Gay adventure travel

Explore a new place and find your community on these LGBTQ+ group trips.

Traveling makes me nervous. There, I said it. Every traveler is concerned about safety, but as a Black gay guy from Texas, the idea of traveling scared the hell out of me.

I didn’t travel growing up. My parents are working class, a secretary and a limo driver, and they had neither the moment nor the money for vacations. My father hadn’t even flown on an airplane until he was 61 years old, and that was only because I bought tickets for them to visit me in LA. This past summer, I told my mom I was going to Europe, and she audibly gasped over the phone, more terrified than excited.

Her concern is valid. I face the potential discrimination double whammy of both racism and homophobia. Those are mental hurdles on their own, barriers that dissuade many gender non-conforming and POC folks from even bothering with commute, and the fear isn’t unfounded. But I resolved to no longer enable fear to control me. This summer, I booked my first international adventure and—I know it’s cliché to say—it’s changed my life.

Finding Community in Collective Travel

In July, I embarked on Australian-based travel business Contiki’s first-ever Pride-the