The LGBTQ Travel Expert. Educator. Speaker. Author.
Proven expertise in the LGBTQ segment + LGBTQ Pavilion at the New York Travel & Adventure Show 2022
For these two, nothing is better than the opportunity to travel and perform. Luckily, they get to experience both of these … together. Zack, a 30-year-old Connecticut native, and Jason a a 27-year-old Ohioan, travel the world while performing on cruise ships.
So far, their travels have taken them from Europe and Africa to Asia. They’ve recently begun to document their travels through video and photography for friends and family around the world.
Follow their adventures on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.
I was recently on Focus Group Radio talking gay travel, just in time for the summer travel season. Listen in now.
Dennis Hensley first caught travel fever when he was working as a dancer/Assistant Cruise Director for Princess Cruises in his early twenties, shuffling off not only to Buffalo but nearly every continent on earth. Since then he’s penned the novels Misadventures in the (213) and Screening Party, written and/or directed the short films Rubdown, Reunion and If We Took a Holiday,and worked as a staff writer for the TV shows Fashion Police, Lovespring International and The Big Gay Sketch Show.
As a journalist, he’s written for such magazines as TV Guide, Cosmopolitan, Out Traveler, Glamour, The Advocate and Time Out New York. He lives in Long Angeles, where he is the creator and host of the long-running comedy stage hit The MisMatch Game. His weekly podcast “Dennis Anyone?” is available for free on iTunes.
In 2013, his career came full circle when he began writing and directing murder mystery comedy shows for Princess Cruises. The first, The Dangerous Hour, is currently being performed on several ships around the world and the second,The Love Ahoy Mystery Hour, will premier in 2014.
Follow him on Twitter at @HensleyDennis and check out his website DennisHensley.com.
By Dennis Hensley
Imagine getting to Vienna and finding out you had just missed “Gay Christmas.” That’s the nickname local entrepreneur Bernd Seiser, founder of the website Gay In Vienna, has given to his favorite TV event of the year, the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest. “I always remember watching it, even as a little boy,” muses Seiser over a cappuccino in the historic and very gay Café Savoy, home to the two largest single-pain mirrors in Europe (Just imagine the cruising refractions there.) “We all come together to watch,” he says of the contest, whose past winners include Abba (1974) and Celine Dion (1988). “It’s like gay heaven.”
This year was especially heavenly because the winner was one of the Viennese gay community’s own, Conchita Wurst. (Click here to see the winning video.) The bearded drag queen and powerhouse vocalist took it home for Austria with the James Bond-esque empowerment anthem “Rise Like a Phoenix,” written by Charly Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski and Julian Maas. “When she won, you could hear people outside in other houses screaming like it was a football game,” recalls Seiser, who credits her triumph to a perfect storm of talent and timing. “It was one of the best songs and she had the best performance of all the contestants. She even designed her own dress.” Continue reading “Eurovision’s Conchita: The Queen Of Gay Christmas”
Nadav Peretz was born in the ancient city of Tiberias, Israel and moved to New York City as a teenager. While in New York, he worked for The United Jewish Communities. At the age of 20 he returned to Israel to join the army and later work for the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He served as a press and advocacy officer at the Israeli Consulate in New York, as well as a press officer in Israel’s UN delegation.
In 2008 he co-founded the first Israeli website which addressed the international gay community, GayTLVGuide.com. Today, Nadav lives on the most happening street in Tel Aviv, Rothschild Ave. and runs his own gay travel company called OUTstanding Travel offering high-quality travel services to Israel for the gay community.
Reach Nadav and OUTstanding travel via Facebook.
Our LA-based (Wo)ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent Leyla Farah travels frequently. She recently visited Puerto Vallarta and wanted you to know that despite reports to the contrary, this Mexican port city is still a fabulous place to visit. You just have to know where the new hotspots are.
We know, we know. Puerto Vallarta, or PV as it’s affectionately known, has been done. The beaches, the boardwalk, the sculptures, the church, the bars. Been there, done that. PV has been a gay-friendly destination for so long that most of us checked it off of our to-do list long, long ago. But PV just might be worth a second look if you’re willing to approach it from a new angle.
