Travel industry personnel, whether travel agents or publishers, aim to please and accommodate as many people as possible. Thus, in recent years, guidebooks have been published that target specific audiences, such as families traveling with children, the handicapped and special interest travelers. Only in the past few years, though, has the industry begun to aggressively address the needs of one of the most affluent of travelers, gays and lesbians.
“Fodor’s Gay Guide to the USA” by Andrew Collins ($19.50) is billed as the most comprehensive guidebook for gays and lesbians. Although there are various gay-oriented books already on the market–most by gay-owned or gay-friendly publishers–Fodor’s entry into the gay sweepstakes is reportedly the first by a mainstream publisher to offer a comprehensive guide for gay travelers.
Former Fodor’s editor Collins, 26, scoured the country for months in search of gay owned or gay-friendly sites. Ultimately, he ended up choosing 41 destinations from Aspen to Boston, Chicago to Seattle, Dallas to Washington, D.C., describing hotels, B&Bs, restaurants and nightspots that welcome gays.
This is a very personal book. Collins offers candid, opinionated and thoughtful assessments of individual sites. Best of all, though, he quickly taps into the pulse of each destination. In a few brief paragraphs he is able to capture the essence of each location’s gay community.
“If you’ve lived most of your life outside a large, tolerant city, you may be overwhelmed by Manhattan’s gay goings-on,” he says about New York, for example. Key West, on the other hand, is “like an entire island of goofy great-uncles and eccentric great-aunts” while San Francisco is simply “the `gayest’ city in the country–if not the entire world.”
Yet Collins includes more than just the well-known gay resorts. “Not all gay travelers want to go to a gay resort, such as Provincetown,” he notes. “More often than not, they want, simply, to travel and not feel embarrassed about their lifestyle.”
That “Fodor’s Gay Guide to the USA” is a highly touted release and the recipient of extensive publicity speaks volumes about the changing positive attitudes toward gays on the national scene.
Via backpack
If you, like author and world traveler Paul Otteson, desire experiences “that only the road can offer,” then “The World Awaits: A Comprehensive Guide to Extended Backpack Travel” (John Muir; $16.95) will serve as an inspiration to hit the highway.
Otteson offers advice on how to travel carrying only what will fit in your backpack. As an independent traveler, backpacking, says Otteson, is the only way to go. Hence, you are an independent traveler, according to the author, if you meet the following criteria:
1. You are designing your own adventure.
2. You are able to travel for an extended period (a long weekend doesn’t count).
3. You will live simply and stay on a budget.
4. You will travel light.
5. You want travel, not a vacation; that is, you see travel as an adventure, not an escape.
Otteson discusses what it means to travel well (lesson No. 1: You can’t see it all); how to travel; how to plan, purchase, pack and go; and how to meet the numerous challenges of life on the road.
Otteson’s idea of a trip is not for everyone. But for those who “qualify,” he offers sage advice.
