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.

 

 

 

 

UPDATE SATURDAY, JAN 28.

Click here to download the information to be presented at today’s travel show:

• Travel Show presentation PDF
• Lesbian Travel Resources

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.

Bump! Gay TV Travel Series Announces Smartphone Apps

The producers of the world’s most watched LGBT travel series unveils a nifty new series of apps for iPhone and Android-powered smartphones.

They currently cover 13 gay-friendly cities: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Miami, Montreal, Mykonos, Paris, Puerto Vallarta, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, and Tel Aviv. I got to try Antwerp, pictured at left. The guides feature videos, travel tips, big gay events in a pretty nifty design.

The guides don’t overwhelm you with information. Instead, the app creators chose (wisely) to curate the top recommendations in each destination. They’ve also specifically identify businesses that are members of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA.org).

West Coast Dining Deals

Originally published in GPS.OutTraveler.com

Hope you’re hungry! This month there are two “Dine Abouts” to talk about in two west coast foodie capitals.

In San Francisco, now through January 31, 2011, locals and visitors have the opportunity to experience some of the finest restaurants in town at a fraction of the price. You may select from more than 100 participating restaurants offering a two-course lunch menu for $17.95 and/or a three-course dinner menu for $34.95. For a complete list for Dine About Town San Francisco, click here: DineAboutTown.com.

Further north, Dine Out Vancouver kicks off January 24 and goes through February 6. This celebration of local food and British Columbia wine offers three-course prix fixe menus at $18 $28, and $38 price points (not including taxes, alcohol and tip) at 215 restaurants across Metro Vancouver. More info: Dine Out Vancouver.

Tip: Choosing the Best Seat on (Almost) any Flight

Originally published in GPS.OutTraveler.com

If you think it’s enough to just choose your seat on a flight using only the airline’s propietary website, oh grasshopper, listen well. Sure you may know the best seat on the flight(s) you take most regularly. But what about choosing seats on a new airline or one you fly infrequently? You’re going to need a guide to the flight’s ‘equipment’ (the type of aircraft used), a seat map, and other information like seats that don’t recline, seats near the lavatory or galley and other locations. The best website we’ve found for this is SeatGuru.com, which serves up the following useful tidbits to help you make the most informed decision possible:

• Detailed seatmap graphics
• In-depth comments about seats with limited recline, reduced legroom, and misaligned windows
• Color-coding to help identify superior and substandard seats
• In-seat power port locations
• Galley, lavatory, exit row, and closet locations