Travel Expert

Ed Salvato is editor in chief of ManAboutWorld, the world’s first gay travel magazine built for iPad. Get a FREE 3-month subscription here!  He’s also a recognized industry leader and noted global gay travel expert. Read his bio. Need travel advice? He loves answering your questions. Post a comment below or send an email.

Run, Don’t Walk, To Tel Aviv Gay Pride

Tel Aviv has come into its own in recent year with a gay scene as large as many similar size cities in North America and, depending on your tastes, with some of the hottest guys in the world. Exhibit A is the irresistibly hot Ori Avrahami, pictured above and below, the muscular cover model for F.O.D’s Pride issue. Learn more about F.O.D. on Facebook.

We are sending a writer to Pride so we’ll have our own Tel Aviv guide soon. For now, download F.O.D.’s guide for a round up of Pride activities as well as recommendations for where to stay, eat, play/meet and more.

Additionally blessed with a terrific beach, really nice weather, great food and proximity to popular Middle East attractions from religious sites in Jerusalem and the Dead Sea to Petra and more, Tel Aviv is well worth a visit. We love it during Gay Pride when all the boys come out to play from throughout the region. Tel Aviv Gay Pride is Friday June 7 but there are events throughout the week leading up to June 8.

Mixing Business With Pleasure In Las Vegas and Chicago

The fabulous Cosmopolitan Hotel

By ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent Jeff Guaracino

Great trip ideas can come from travel columns like this one, from your favorite travel magazine or recommendations from friends and family. Business travel — if planned correctly — can be a perfect time to research your next pleasure trip. Yes, I know we are always in a rush to get to that next meeting, answer that pesky text or resolve the work emergency, but hey it’s travel. Don’t forget to stop and smell the fun!

Viva Las Vegas—midweek

I was invited to speak at the Las Vegas International Tourism Safety and Security Conference. I hadn’t been to Las Vegas since 2007, so I was excited to see what had changed along the famed Las Vegas Strip. A midweek trip proved to be an exceptional option to avoid the crowds but still enjoy all of the amenities that Vegas has to offer.

ManAboutWorld Gets Around

Our newest Global Correspondent Cristian Flores is a passionate traveler, photographer and master of Photoshop. He added our ManAboutWorld logo to this photo he took in Patagonia. We feel like we were there in spirit!

Blackstone Hotel, Chicago: An Unexpected Oasis

Perched alongside Chicago’s most famous parks (at South Michigan Ave and Balbo Street), the Renaissance Blackstone Chicago Hotel has a long, rich history and a desirable set of assets and amenities that make it a worthy choice for gay travelers.

It’s steps from Millennium and Grant Parks, home to art museums, fountains, lush lawns, outdoor performance spaces and, of course, the famous reflective “Cloud Gate” sculpture, informally known as the Bean. It’s near the financial and theater district, the Loop (and the “El,” what we know of as the subway in New York). Downtown is where most major hotels are located in Chicago. Boystown is a good $20 cab ride away but you can hop on the Red Line which goes right to the heart of Boystown in about 20 minutes for a lot less. (Take the El at Harrison and get off at Belmont.) There’s shopping and a Starbucks on the Concourse level below the lobby.

Photo credit: www.flickr.comphotos22746515@N024865734246.jpg

Around The World With Paul and Jose: Cocktails in Melbourne

 

Full disclosure: This is Sydney but it’s a hot pic

ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent Paul Teixeira and his partner Jose are in the midst of an 87-day global gay adventure. He agreed to document his trip here with highlights from many destinations around the world. In his own words:

“Vienna’s Got Balls” — And That’s Official

You have to love it when a destination promotes itself as having balls!

Who would have expected it from “stodgy” old Vienna? Well, actually we would have. Vienna’s is not just the capital of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. It’s also a center for innovation, exciting modern art and lots of cool and cutting-edge events. Including these balls, or dances.

Below and on the next page are some of the events we think will most appeal to LGBT travelers sent by our friends in the tourism office who were the ones who gleefully tee’d them up as a city with balls. If you decide to head to Vienna, be sure to download our free app and subscribe or purchase our January/February 2013 issue.

The Life Ball (May 25, 2013) is Europe’s wildest – and highest grossing – AIDS/HIV charity event. Everyone from the Federal Chancellor to Hollywood A-listers makes their way to Rathausplatz for the fashion show, before letting their hair down for a night of hard partying. Life Ball tickets are a seriously hot commodity, but everyone can enjoy the spectacular opening ceremony and fashion show free of charge.

Happy Queen’s Day To Outgoing and Incoming Dutch Monarchs

The new king and queen

Today is Queen’s Day in Amsterdam, held annually on April 30.

But today is a special celebration as it marked the abdication of the popular monarch of The Netherlands, Queen, now Princess Beatrix in favor of his son, Prince, now King Willem-Alexandre and his fabulous new wife, Queen Maxima, the first-ever queen from Argentina.

Always a popular holiday Queen’s Day 2013 is even bigger because of this milestone event, marking the first time there has been a king of Holland in 120 years. (Hat tip David Mixner.)

If you’re heading to Amsterdam, subscribe and download our great guide to that super gay-friendly city (in the December issue).

Our kind of queen