and we had a huge pride flag flying for the whole journey and never had an issue!

By Sion & Ben – Full Story at the Globetrotter Guys

Gay Split Travel Resources

Singapore’s SuperTrees – Keep Calm and Wander

Singapore's SuperTrees - Keep Calm and Wander

The SuperTree Grove at Gardens by the Bay is one of a kind tourist attraction in Singapore. Such a concept is, perhaps, a pioneer in the world on how we see trees. It’s not just a man-made tree but there’s more to that.

Singapore’s SuperTrees

There are 18 super trees in the garden. Standing at 25-20 meters, they look like strange trees when they’re lit up at night.

Yes, they look strange for a first-time visitor, but they’re spectacular to look at!

By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander

Chicago for Gay Families – 2TravelDads

Chicago for Gay Families - 2TravelDads

The USA has several cities that are known around the world as being iconic or embodiment of America. We think of New YorkSan FranciscoSeattle and Chicago. Traveling to Chicago is really awesome and totally easy to do in two or three days; you could even have an unforgettable Chicago experience in one day if you were really in a pinch and wanted to. It’s an easy, walk-able city with unlimited potential and plenty of things to do.

There are so many things to do in Chicago, and you really can’t do them all on one trip. For your first trip, or if you’re traveling to Chicago on a tight schedule, these are the best ideas to make sure you explore the city and really get a feel for this incredible town.

To get familiar with the layout of the city, take a look at the map below. You’ll see that Chicago is on the shore of Lake Michigan, so there are several activities and sights very near each other since they’re all in that Magnificent Mile neighborhood, between Michigan Ave and the Lakefront Trail. We don’t include the Shedd Aquarium or Field Museum on our things not to miss in Chicago, but they’re close by too, so easy to add to your list.

By Chris and Rob – Full Story at the 2TravelDads

Chicago Gay Travel Resources