As someone who loves to travel, I have been very lucky. I have been to much of Europe and Asia, and have also lived in several cities in North America.

I travel mostly on vacation but I did have an opportunity to travel for work. The best place for me has been Brazil and I have gone to Brazil every year since I visited in 2009. I was planning on going again this year but I may have to put off my plans because the airfare this year have gone through the roof.

So, in place of going international, I would like to explore more local spots.  I have lived in New York City but I wasn’t much into the gay scene while I lived there.  I wasn’t out yet.   I have always wanted to visit the San Francisco, Castro Area and maybe that’s what I will do this year instead.  Besides, the hassles of coming in from a foreign country back to the US has gotten old for me.  I always get stopped by Immigration every time I come in (something to do with the random list) and I am tired of it.

If you are gay however, you probably would like to check out places that are gay-friendly.  First of all, I would suggest that you stay at Gay Friendly Hotels as opposed to randomly selecting any cheap hotel that you find.

There is a great gay travel blog you can visit that provides real experiences from gay-friendly places on your travel wish list.  The blog is called Gay Travel Buddy and the blogger reviews cities, gay bars, restaurants, and hotels he personally visited.  It’s a great way to find out information about the places you want to visit without spending money (or wasting money) at a place you probably wouldn’t have been to if you knew more about it.

The site is kinda slow so you have to bear with it.  There’s a list of cities you can click on which includes a few international cities as well.

As for my vacation plans this year, I probably will do weekend trips to Washington, DC, New York City, and possibly Rehoboth Beach, DE in the summer.   That is if the fares to Brazil don’t come down before June.  But if it does – - – Sao Paulo, here I come!

Once you surpass the feelings of shame and sinfulness (hopefully with a great positive result or influence), you then try to move on with your life, accepting that you are a homosexual and that nothing is wrong with it. After you’ve done this, you will start to feel comfortable about who you are and people around you will feel the same as well. Because unless you are comfortable being you, others will be uncomfortable too.

The next step is pairing. Someone, somewhere out there will find you and pair with you. Getting to know each other, the lovey-dovey display of affection. All are the same process as straight couples. After this, you settle. For straight couples, they plan for children and for some of us too. But mostly, gay couples that settle do not plan on having children. The result? They have combined their incomes, bought their dream homes, and still have disposable income. What to do with it? TRAVEL.

One site called Travel Directory, a comprehensive travel directory offering great ideas to help you plan your next trip. It has great vacation ideas, you can upload your travel photos, suggest vacation rentals and and more, you will notice that they have a full sections for gay travelers. Because the ‘pink dollar’ is mighty. There is a huge amount of gay travelers and the market is still being called ‘untapped territory’.

I like to travel myself, and I have only been to a few places but if you compare me to my sister who’s married – they rarely travel because if they do, the cost would be enormous counting all her four kids into the expense. It is all a matter trade-off. They have kids, we don’t. We can travel more than they can (not generalizing here). Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and will probably have them someday. But for now, I like traveling and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – Is there?

This is a sponsored post.