Tag Archives: Travel

Top destinations for GLBT travelers

Posted on November 6, 2009 | Leave a comment


The Boston Globe article I referenced in my entry below was expanded by Boston.com later today.  According to the posting on Boston.com at a time when overall travel is down, tourism in the state is benefitting from one growing segment: gay vacationers. You can peruse the article and the photos by linking to the article, Top destinations for gays and lesbians.

I think the state could reap the rewards of a demographic. GLBT travelers are reported to vacation with more frequency and spend more money on cultural events than other segments of society.  Why this is I haven’t a clue and could only speculate.  After a quick review of my travel profile this year, I realized I’ve gone away (near and far) quite a bit. I’ve gone to the Cape 4 times this year, Maine 2 times, Puerto Rico, Austin, TX and later this month I leave for a 3-week vacation to Australia.  All told that equals 9 trips in 2009 and that does not count my weekends up at my parent’s lake house.

Photograph above from Boston.com.

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Massachusetts courting gay travelers

Posted on November 6, 2009 | 1 comment

The Boston Globe is reporting in today’s paper that Massachusetts tourism agencies are directing more efforts to entice Gay & Lesbian travelers to our very gay friendly state. According to Community Marketing 14th annual LGBT tourism study of 2009, Massachusetts was ranked the 11th most visited US destination. 
According to the Globe article, Massachusetts and Florida are the only states whose tourism offices have started marketing to gay and lesbian travelers. Frankly, I find that hard to believe but apparently most GLBT Tourism money to date has been spent by cities rather than state agencies.

The effort in MA started last year with a $50,000 budget to appeal to GLBT travelers. Part of that investment went to build the gay-oriented site, http://www.massvacation.com/.

If you would like to read the article in today’s Globe you can link here.

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Hotel rooms for Sydney booked

Posted on October 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

Tonight we booked our hotel room when we arrive in Sydney, Australia next month.  We first arrive in Sydney on Friday, November 20th and spend a quick two nights at the Marriott-Sydney before we dash off to the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns) on Sunday, November 22nd.  After nearly a week and a half of travelling through eastern Australia, we return to Sydney for our last 7 days. After reviewing what my Amex Rewards points could get us, we decided to book a room at the Swissotel-Sydney.

This large hotel in the center of town provides us with a central location and appears (in pictures anyway) to be very comfortable.  Travelling some place you’ve never been before can be quite a gamble and for that reason I did not want to book a boutique hotel or stand alone property that we have no way to judge until we arrive. 

Fortunately, TripAdvisor rates both hotels quite favorably so we are keeping our fingers crossed and finally starting to get excited about heading to Australia as the trip becomes more of a reality….next step is booking our hotels for the Great Barrier Reef and Melbourne.

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Weekend in Austin

Posted on October 28, 2009 | Leave a comment

I got back from Austin late on Sunday night and had a great time visiting friends that moved there from San Francisco a couple of years ago. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful so we were able to spend nearly all our time outside; relaxing on our friend’s beautiful back deck; walking through the city; and dining alfresco. 

Boston has many excellent restaurants but very few of those make what I would consider even okay Mexican cuisine so we really made the most of our time in Austin eating Mexican almost exclusively.  One exception to that was our dinner on Friday night at Vespaio Ristorante on S. Congress (SoCo). This was a cute Italian restaurant in what appeared to be a section of town in transition.  There were several other intersting restaurants along S. Congress and I look forward to returning to this neighborhood on future visits.

However, in my opinion my best meal was on Saturday night in North Austin at Fonda San Miguel. The restaurant claims to provide “distinctive Mexican cuisine” and I have to agree.  I can still taste the delicious relleno de picadillo which was stuffed with shredded pork, almonds and raisins. The jitomate sauce was a delicious compliment and if you happen to find yourself at this restaurant – it would be the plate I would recommend.

I’ve also included photos from our recent trip since images always do a better job telling a story.

