Category Archives: Travel

Jesse hanging out at Praça de D. Pedro IV in Lisbon, Portugal

Nonstop service starts a week before Lisbon Pride this June

TAP Portugal has announced daily nonstop service between Boston and Lisbon will start June 11, 2016. TAP Portugal also announced a partnership with JetBlue out of Logan and JFK to help them provide more connections for passengers.

I’ve not had a chance to visit Lisbon yet, but it is on my short list of destinations to see. My friend, Jesse, shared this photo from his previous visit to Lisbon, Portugal.  For those who may be contemplating a visit, Lisbon Pride parade and festival will take place on Saturday, June 18th; one week after nonstop service starts from Boston.  For more information about gay life in Lisbon link here.

Want to book a flight? Check out the airlines website, TAP Portugal.

Disco Breakfast in Le Marais

Community Marketing & Insights (CMI) has launched a new travel survey about LGBT neighborhoods in North America and Europe that takes about 10 minutes to complete.  The online survey asks questions about travel choices that range from frequency of travel to preferred places to stay and activities.

Click Here to Take the CMI Survey Today

About Community Marketing & Insights (CMI): Since 1992 CMI has been helping industry leaders master the subtleties of the LGBT market.

Slobodan Miseljic in Doha, Qatar – Fall 2011

Starting on Wednesday, March 16th, Qatar Airways will begin non-stop service from Boston to Doha on board their latest aircraft the A350 XWB. Introductory fares starting at $715 were offered but look for more deals as a Qatar Airways starts to compete with Emirates Airlines, which offers two flights daily to Dubai.

While Sergio and I currently have no plans to check out this wealthy Persian Gulf nation, I wanted to share some photographs snapped by my friend Slobodan when he visited Qatar about five years ago.

Doha is perhaps best known for its wealth, futuristic skyscrapers and modern architecture inspired by ancient Islamic design.

A must see for any visitor according to my friend Slobodan is the beautiful Museum of Islamic Art shown below, which first opened in the spring of 2008 and was designed by Chinese architect I. M. Pei (the same man who graduated from Harvard and designed Boston’s John Hancock Tower in the Back Bay).

Much thanks to Slobodan Miseljic for sharing photographs of his visit to Qatar. Think you might want to visit Qatar?  Check out their Boston launch page.

11th Annual Boston Globe Travel Show, February 19-21

The 11th annual Boston Globe Travel Show opens this weekend in Boston and will feature exhibitors showcasing travel destinations from around the world as well as travel deals / discounts available only to attendees.  As an added bonus, the travel show has a Northeast Craft Beer Pavilion Saturday and Sunday.

If you are planning a vacation or would like to escape reality for a few hours to peruse the exhibits, you may want to head down to the Seaport World Trade Center.  The show officially opens Friday at 5:30 PM but it runs from 10:00 – 6:00 on Saturday and 10:00 – 4:00 on Sunday.

Tickets to the Travel Show are $10 online and $15 at the door. Tickets to the Beer Pavilion are $35 online and $45 at the door. For more details visit the event website: bostonglobetravelshow.com.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that Sergio and I love our home but we love traveling even more so when I read Travel & Leisure article, “The Cheapest Places to Travel Each Month of the Year” I knew I would want to share this.

The article claims that if you plan your vacation right you can save a bundle; world class cities like Melbourne, Australia in January are surprisingly affordable; Buenos Aires is beautiful in March; and Fort Lauderdale offers great deals in May; Boston happens to be a steal in July (who knew); and New Orleans offers great deals in October just in time for their benefit for Project Lazarus.

You can read the full article here.

Sergio and I spent a long weekend in San Juan.  Although Boston’s winter has been mild, it was nice to get away to enjoy a Puerto Rican winter for a few days. It had been several years since we’d last been to the La Concha Resort in San Juan and it was nice to return to this friendly and familiar Caribbean get away.

Our days consisted of deciding if we should lay out at the pool or beach and walking around our hotel grounds and the neighboring Condado Vanderbilt Hotel. In the evenings Sergio played a bit with the slot machines and I enjoyed some time at the roulette tables and both of us walked away the poorer for our efforts. However the Veuve Clicquot was so plentiful at La Concha’s bar our casino losses were a pittance as compared to our budget for Champagne.

The man candy never disappoints at La Concha and neighboring Vanderbilt Hotel proved to have equally if not superior eye candy.  Above are a few photos of the guys we enjoyed chatting with and ogling over the weekend.

If you are planning a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico let me know and I’d be happy to provide recommendations on places to go and restaurants to try.

Sergio and I are heading to San Juan for a few days in the sun.  While Boston may not have been hit as hard as DC, Philadelphia and NYC we did get way more than the 3″ of snow predicted and we are looking forward to trading our coats and gloves for flip flops and swimsuits.

Sergio and I have been visiting Puerto Rico for several years and it never disappoints.  I’m sure I’ll be snapping photos and posting them on my Twitter and Instagram accounts. Below are a few photos of some of the men who added to the natural beauty that surrounded us on past trips.

This past November I wrote about and encouraged you to take the 20th Annual LGBT travel survey by Community Marketing & Insights (CMI) Inc. Nearly 4,000 LGBT respondents shared their thoughts and a few weeks ago CMI published their findings.  Below are some of the findings that caught my eye.

Where the boys are: New York is again the most popular LGBT destination across all categories, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Chicago, which are tightly grouped in 2nd place.  For the first time Rehoboth Beach, DE and Nashville, TN entered the survey’s top-20 destinations.

Hotel brands: Marriott was named as the top hotel brand recognized for their LGBT outreach efforts and W Hotels was named the as the top boutique brand.

The sharing economy: 21% of lesbians and 17% of gay men booked lodging through shared economy websites (think AirBNB, MisterBNB, etc…)  The shared economy websites as CMI refers to them were used most often because they were more affordable but LGBT travelers also cited the ability to stay in specific neighborhoods as a contributing reason.

If you would like to read the full report, CMI asks that you register to receive a free copy, which you can do here.

One week from today Sergio and I will hop on a plane and fly down to sunny, warm Puerto Rico. We will only be there for three nights, returning on Sunday but the trip is one we’ve both been looking forward to since we booked it.

Below I’ve posted a few photos of previous visits to Puerto Rico over the years.  If you’ve never visited the Caribbean island, I highly recommend you put it on your list of places to visit.  Jet Blue has two non-stop daily flights out of Boston.