Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols, a thirtysomething couple from San Francisco, traded their briefcases for backpacks and set off on an ambitious project to find “SuperGays” – the leading LGBT activists of South America, Asia, Australia and points in between.

Chang, a former business manager for eBay, and Dazols, once a clinical social worker, put their happy relationship through the ultimate test: travelling the world with one’s partner. (They ended up getting engaged in the Philippines and happily survived the rest of the 16-country trip.)

Their project, Out and Around: Stories from a Not-So-Straight Journey, documents the movement toward LGBT rights through 50 interviews with people they met on their itinerary.

Their trip began in June 2011 in New Zealand and Australia, then stopped at cities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Taiwan, China, India, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru before returning to San Francisco.

By design, they avoided the First World countries of the northern hemisphere; all the better to illuminate unsung heroes of the LGBT movement in developing countries where acceptance of homosexuality is not guaranteed.
Chang and Dazols themselves faced cultural misunderstandings routinely. “We’ve had lots of strange looks from people in hotels when we ask for one bed. We found ourselves having to explain our relationship to other tourists and locals,” Dazols observes.

“People always want to connect with extended ‘Family,” Chang says. “We’re truly in the middle of a contagious fight for civil rights across the globe. We’ve seen a new LGBT center pop up in Cambodia, activists organizing Gay Pride in China, and an openly gay man running for Senate in Kenya.”

Currently, they are transforming their blog and video interviews into a documentary film. Keep in touch with them and contribute to the production fund at outandaround.com and follow the film on Facebook.

An inspiring travel documentary about two women’s journey to find the leaders of the global LGBT movement.

Watch the video trailer:

Getting around in girly style.

Is Bangkok on your bucket list?  If you go, be sure to try something different like cycling through, around and  over the city on back roads with a local guide or on your own – if brave enough.

If you are, good, because this gentle 20 km (12.5 miles) morning bike ride gets riders off of the traffic-jammed streets and cycling through lane ways, past markets, traditional houses, canals and temples, of course.

On this adventure you will meet the locals and get insights into idyllic pockets of Bangkok that few tourists ever experience.  And see some of the capital city’s most famous sights – including the Bangkok Noi Canal, Memorial Bridge, Wat Suthat and Wat Arun temples.

You travel through Bangkok Noi, the heart and soul of Bangkok, and ferry across the Chao Praya River to the Thonburi side of Bangkok that has its own unique waterways and narrow roads.

You’ll pass the King’s Royal Barge and ride along the Bangkok Noi Canal which eventually leads you to the spectacular Wat Arun, one of Bangkok’s iconic landmarks. From there you head back across the Chao Praya River to Pranakorn via the Memorial Bridge to visit Wat Suthat temple (home to a 25-foot tall Buddha).

Night bike tour Bangkok

Read more about The Rainbow Rambler’s  velo tour around Old Bangkok City.

See RainbowTourism.Asia for lesbian travel stories on Destination Bangkok.

Spending a day at the world-heritage Royal Elephant Kraal and village in the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya is a fantastic way to get hands-on experience with Thailand’s national animal. If you’re lucky, you may even get to ride an Asian elephant to the river so you can check that off your bucket list.

Spending a week or more at Elephanstay camp ensures that you will be making a real difference to the lives of these protected elephants. Why not stay, live and work at this one-of-a-kind sanctuary program?

You’ll get to know retired, wild and family-age elephants. Of the current herd – about 80 Thai elephants – 5 are youngsters, 5 are retirement age and the rest are starting or expanding their family.

On the day the Rainbow Tourism team visited, the LGBT staff let us follow guests on their ride to the river (pretending to be on a safari photo shoot whilst envying the paying guests doing the riding). After lunch we spent time with the newest member of the herd, just two-weeks-and-200 kg, and with one of the most playful and creative elephants, Peter the Painter.

Since 2000, the Elephantstay nursery program has welcomed 54 babies to the kraal. The incredible success of the captive breeding program is based on the simple fact that healthy, happy elephants breed.

One mother has had 4 babies, another just delivered her third. Born on National Elephant Day 13/03/13, this female calf has been aptly named WanChiangThai. (Read more on http://www.rainbowtourism.asia/2013/03/thailand-elephants-protecting-and-volunteering.)