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Austin Texas - Oct 2009
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Heading to Austin, TX

Posted on October 21, 2009 | 1 comment
On Friday, I’m leaving to visit a very good friend who I’ve known since grade school.  A couple years back he had a beautiful wedding out in Healdsburg, CA and shortly after he and his wife moved to Austin, TX.  I’ve never heard anything unkind said about this big town.  I have no expectations and do not know what they have planned for our first trip to their home.  We arrive on Friday (late morning) and leave for home on Sunday evening so it will be a quick trip but I think we’ll probably be heading down again as they seem to have settled into Austin and since Jet Blue now flies non-stop from Boston it is fairly easy to get there.

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Posted on October 6, 2009 | Leave a comment
Okay, okay I know that nobody has sympathy for someone lucky enough to be able to take time off from work and travel all the way to the other side of the world, but I could not help but laugh out loud when I read this AP headline in the news today. 

In little more than 6-weeks I will be hopping on a plane to visit Australia for the first time in my life. I’m extremely excited but also nervous that the long trip will put a significant dent in my savings. So I had to laugh in spite of myself when I read this article which points out that in today’s trading the Australian dollar has surged and is now trading nearly even with the U.S. dollar.  This is the highest it has traded against the dollar since August 2008.  Oy-vey…  Let’s hope the dollar shows some cojones and can rally a bit too – it would be a shame to travel all the way to Australia only to stay in out of the way hostels.

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Sydney – Cairns – Melbourne – Yarra Valley

Posted on September 26, 2009 | Leave a comment
I first wrote about my trip to Australia back in late June in my entry, Australia or bust…  Back then I had not really given much thought to where I wanted to visit and what I wanted to do.  Sergio had been to Australia years before and knew he wanted to go back to the Great Barrier Reef so Sydney and the GBR were already presumed to be part of this trip.  However, after a handful of conversations last week we booked our flights inside Australia.  We’ve booked ourselves on Virgin Blue and will fly from Sydney to Cairns to Melbourne back to Sydney again. 
We plan to enjoy our first weekend in Sydney (we arrive on Friday, November 20) then leave for Cairns on Tuesday, November 24th. We’re planning to spend a couple of days there relaxing beachside and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.  Later that week on Friday, November 27th we fly down to Melbourne. Our current plan is to spend the weekend in the city before packing up and heading to wine country – Yarra Valley.  I don’t know much about the area, but if it is anything like Napa and Sonoma, I know we’ll really enjoy ourselves.  We will end our trip back where we started by spending the last 5 nights in Sydney.  We’ve yet to book any hotels and I’m still a bit overwhelmed with trying to learn more about Yarra Valley (not to mention the logistics of how we get from Melbourne to wine country), but as work subsides we’ll start to figure out all the details.  I can’t help but get excited about the thought of the trip now that we are a mere 8-weeks away from heading to Australia.  The thought of not being anywhere near work and completely disengaged for 3-weeks seems impossible right now, but I’m sure I’ll adjust to life away from the office like a fish to water.

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JetBlue offers $599 all-you-can-fly deal

Posted on August 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

If you are a travel-aholic you might like this deal from JetBlue. The Boston Globe is reporting if you buy a JetBlue all-you-can-jet pass for $599 between now and next Friday (Aug. 21) you can fly anywhere the airline goes from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, and there are no blackout dates. Sadly work will keep me too busy to leverage this deal, but it does sound sweet.

Restrictions do apply, for example flights must be booked no later than 1:59 a.m. EDT three days before the flight’s scheduled departure and the tickets are nonrefundable and nontransferable. Taxes and fees for international and Puerto Rican flights are not included, but even so it is still a pretty good deal. You can read the rest of the fine print here.

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Heading out of town…

Posted on August 7, 2009 | Leave a comment

I’m off to NYC to catch a show and to hopefully see the Red Sox put an end to their losing streak. I have not been to the city for fun since I spent new years eve in the big apple two years ago. Work has brought me there with some frequency, but it is quite different when going solely for fun. No more blogging or entries until after I return.

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OMG – Le Viaduc de Millau

Posted on August 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

As a self-proclaimed travel nut, my journeys have taken me to Europe many times, but I’ve always travelled by plane or train. However, the Millau Viaduct, which is located in southern France and is part of the new E11 expressway that connects Paris and Barcelona might just tempt me into renting a car to enjoy driving over the tallest vehicular bridge in the world.

