LGBT Travel Expert

Ed Salvato – a passionate traveler — is often called “the world’s foremost expert in gay travel,” and currently contributes to numerous outlets. He’s also the on-air expert on Sirius/XM OutQ with Derek & Romaine and Toronto’s Proud FM. Ed loves to answer your questions. Post a comment below or send an email. You get free travel advice. Ed gets to know what gay travelers are interested in.

In LA Saturday Jan 28? Come to the LGBT Travel Panel 2:15pm-2:45pm

Yours truly is organizing an LGBT travel panel at the upcoming L.A. Times Travel Show tomorrow, Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 2:15pm to 2:45pm  in the Travel in Style Pavilion.

If you are anywhere near the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown L.A., please stop in. You can find more information about the travel show by clicking here. You can obtain a 20% discount off the $10 entrance price by purchasing your ticket here and using the code EARLYBIRD.

We’ll talk about hot new destinations, events, and cruises to make your gay/lesbian travel planning just a tad easier. Come with questions. I’ll be moderating a panel that includes:

• Shannon Wentworth, founder and CEO of Sweet, cruises and tours for lesbians and their friends;
• Duane Wells, contributor to MoxieQ, which promises a “gay for every girl” and numerous LGBT travel publications; and
• Andy Bender, blogger for Forbes.com and contributor to numerous mainstream and LGBT publications.

The panel is brought to you in part by the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, which is active in over 80 countries. Discover more about this nearly 30-year-old organization by clicking here: LGBT.Travel.

Miami Beach Gay Pride + Gay Cruise = A Whole Lotta Gay!

If you are looking for some great gay fun in the sun this spring, consider the Miami Beach Pride Cruise setting sail from Miami April 16 (through April 20), 2012 following the festivities of Miami Beach Gay Pride on Sunday, April 15.

The four-night, five-day cruise aboard the Norwegian Sky, is organized by Source Events with prices starting at $329 per person double occupancy plus taxes and fees.

According to the cruise organizers, “The event also represents an opportunity to “cruise for a cause” as a portion of all tickets sold through Source Events will be donated back to Miami Beach Gay Pride.”

Regarding Pride, In addition to the parade moving to Sunday, the expanded line-up of Pride activities will include a Thursday night kick-off party, Friday night block party along Lincoln Road, a Saturday pool party at the Surfcomber Hotel, a Saturday Voters’ Rally on the beach, a Saturday evening movie on the beach, a Saturday night VIP fundraising event and a Sunday night closing party after the parade and festival.

For more information about the cruise, click here.

For more information about Miami Beach Pride, click here.

LGBT Travel Panel at the L.A. Times Travel Show

Yours truly is organizing an LGBT travel panel at the upcoming L.A. Times Travel Show on Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 2:15pm to 2:45pm  in the Travel in Style Pavilion, naturally enough.

If you are anywhere near the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown L.A., please stop in. You can find more information about the travel show by clicking here. You can obtain a 20% discount off the $10 entrance price by purchasing your ticket here and using the code EARLYBIRD.

We’ll talk about hot new destinations, events, and cruises to make your gay/lesbian travel planning just a tad easier. Come with questions. I’ll be moderating a panel that includes:

• Shannon Wentworth, founder and CEO of Sweet, cruises and tours for lesbians and their friends;
• Duane Wells, contributor to MoxieQ, which promises a “gay for every girl” and numerous LGBT travel publications; and
• Andy Bender, blogger for Forbes.com and contributor to numerous mainstream and LGBT publications.

The panel is brought to you in part by the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, which is active in over 80 countries. Discover more about this nearly 30-year-old organization by clicking here: LGBT.Travel.

Key West: Ed Salvato on Toronto’s Proud FM

That's not Mike, but it could've been

The fabulous folks at Proud FM Toronto with Mike Chalut invited me on to talk about Key West following Mike Chalut’s recent trip there where he frolicked and luxuriated at the Island House Key West for a long weekend.

Click here to listen to the short (just over 4-minute) recording from Proud FM’s most recent “Travel Tuesday.”

 

London is Calling. Well, Specifically the Queen of England

Between the Summer Olympics, July 27-August 12, 2012 and the Paraylmpics, August 29-September 9, following that, London will be busy later this year.

