6 Reasons to Choose a Self-Catered Getaway

This year is super weird, and a lot of us aren't going to be taking traditional vacation, because many states have seen huge upticks in Covid-19 cases, some states are imposing a two-week quarantine, and even if you can visit, there won't be anything to do, because most states aren't out of Phase 1 yet. Last week I talked about self-catered vacations, and we might take advantage of one as well. I love a vacation rental and I usually use Airbnb {<--use that link for $40 off!}. 

There's a time and a place to opt for a hotel, but as a budget traveler, being able to save money on food and saving my sanity by not being in everyone's pocket 24/7 is very important. Here are my 6 reasons to choose a vacation rental.

You get a kitchen

This means you can cook your own meals! Now, keep in mind, I don't go on vacation to cook, especially since cool new foods are the best part of traveling to me. I do, however, hate getting up super early, so I tend to load up on breakfast foods. This allows me to spend a little more time in bed, plus I save money on morning dining. We usually spend at least one dinner in, either making something easy or eating leftovers, which we were able to bring back, because we have a fridge and an oven.

In many rentals we've stayed in, they've also included grills, so we could BBQ if we wanted. This is great if you are traveling in the warmer months. If you travel with kids, having a place to prepare and store foods can be imperative for your sanity and saving money.

You (generally) have a separate bedroom

Listen, I don't need to have a different room with a bed, but it's nice. I'll settle for separate, defined spaces, just so I can get away from my travelmate(s) for a minute. I adore my husband, but we don't always want to be in each other's faces. A hotel room normally has a bed and one chair. If you're lucky, you get a tiny table or a desk. Even if you bring back leftovers, you can't really sit anywhere comfortable. If you have to do work or just want to play on your laptop, there's not a good place to do that either. 

I don't always go to bed at the same time as people I travel with. It's nice to have a table where I can type away, a couch to relax on, a bed for sleeping purposes that doesn't also double as a terrible chair, or a room where I can just hang out alone in that isn't the bathroom. 

You can choose your amenities

I have a small list of must-haves when I travel: WiFi, TV, a shower (if I'm traveling to Europe where not all places have one), and laundry facilities. I get these things in a timeshare property, but I can also choose these things specifically when searching for a vacation rental. For example, we're going to Edinburgh and London in the fall and I want to pack light. Because of this, it's especially helpful to have access to a washer and dryer. I've had to go to the laundromat in the past and while it wasn't the most annoying thing, it cost quite a bit in London. 

You can choose your price range

Sure, you can do this with hotels, but for the same price, you can search for a vacation rental that is in a location desirable to you, plus includes all the amenities you hope to get in a place to stay. If you can get all this for the same price or a little more, you're still saving money on baggage fees, food, laundry, and possibly entertainment, because you have room to spread out and play games and/or watch movies.

You can feel at home

This is the number one reason I enjoy a vacation rental over a hotel. Feeling weirdly displaced when you travel is hard. I like to feel like my space has a home. I don't need a maid to come in and clean up after me every day. I want my space to feel cozy and comfy and lived in. I can make a rental feel like my home until I leave. I can spread out my stuff, not worry about anyone coming in to clean (where I have to clear up things before I leave each morning). 

Having what equates to a small home or apartment makes me feel like I'm a traveler instead of a tourist. Like I'm living like a local. Some come with free parking, some are in buildings with extra security, some have pools or gyms. The best part is that if you don't want these things, you rent a different place and don't pay for them, unlike when you stay in a hotel that offers them for everyone.

You have a true local on-call

One thing you usually don't think about is having someone you can contact for an inside look at your destination. Yes, there's the front desk or concierge at a hotel, but when you rent from a local, it's easy to pick their brain to find out where they like to go and what they'd recommend seeing to an out-of-towner. They probably aren't rich and they certainly don't get kick-backs for pointing you in the direction of an activity or restaurant. Some live steps away or welcome calls/texts or leave detailed folders with all the cool stuff for you to peruse. I always get awesome suggestions this way. 

So, while you may have to forgo much of your normal vacation activities, you can at least go out and take a city tour (walking or driving) and see the outside spaces and have food from new restaurants, even if it's just take-out or delivery. 

Will you be taking a self-catered vacay this year? If so, where?

LGBT-Friendly Travel Brands for Your Next Vacay

Happy Pride Month, you guys! I've been doing my best to be an ally and get some info out about great travel destinations, and now I'd love to talk about some awesome travel brands that have the LGBT community covered by contributing to great organizations, sponsoring Pride events, and making sure their companies are both inclusive and diverse, creating a safe space for all people, no matter their sexual orientation, identity, and gender. 

photo credit

This is by far not a complete list, but these are some of the most outstanding brands when it comes to inclusivity:

Aggregates

Expedia
From their inclusive television commercials to their destination overviews for gay and lesbian travels, they offer the chance to read up and then book right on the site.
Orbitz

Need a one-stop shop for LGBT-friendly hotels, resorts, destinations and events? Orbitz offers up their own guides to make your vacation the best ever.