Interestingly, the Millau Viaduct is built with a slight curve because a straight road could induce a floating sensation as you drive across it. The curve adds a sense of elegance in the picture and really does look as if it is floating in the sky. Would you drive across this 8,000′ long bridge? I would not want to be stuck on the bridge if there were high winds or inclement weather but on a beautiful day it must be absolutely spectacular.

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Provincetown – July 2009

Posted on July 23, 2009 | Leave a comment


The weather was absolutely spectacular while I was down in Provincetown. The town was filled to capacity (so much for the economy keeping people away).

Time was spent relaxing at the Boatslip, going to Tea Dance in the afternoon and out at night, a bit of shopping here and there and several memorable meals including a lobster dinner at a beautiful house in the East End that had spectacular views of the water and the Provincetown’s Pilgrim Monument.

I’ve only been away for two days, and I’m already missing it terribly. As much as I love Boston, Provincetown is where I feel most at home.

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Off to Provincetown

Posted on July 15, 2009 | 1 comment

Do you like my groovy shades? I found them last August on a random trip to the tiny town at the tip of the Cape. They are a nod to Dame Edna.

Tomorrow I’m leaving right from work to catch the last high-speed ferry to Provincetown, and I will not return until Monday evening. I’m excited about relaxing with friends and enjoying the weather, and looking forward to life without a computer for a few days… so no more blogging ’til I return.

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Off to Ogunquit for the weekend

Posted on July 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

I am travelling to Ogunquit, ME for the weekend to spend time beachside with friends. The weather looks like it will cooperate and thanks to my two good friends Ralph and Joao, I’ll be crashing in their summer house, which is more spacious and comfortable than the home I live.

I think of Ogunquit, ME as a much smaller and quieter version of Provincetown. It has several bars, certainly more than its share of gay men for such a small little beach town and plenty of fun.

More about Ogunquit:
www.gayogunquit.com
www.ogunquit.gaycities.com
www.edgeboston.com

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My TripAdvisor Profile

Posted on July 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

As a self-proclaimed travel nut, I freely admit that I’ll be the first to skip major expenses to ensure that I have enough money saved to take a couple of nice vacations each year. I love to travel and think I’m probably at my happiest when I’m visiting some place I’ve never been before. However, prior to leaving for any destination (especially one I’m not familiar), I heavily leverage the TripAdvisor.com website. The site has excellent forums where you can read travellers reviews (and you can submit your own comments if you’ve travelled some place too).

I’ve made several connections on this travel website. If you too use TripAdvisor.com, let’s connect – my profile name is Albiani and you can link directly to read more about me and my travel preferences by linking here.

I’ve included my travel map, which shows all the destinations I’ve visited thus far as well as my favorite locations which are signified with a blue star.

  1. Paris, France

  2. Rome, Italy

  3. San Francisco, CA, USA

  4. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  5. Buenos Aires, Argentina

  6. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  7. New York City, NY, USA

  8. Prague, Czech Republic

  9. Provincetown, MA, USA

  10. San Diego, CA, USA

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Australia or bust…

Posted on June 25, 2009 | 1 comment

My workload these past few weeks has prevented me from writing in my blog, but the lack of entries in no way represents a lack of activity. Now that more time is starting to become available, I’ll have more opportunity to write my thoughts and share what I’ve been up to.

Earlier this month Sergio and I booked a three week trip to Australia. This will be my first trip to Oz and Sergio’s second. We decided to cash in all our frequent flyer miles and were able to score two business class seats. We don’t really have any plans as yet. All I know for certain is in mid-November we leave through Los Angeles for Sydney and we return to chilly Boston in early December.

As a self-proclaimed travel nut, this is a trip I’ve thought of many times before but been unable to do. In 2004, we tried to go to Sydney but ultimately ended up in Phuket, Thailand (that is another long story not worth getting into now). The trip to Thailand was amazing and one I’m glad I took, but I’m more excited about this pending trip to Australia and will no doubt write more about it as we figure out the details.

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