The Travel Dilemma: Slum Tourism

Dharavi cricket photo as seen in ManAboutWorld gay travel magazine
Dharavi cricket photo

In this month’s issue, we launch Travel Dilemma, a new occasional column presenting a controversial travel topic for consideration and discussion. This month our writer Paul VanDeCarr went on a walking tour of a Mumbai slum. What he found blew away our images of these poor areas (which for instance generate over $650 million in economic activity).

Before we assigned and published this story though we discussed whether the pros such as learning the stories of a marginalized community outweighed the cons including privileged Westerners seeming to exploit a developing society. We found his column enlightening and informative, giving us a newfound respect for a part of the city which we would have previously ignored or pitied.

Learn more, discuss

  • Read his piece in last month’s issue. Subscribe here.
  • Exploitative? Enlightening? Empowering? Immoral? Discuss! We’d love to know what you think. Join the discussion via the comments below or on Facebook.
  • Read more about slum tourism.

Photo credit: Dharavi cricket photo by Andreas Grosse-Halbuer

San Francisco’s Zappos Bay to Breakers: Not Your Grandma’s Civic Trot

Bay to Breakers, San Francisco as seen in ManAboutWorld gay travel magazine
Run Oompa Loompa, run!

San Francisco is pretty much always ripe for a visit. It’s perfection in the spring, they host the world’s craziest Pride in summer, and three big gay street fairs, culminating with Folsom in the fall. Even their winters are charming. But for a city so full of crazy parties, the Bay-to-Breakers street party — a 103-year-old foot race — is the only one that officially takes over the city and gives you a glimpse into the no-limits, creative, quirky spirit of the city as a whole.

If you do come for the race check out our top recommendations in the current issue to enjoy a fun weekend in the City by the Bay. Try ManAboutWorld FREE for three months!

Photo: zappos.com/baytobreakers

UPDATE: Live at 3pm ET March 31: All About Cruising Twitter Chat

Cruising

 

UPDATED April 1:

If you missed the Twitter chat, don’t fret! Click here for a replay. There was a lot of expert advice and tips about cruising and some amazing photos.

ManAboutWorld will host its first-ever cruise-related Twitter Chat today from 3-3:45pm EST!  We’ll be using the hashtag #gay2cruise and chatting with industry experts, first-time cruisers, the curious, trepidatious, and everyone in-between. Join the conversation, or just listen in — even if you don’t use twitter. 

We’ll be online to answer questions such as:

“Why would I choose a gay cruise over a “straight” cruise?” or “What is the vibe on a gay cruise?” or “How do you decide between a big ship and a smaller ship?” then this Tweet-up is for you. 

To participate today, just monitor #gay2cruise via Tweetdeck, HootSuite, Twitter or any other twitter tool. If you’re not on Twitter, you can still “listen in” from this link in any browser. We’ll be posting moderated numbered questions (Q1, Q2 etc) — you can respond with numbered answers (A1, A2), and post general questions or comments question — just be sure use the hashtag #gay2cruise in your post or we may not see it.

Finding The Best Of San Francisco Inside HBO’s Looking

lookingThe gays have been grieving, riled up on Twitter and flinging hashtags — basically aghast at HBO’s short-sighted decision to end the only gay drama on cable. Here we had a show to call our own, real and gritty and heartfelt and sexy, and HBO goes and pulls the plug. Luckily, we still have Game of Thrones to satiate our homerotic fantasies and pangs for full-frontal. But still, Looking was a gem, a milestone, the first TV show to depict this generation of gays.

But aftrer two seasons, it’s gone, and we have only the memories. And a handful of places your favorite characters hung out in and worked. So if you have no life, and no friends, and the pain of losing Dom and Patrick and Agustin is just too much, we’ve gone ahead and rounded up our favorite Looking landmarks, from greasy spoons to greasier bathhouses. Here are top choices to mourn this loss, and to remember the two seasons of a show that left us too early.

Zuni Café

Zuni has long been a cornerstone to the San Francisco dining scene, where Dom worked as a career waiter, and while you’re dream of having him serve you one of their legendary burgers is not dead (it never actually existed but just go with it…) you should still stop by for lunch, grab a seat at the bar, and experience why this flat-iron institution has become such a mainstay in SF.Continue reading “Finding The Best Of San Francisco Inside HBO’s Looking”

In the March issue: Cruising, Dallas, San Francisco, Ft. Lauderdale + Davey Wavey’s West Hollywood

cruise1

Ask a gay friend who’s never been on a cruise if he’d like to go on one, and he’ll probably decline.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead on a cruise!”

Then ask a friend who’s been on one and he’ll likely say it was the best vacation he’s ever had. In our experience, it’s pretty much blogbinary: The uninitiated would never go on a cruise, but once they do, they’re ready to book their next one by the third day. How could so many otherwise perceptive, bright and imaginative people be so wrong, and what on earth could produce this 180-degree turnaround?