Co-owner Ewa at Spirit House with ancient bones

Co-owner Michelle with female elephant Dokmak.

Elephantstay is a not for profit program and donations to help them further recover from devastating flood damage are welcome.

Become an Elephantstayer at this Rainbow Tourism Accredited accommodation.

Website  http://www.elephantstay.com

News & Updates on Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/Elephantstay

Read more on http://www.rainbowtourism.asia/2013/03/thailand-elephants-protecting-and-volunteering

EDEN Pride Weekend is a 4-day event during Pride in San Francisco for women, queers, transfolx and friends and allies. Ten events over four days with “celesbians, hot musical performances, national celebrity DJs and dancers” performing. Annually, about 5,000 women come together for this amazing event.

Eden Pride Events is an organizer that keeps its regional, national and international lesbian travel constituencies in focus, believing that art, in any form, makes local and global communities better places to live.

Get all of the info at EdenintheBay.com

Rainbow Tourism Accredited places to stay.

Women’s Apres Ski Events Set for WinterPride

The Vancouver Dyke March Festival Society, which turns 10 in 2013, is partnering with WinterPride to co-produce women’s events for Whistler’s Gay Ski Week (Feb. 3-10).

Two après-ski events are speed-dating and an evening of “naughty games” and karaoke will be hosted by the Vancouver Dyke March Festival Society.

“We are thrilled with the value, passion and the excitement the Vancouver Dyke March will bring this coming season,” says Dean Nelson, executive producer of GayWhistler, which organizes WinterPride.

“The festival continues to evolve year over year, and we’re really excited about there being a new sense of rejuvenation for women’s programming at WinterPride and a boost in the number of women attending the event.”

Women of WinterPride 2013
Visiting Vancouver before or after WinterPride Gay Ski Week?
Rainbow Tourism Accredited places to stay

If New Zealand and its “adventure capital” on the South Island – Queenstown – is on your bucket list, you can make it happen. And participate in either summer or winter events when you get there.

Queenstown encourages women to be active with the annual Bike Run Tri event around Lake Hayes.  And the Central Otago Region also attracts lesbian skiers and snowshoers from all around the world for Gay Ski Week QT each August.

Saturday 2nd March 2103 will see the 21st Anniversary of the Fresh Choice Women’s Bike Run Tri.  This year, the event introduces a 8.1kms run around Lake Hayes. Starting at the pavilion, the run will go clockwise on the lake track back to the finish line.  Register to participate at your personal best.

Fresh Choice Women’s Event 

Gay Ski Week 2013

Lesbian welcoming accommodation in Queenstown

Wynn Hotel Spa in Las Vegas

The All-American Lesbian Vacay

Lauren Marie Fleming contributed this article to Curve Magazine.

Vegas, a town known for its frat boys and bachelorette parties, has quite the active LGBT community—and a lot to offer lesbian visitors.

Pool parties, shows and what else?

Lauren Marie wrote: “Head out to one of the many clubs that cater to the Sapphic scene. Booty Bar, a monthly event at the Bootlegger Copa Room, is well worth planning your travel around. However the most popular lesbian night is Saturday at Krave in the Planet Hollywood hotel.”

And when you’re ready to crash?

She recommends you do so at the Wynn hotel, or Wynn’s “little sister” Encore. With the most Forbes five-star restaurants in Vegas, Wynn and Encore offer special pampering packages designed for the gay woman traveler and a dedicated LGBT concierge to cater to your every decadent need.

Excerpts by The Rainbow Rambler voyeur. Read the whole article with names of places she visited – but no personal tales, because we all know “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Best to go there yourself on a Vegas holiday.

Do you LIKE what you read? Find us on Facebook for more lesbian and gay travel by region.

Other Vegas Gay Travel Stories

Stray Your Way & Places to Stay

The Challenge Wanaka Triathlon Festival (13-19 January 2013) is on track for its largest field ever -with over 1,100 athletes already registered across both the half and full distances.

Women are bucking the global trend at the Lake Wanaka Half, making up more than 50% of the field in the scenic half iron distance triathlon.   Registrations to date show 55 all-female teams have entered compared to 35 all-male teams plus there are 70 mixed teams.

