Les Talk, More Travel

Last month I had the pleasure of doing an interview with En Route with Love, a queer married couple from Minnesota who love to travel. It was so much fun; they are lovely and asked such insightful questions about blogging, identity, overseas work, and queer travel.

Here’s a bit of the interview; head over to their post to read the whole thing! You’ll find out about working in Australia and South Korea, my favourite places in Canada and abroad, travelling while gay, and the thing I can’t be without while travelling! Drumrollllll…. check out the full article here! Without further ado, here’s a little teaser 😉

You have an incredible blog, lestalkmoretravel.com, that covers not only travel, but also posts about the LGBT community and being an introvert. How do these three themes play into one another in your writing?

Thank you so much! Les Talk, More Travel was born in 2015 from the intersection of what I considered the 3 most important aspects of my identity at the time. My intention was to write articles related to each of these topics, and the ways they interact. These days, I find myself writing a lot more informational (queer) travel posts. These are what people tend to search for when they find my blog, and I include the kind of information I look for when I’m planning a trip. That said, I love writing those deeper and more introspective posts! They do take quite a bit more time, and it obviously means being vulnerable, but they’re generally my favourite. I’m hoping to write a bit more about introversion in the coming months, since I feel like that’s the topic I’ve slacked on the most (and it’s an important one)!

One of your blog posts, “On Blogging: Don’t Change! Be Yourself!” really resonated with me, and I am sure other bloggers that share their personal stories with a greater audience. Through my lens, it spoke to the pressures of changing your ‘appearance’ to keep up with other bloggers who have a lot of followers and/or are sponsored. From your experience, what tips can you share with those who are just starting out in the travel-blogging world?

I’ve had a lot of trouble differentiating between “blogging” and “writing”, because blogging has always been about writing for me, but some of the most successful travel bloggers are not successful because of their fantastic writing skills (most DO have these skills, but not exclusively) – it’s that they are driven, often self-taught, business and marketing-minded individuals. I would love to build those skills myself, but what I have the capacity for at the moment is just continuing to write consistent, information-filled (sometimes silly!) blog posts.

Think hard about what motivates you to write and keep a blog. Do you look forward to writing? I do! I find it therapeutic and fun, and I’ll love it even if I never make money doing it. Would you still want to blog if it doesn’t end up being lucrative? Would you still want to blog if it does? How would you feel if you were pressured to write about a specific topic at a specific time?

My suggestions: write about things you feel passionately about, be picky about what you say yes to, and don’t undervalue your time. Know that it takes TIME, money, hard work, research, and skill-building to monetize your blog, if that’s what you choose to do.

Overall, in the last few years of having Les Talk, More Travel, one of the things I’ve felt the most pride and satisfaction from has been having members of MY community – other lesbian and queer travel bloggers – acknowledge my blog and connect with me so that we could collaborate in some way. Like this interview with En Route with Love! What an honour 🙂 THOSE are the most important and rewarding connections to foster!

Your blog post “How Travel Helped Me Come Out” is also a very personal and important piece of writing. There is a small portion on how you took some of your travel time to soak up queer television, and as a person who relied heavily on media arts to come out, I am curious as to how this influenced you in your journey?

Media arts are so important! I do think it’s different now, because most TV shows have at least one queer character, often a lesbian, and often a femme lesbian. That wasn’t something I had really even considered when I first saw the L Word, and then I was like whoaaa lesbians can look like me (well like… a way hotter version of me :P), so… I could be a lesbian?! As I tried to work up the courage to come out (this lasted a few years), queer shows and movies helped me feel less isolated. There may not have been too many with happy endings, but just knowing they were out there, that there were other people who watched them, helped me believe in the possibility of community in the future. (Or maybe I didn’t think that far ahead and just liked watching all the gay ladies hook up :P)

What are your tips on researching places to stay and things to do when traveling to countries that may not be as accepting of queer couples?

This is a long one! Short answer: Connect with local queers if possible! LGBTQ+ travel bloggers (like the ones featured on this website!) are always good resources. Search “lesbian/queer/gay/LGBT (destination)” and you are likely to find some decent information! For accommodation, try searching Airbnb or Couchsurfing for terms like “lesbian” or “queer”. Meetup.com and Facebook often have active, queer social groups and links to events pages.

Long answer: I would say that Step One is to look up laws and rights regarding homosexuality/same-sex relationships in the country. If it’s illegal or things sounds really bad, do you really want to go? I would think about not only my own safety (as a white, cis, straight-passing tourist who can come and go as I please), but the safety of queer residents.

Is it taboo to come out to family or employers there? Is there community, is there access to health info or LGBTQ+ rights groups? I can’t always find these answers. But I think as queer travellers, it’s really important to be conscious of the privilege we have when we travel to countries where – even if we have a bad experience – we made the choice to come and we have the option (and funds) to leave. We have the option to display affection in public, or to choose not to, and know that we can go home to our regular lives and spaces where we’re comfortable being queer.

I don’t mean to say this in a judgemental way – I’ve been to countries in the past without doing thorough research, and I may choose to visit countries in the future where it’s illegal to be gay. Just something I think critically about when brainstorming how to become a better traveller 😉

Read more at En Route with Love!