In our current issue, (available now on iPad and Android tablet with our $1 trial subscription) we eradicate the myths of gay cruising and explore the adventure, romance, and life-changing friendships you’ll experience. We stocked the issue full of information, exhaustive research (including our survey of gay-friendliness among the cruise lines), inspiring tales, and answered all of your questions so you’ll be ready to cruise this summer.Continue reading “In the March issue: Cruising, Dallas, San Francisco, Ft. Lauderdale + Davey Wavey’s West Hollywood”

I’m Speaking at NY Travel Fest April 18, 2015

ManAboutWorld Editor-in-Chief, Ed Salvato
Don’t get between me and a mic!
I have been inivited to join the New York Travel Festival panel on April 18 to discuss “What Gay Travel Gets Right:What other niches can learn from LGBT marketing.” Moderated by Mark Chestnut, Ed will join Matt Skallerud to discuss what has made LGBT travel marketing strategies successful, how these tactics work for other niches in the travel industry, what tactics won’t work, or need to be adjusted for different audiences, and how niche travel marketing evolving.”

The festival organizers have offered us the following discounts:
  • ‘MAW15’ is $5 off of Weekend Traveler Ticket
  • ‘MAWIND’ is $25 off of Weekend Industry TicketTo purchase tickets, click here and enter the appropriate code.

 

Prague Pride Coming In August

Sunrise-in-Prague
On August 15, Prague will be dressed in rainbows and gays for its fifth Gay Pride event, proving again that it remains Eastern Europe’s most tolerant country, and one of the world’s most desired travel destination for gays.
“Prague Pride grew tremendously over the last five years,” said Czeslaw Walek, president of Prague
Pride. “From a small, local pride festival we became one of the most interesting and inspiring Pride festivals in Europe. As we are heading to our small anniversary, obviously we are preparing the festival which once again will be full of interesting guests, fabulous parties and mind blowing events.”
Performance for the week long event will include the London Gay Men’s Chorus, an appearance by Pride Village, and the Business Forum, which brings together interesting and inspiring guests from the business world.

Prague Gay Pride

Where Are All The Gays? New Report Has Some Answers

gayamerica

“Gay America, rather than being confined to a few places, spreads across every major region of the country,” says a new Gallup report, published today in The New York Times. Nationwide, Gallup says, 3.6 percent of adults consider themselves gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. And even the parts of the country outside the 50 biggest metropolitan areas have a gay population (about 3 percent) not so different from some big metropolitan areas. It’s a reflection in part of increasing tolerance and of social connections made possible by the Internet.”

 

Metropolitan areas with the highest rates of L.G.B.T. residents
San Francisco 6.2%
Portland, Ore. 5.4%
Austin, Tex. 5.3%
New Orleans 5.1%
Seattle 4.8%
Boston 4.8%
Salt Lake City 4.7%
Hartford 4.6%
Denver 4.6%
Los Angeles 4.6%
Louisville, Ky. 4.5%
Providence, R.I. 4.4%
Virginia Beach 4.4%
Columbus, Ohio 4.3%
Jacksonville 4.3%

 

Continue reading “Where Are All The Gays? New Report Has Some Answers”

Welcome Heterosexuals!

As seen in ManAboutWorld magazine, protests in Atlantia Georgia
GetEQUAL protests outside the domestic Delta terminal at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
The Georgia chapter of GetEQUAL, a grassroots LGBT empowerment organization, will be welcoming travelers outside the domestic Delta terminal at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport with a  sign that says “Welcome Heterosexuals,” demonstrating the impact of Georgia’s latest bill on its tourist industry. The Georgia State Assembly is about to pass House Bill 218 and Senate Bill 129 — both would allow the state government, corporations, and privately-owned businesses to discriminate on the basis of their “strongly held religious beliefs.”
“In the past, businesses like Delta and Coca Cola have stood up for their LGBTQ customers,” said H. Kapp-Klote, of GetEQUAL.  “We’re asking them to take a stand against these bills and to ensure that their LGBTQ customers are protected.”

DDTI: Old Brompton Cemetery, Early Morning Hint of Spring

Brompton Cemetery, London
Spring in Brompton Cemetery, London; showing sings of life

I visited London and took this photo at the Brompton Cemetery where a colorful hint of spring adorns the resting place of many notables from the mid 19th century and later. DDTI: Your daily dose of travel inspiration.

According to the Royal Parks website:

Brompton Cemetery is one of Britain’s oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. It combines historic monuments, trees and wildlife with the stories of the remarkable people buried here. This beautiful landscape is the only Cemetery in the country owned by the Crown and managed by The Royal Parks on behalf of the nation.