Challenge Wanaka is considered “the world’s most scenic iron distance triathlon.” The courses includes swimming in the crystal waters of Lake Wanaka, cycling past Treble Cone ski area before heading back through Lake Wanaka, and running the course half of which is off-road alongside the lake and banks of the Clutha River.
Lake Wanaka is a must do on your  visit to the South Island.   It has a huge variety of women welcoming  accommodation to suit every budget, from backpackers to luxury lodges.
Did you know Challenge Wanaka in New Zealand’s South Island is the world’s most scenic iron distance triathlon and on the “must-do” list for triathletes around the globe? Part of the global Challenge Family series, Challenge Wanaka attracts professional and age group athletes from around the world, drawn to the world-renowned course on the edge of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area.

See why: video

Canggu is a pastoral area north of Seminyak, close to the trendy new developments along Batu Belig Beach. It is a far cry from the concrete and chaos of the touristy spots – but definitely where the action is for touring, healthy eating and chillaxing. And yoga, of course. There are yoga villages and yoga beach classes at sunrise, not to mention horseback rides at sunset every day in paradise.

These are just a few of the reasons more and more women are taking vacations on the Island of the Gods – Bali. Couples, especially, are coming for romantic trysts, even getting committed in ceremonies created by woman-owned One & Only Bali Weddings.

My girlfriend and I used the FastTrack VIP Meet & Greet service from arrival to accommodation. Replete with gifted sarongs, we stripped to our swimming suits and immersed ourselves in the refreshing saltwater pool outside our bungalow at Villa Sanggah. (Means family temple). Later, we would walk to Batu Belig (means smooth stones) and find fellow gay travellers with rainbow towels on cabanas. We thought we were in paradise, after escaping the hectic streets of Denpasar, Kuta and Seminyak.

Located in a former coconut plantation, with lush tropical gardens and a river running through it, Villa Sanggah was a private residence until its recent conversion to B&B&B – Bed & Breakfast Bungalows. The owner, a gifted orchid grower, artisan trader, photographer and hostess with the mostest, has opened her home to short-term visitors and long-stay yoga instructors and writers-in-residence type travellers. (Georgeanne is an ex-pat American, living in Bali a dozen years on this estate.)

Staying at Villa Sanggah gives you a chance to observe the daily rhythms of Balinese village life. It is the perfect haven for all types, even short-break holidaymakers like ourselves.

Check out these reasons why this gay welcoming place is a true “find”.

1. Luxurious Bali-style Garden Bungalows, perfect for guests wanting privacy.

• Bungalow Bunga Kecil – One Q bedroom with garden bath, almost secluded at far end of gardens.
• Bungalow Melati -Two Q bedrooms with garden bath, indoor and outdoor showers and Japanese bathtub.

2. Sanctuary-like environs, with water and flower gardens, orchids and pool and a traditional family temple.

3. Daily massages in the pool bale or in your room.  Facials and other beauty treatments can be arranged, but don’t miss the remedial massages by local healers.

4. Excursions with English-speaking tour driver arranged for your convenience, including shopping and restaurant runs. But you can walk to the beach and eat at the trendy or traditional eateries like La Lucciola (which is lesbian managed) and Biku Tea Housse (which is woman owned) – both ranked in Top 5 Restaurants in Bali.

Play & Stay: Bali: Outside the Box Experiences

Why use Rainbow Tourism.com (the publisher of Lesbian Travel Net)?
For expert suggestions for traveling “outside the box” when looking for alternative accommodations and original and unique experiences (like whitewater river rafting on the Agung or getting committed on Bali).

See why Villa Sanggah is a Rainbow Tourism Accredited accommodation and gay welcoming for couples, singles and friends travelling on the Canggu coast of Bali.

The regional site, Rainbow Tourism Bali, has information on all the Rainbow Tourism accredited accommodation, attractions, adventures and operators mentioned here.

This annual event on the South Florida lesbian calendar (May 15-19 2013) keeps getting bigger and better. This year, there will be 14 major events and many more sponsors and their stalls at the pool party in South Beach, the lesbian and gay hotspot.

Time to pack those bikinis and bags, girls. The event is produced by and benefits the Aqua Foundation for Women.

Read more