The swanky district of Conchas Chinas (literally “Chinese Shells” — named for a type of sea shell found only on the local beaches) is just south of the PV most people know. Locals refer to the area as “The Hills” (as in “The Beverly Hills of Puerto Vallarta”). Just a 20 minute cab ride from the city center, it’s worlds away from the congestion, pollution, aggressive vendors and drunk tourists that can give PV a bad name.Continue reading “A New Point of View On Puerto Vallarta”
Our ManAboutWorld Correspondent Kai Whiting is a Colombia-based journalist who submitted this piece about Bogota’s expanding gay community centered around the gay-p0pular Chapinero district.
This year has air carriers offering new and more frequent routes to the Colombian capital. In short, getting here has never been easier. This is good, because Colombia is interesting and culturally rich and you want to travel around. We’ll cover Colombia’s other destinations in the future; for now, here’s a fun long weekend in Bogota before heading off to the more exotic destinations. So what can you get up to here?
The answer is anything and everything thanks to Chapinero, Bogota’s very own gay district. The gay hub is located between Calle 53 and Calle 60, Carrera 7 and Av. Caracas. It is officially a “zone of tolerance” for anyone identifying as “alternative.” Unofficially it is like Madrid’s Chueca or Chicago’s Boystown but smaller and with Latin flavor.Continue reading “Bogota, Colombia’s Gay Side”
From the Tri-state area, Andrew Villagomez is a jack of all trades when it comes to everything travel, style, writing and photography. Personal and professional journeys have brought him to London, Paris, Spain, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, the Caribbean and throughout the states as he continues to add drop pins on his map.
He maintains men’s fashion and a travel lifestyle blog, Vee Travels, and has contributed as a freelance writer to publications including Details.com, AskMen, Thrillist, Latina.com, Out, Passport and NewNowNext.
Along with writing and blogging, Andrew also has a growing passion for photography, which you can see more of on his blog, and he has shot street style and travel photos for a number of the publications he contributes to. Down the road Andrew hopes to offer services beyond editorial to utilize his knowledge and skills in travel, men’s fashion and publishing.
Learn more about Andrew and contact him viaFacebook.com/andyveenyc, Facebook.com/VeeTravels and VeeTravels.
You can follow him on Twitter at VeeTravels and Instagram also at VeeTravels.
ManAboutWorld’s latest issue is ready for download. Subscribers: Open your iPad, tap on ManAboutWorld, go to Library, download, lean back, and enjoy. Non-subscribers may find us in the AppStore. Or click on our website to subscribe and get access to all our back issues.
Get ready to rock pride around the world with our wrap up and guide to six of our favorite global celebrations of all things queer. The hot boys on the cover beckon you to Circuit Barcelona. Just don’t head there without reviewing our insider guide. Other must-read articles include:
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ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent Rich Martino is also a man about town in New York, taking in plays and shows and reporting on them for us occasionally. Is a show worth traveling for? Rich sounds off on Heathers the Musical.
Fans of the late eighties dark comedy film will not be disappointed with this witty and camp musical reimagining. The book is loyal to the movie’s plotline about three mean girls all named Heather that agree to admit an outsider to their popular high school clique, a decision that triggers hilarious, and ultimately murderous, consequences. The play even manages to address some serious issues, which hit home a little more now than when the movie came out, considering the last couple decades of school violence. But the emphasis is still on fun, with the best lines and scenes from the movie incorporated either into the dialogue (“What’s your damage, Heather?”) or as lyrics in the over-the-top songs, such as (You Make My Balls) “Blue”, and (I love) “My Dead Gay Son”. Oh, and if you like a little eye candy to help make the ticket price worthwhile, there’s two hunky actors in underwear for much of the play to seal the deal.
Worth traveling for? If you liked Heather’s, the movie, you’ll love this.
The LGBTQ Travel Expert. Educator. Speaker. Author.