Add in WorldPride (combined with EuroPride), June 23-July 8, 2012, and the calendar gets even more full. Now factor in Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee in early June celebratig 60 years on the throne and it feels like London will just burst with great travel-worthy activities.

Here’s information from the folks at VisitEngland to help you  plan your visit…

Here’s a Trip: “Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same”

All rights reserved by http://www.flickr.com/photos/codependentlesbianspacealienseekssame/

Baltimore is an oft-overlooked and worthy destination for LGBT visitors. The town’s nickname is Charm City and it hosts an eponymous annual gay movie extravaganza, Charm City LGBT Film Festival, unspooling this weekend January 20-21.

Show organizers Creative Alliance will offer films representing a variety of cutting-edge work from around the world including the well-reviewed “Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same” (above) and more.

If you got the budget, check out the brand-spanking new Four Seasons Baltimore.

Lots more fun Bal’more events here: http://baltimore.org/events.

All Aboard the Big(ger) Gay Wine Train

The first Big Gay Wine Train in 2011 was so successful — selling out in days — the organizers have scheduled a second event and added more cars. But hurry, this may sell out again.

The event, hosted by Out in the Vineyards, is scheduled for March 31, 2012 from 6:30-9:30pm. You’ll enjoy terrific cuisine from chef Kelly MacDonald paired with wines from all gay vintners in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.

Diners board the train at 1275 McKinstry St, Napa at 6:00pm. Tickets are $160 Gourmet Express Car and $175 VIP Vista Dome Car. Reservations can be made at winetrain.com or by phone 800-427-4124.

Below are a few pictures from last year, including the actual train used.

You'd never know this was a gay train, right?

Carnival in Berlin: Do Take Candy From These Strangers

Oh my, did she run out of candy?

Wear a warm costume. Carnival in Berlin takes place February 12, 2012.

Then again, you may warm up from friction as you rub up against spectators and participants. Organizers are expecting more than 1 million spectators and participants at the 11th annual Berlin Carnival Costume Parade. (Break out your German dictionary for this site.)

According to Berlin Tourism:

With an expected 3,000 participants in 100 groups, 60 floats, and numerous marching bands, the frolicsome parade will start at 11:11 am, and move through the Western center of the German capital. More than 600,000 spectators, most of them in colorful costumes, line the streets every year to watch the parade and collect sweets.

Yep, that’s right. Spectators yearn to receive candy from strangers wearing very odd, sometimes disturbing costumes. It’s just little hard-candy sweets but, like those plastic beads in New Orleans, somehow they’re worth much more when received from wild revelers marching along the street.

 

World Pride is in London This Year. Cheery Ho!

Photo from London Pride 2011

WorldPride, an LGBT event incorporating parades, festivals, cultural activities and, oh yeah, parties held every five years, is organized by InterPride. The first WorldPride was held in Rome in 2000, followed by Jerusalem in 2006.

This year it is to be held in London from June 23 through July 8, 2012.

According to InterPride

WorldPride Parade, rallies, and street parties will be all over central London on July 7th. Festival listings will include events from the world of art, film, music, nightlife, literature, theatre, and politics and the finalized schedule will be announced over the coming months. … The parade day events and times will be added to the website soon. Visit InterPride onFacebook and Twitter and our website for announcements on everything happening at WorldPride 2012. 

High Seas Hijinx: We Can’t Even Cruise Straight

Actual guests on an Atlantis cruise

After a welcome but almost scarily mild (global warming?!) December, rigid weather gripped the Northeast just after New Years.

Of course, that propelled our thoughts to warm-weather getaways, including gay and lesbian cruise vacations. This season’s aqueous getaways range from the offbeat (scuba diving in the Republic of Palau with Undersea Expeditions) to the romantic (Danube riverboat excursion with RSVP Vacations) to the humungous and fun (the Caribbean with Atlantis Events).

Check out the websites of these companies and the following for this year’s line up of water-based fun including all-gay or all-lesbian charters and gay or lesbian groups on mainstream cruises:

• Alyson Adventures
• AquaFest
• Coda
• Concierge Travel
• Hanns Ebensten
• Olivia
• Pied Piper
• R Family Vacations
• Source Events
• Sweet