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Travel

Loud, Abrasive, and Rioting: The Real Legacy of Queer Identity

Posted on July 25, 2018
A photo of queer landmark the Stonewall Inn.

Have you seen the Disney movie Moana? Of course you have, it’s amazing. In it, the protagonist, Moana, senses that her heritage is far more complex than what she’s been told. She knows, based on this gut instinct and nagging intuition, that her people are so much more courageous and fearless than her parents and neighbors have led her to believe. She goes on to discover that her ancestors were, in fact, voyagers who braved endless raging seas and created pathways…

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Appalachian Pit Stops: Where to Eat on Kentucky’s I-75 Corridor

Posted on July 10, 2018
A photo of Josh Inocencio at Wrigley's in Kentucky.

While much of Kentucky tourism centers around the annual Kentucky Derby in Louisville and the popular bourbon distilleries that speckle the state, there are booming smaller towns right off Interstate 75 that are revitalizing their downtowns and embracing the farm-to-table movement. Driving northbound on I-75, travelers might easily miss Corbin, London, Berea, Richmond, and even Lexington.…

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Bonnaroo: A Queer Experience

Posted on June 19, 2018
A photo of queer Bonnaroo.

I was working a corporate chair massage gig at a random high-rise in Austin, Texas when my colleague started boasting about her upcoming massage stint at Bonnaroo, the four-day-long music festival in rural Tennessee. Colloquially called “The Farm” by festival-goers (aka Bonaroovians), Bonnaroo celebrated its 17th birthday this year, making it one of the longer-standing music festivals in the South.…

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Top Four Queer Swimming Holes in the South

Posted on April 18, 2018
A photo of queer swimming hole Hippie Hollow.

As summer closes in, I’m struck by the overwhelming desire for a queer swimming experience, a place where we can all gather and connect with the water in a joyful way that simultaneously quenches the heat and the need for community. But I hesitated. Do places like that exist in the South?…

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50 States, 50 Pieces of Art: Artists Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin Excavate Queer American History

Posted on October 24, 2017
A photo of the Texas installation of 50 States by Jake Margolin and Nick Vaughan.

A few years ago, visual artists and married couple Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin stumbled upon some little-known 19th century queer history in William Benemann’s Men in Eden. This uncovered book charts the journey of William Drummond Stewart, a Scottish lord turned fur trader, and his male lover Antoine Clement as they led an expedition of around a hundred men from St. Louis to what is now Wyoming. Inspired by this caravan of same-sex loving men, Vaughan and Margolin crafted…

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‘Welcome to the Jungle’: A Mother and Son Trip to Vietnam and Cambodia

Posted on October 6, 2017
A photo of author Josh Inocéncio at Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Our last mother and son venture—to New York City in 2014—was shattered of all joy when I came out to her as gay at the airport before we departed Houston. But hey, she coaxed me. That, and since my dad and I had hiked Mt. Fuji in Japan, my mom hungered for a trip with me. And I wanted her to go, especially amid the busyness of her new position at work. She longs to see the world, and we…

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Queer Colombia: Uncovering Gay Culture in Centuries of Tradition

Posted on August 23, 2017
A photo of Plaza San Pedro Claver in Cartagena in queer Colombia.

Traveling as a queer individual is always stressful, but when you and your partner decide to travel to one of the most traditionally Catholic countries in the world, nerves are on edge—especially when you don’t speak the native language! But with South America calling our name, my partner and I traveled to Colombia earlier this month to experience culture in every sense of the word.…

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