Airlines

airberlin

A member of the IGLTA, an active member and contributor to LGBT nonprofits and community campaigns, airberlin takes pride in have a diverse and inclusive staff from over 60 countries.

Alaska

Pride flies nonstop with Alaska and they have a list of resources for great Pride celebrations in cities they fly in/out of, including an events calendar and special discounts. 

American

American is one of my favorite airlines, but they are also a fantastic company on the inside. They the first airline to include sexual orientation (1993) and gender identity (2000) in its nondiscrimination policies for employees, it has criticized anti-gay legislation, and scored 100 on the Human Rights Campaign index.

Delta

Pride Takes Flight Here at Delta and they offer plenty of resources for folx to find the perfect vacation destination for them and also tout their employee equality culture and denounce anti-gay legislation and discrimination.

JetBlue 

The first airline to allow same-sex couples to accrue airline points together also supports amazing non-profits like the Trevor Project, National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, and the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and sponsored the Pride events their HQ of Long Beach, CA.

Southwest

Southwest is the official airline of several LGBT organizations, including GLAAD. Their tagline is "we support the LGBTQ Community, because we are the LGBTQ Community." Learn more on their LGBTQ Outreach page. 

United

The only other airline to earn a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign index, United is a gold partner of IGLTA and airline partner for the Gay Games of Cleveland.

Virgin

The entire Virgin brand is headed by Richard Branson, a proud and loud ally. They are an official sponsor of San Francisco Pride.

Hotels

Airbnb

I love a good vacation rental, and I'm a big fan of Airbnb. They have Project Lighthouse to uncover and overcome discrimination throughout their community and rentals. They also offer lots of experiences for LGBT folx.

Caesars Entertainment Corp.

Not only do they partner with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and IGLTA, but they also have scored 100 on the Corporate Equality Index many years in a row and even have their own microsite for their LGBT travelers. 

Choice Hotels

In 2019 Choice Hotels was named "Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality" for 9th consecutive year. With another perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index, they have a long list of resources for employees, including Choice PRIDE that aims help create and maintain a supportive work environment.

Commune Hotels

Commune has a brand called Joie de Vive that has sponsored the San Francisco Pride celebration for many years, their Thompson Hotels on the east coast offers specials for NYC's Pride celebration. Both brands are TAG-approved, an LGBTQ-owned and operated Travel Advocacy Group.

Hilton Hotels

Stay Hilton. Go Out. Like several other companies, Hilton received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and is a platinum partner of the IGLTA and an official partner of the Washington, DC Pride parade and GLAAD media awards. Check out their Hilton Pride microsite.

Hyatt Hotels

Not only does Hyatt celebrate equality, but they have a Facebook page dedicated to it entitled HyPride, that promotes their HyPride program and their LGBT initiatives.

IHG Hotels (Intercontinental Hotel Group)

While fighting for marriage equality and and against anti-gay legislature, IHG joined the Human Rights Campaign in their efforts for LGBTQ rights, and has sponsored Atlanta's Pride festival since 2011 (as that is where their headquarters are located).

Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group

The first hotel to sign on as the first national hotel sponsor for the Trevor Project, is also a member of IGLTA and is TAG-approved. All of their employees are given yearly trainig on how to make their hotels more gay-friendly and accepting.

Marriott International

In my photo above, I'm wearing one of Marriott's #LoveTravels shirts. I saw my friend Troy wearing one (Troy writes for a lot of travel sites and also runs The Gay Traveler, where he specializes in LGBT travel) in an Instagram post and I asked about it. He was kind enough to send me an extra. Not surprisingly, Marriott also received a 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. You can read more about #LoveTravels here.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Starwood's W Hotels were the first to offer same-sex marriage packages in New York, but also frequently support Pride events and LGBT organizations around the globe.
vrbo
The vacation rental booking site is owned by Expedia.

I saw these Portland Trailblazer shirts at a Pride event several years ago and went home and immediately ordered 2.

Transportation

Amtrak

You can Ride with Pride with Amtrak and they also want to help you Ride to Pride, by showing you all the great destinations with awesome Pride events that are worth traveling for. They even provide a great link for more LGBT education.

Carnival Cruises

Carnival Cruiselines strives to treat everyone equally and extend the FUN to every single cruiser. The earned a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index and participate and sponsor both the Seattle Pride Parade and Southampton Pride.

Lyft

Lyft does their best to support and employ the LGBT community. With equality in the workplace, they also contribute money to important organizations like StoryCorps' Stonewall OutLoud campgain and the ACLU, and they put their commitments out there with upLyftOut.

Uber

Not only do they get you to all the Pride events safely, they also sponsor Pride events in major cities in the US.

I hope you're all having a wonderful June and Pride Month, even if festivities are postponed this year. Just remember, Pride isn't cancelled, and you can find ways to support the community and also celebrate safely. And if you want to plan your trips beyond how to get there and where to stay, check out this list from journey of 12 LGBT+ monuments celebrating history. 

What are your favorite LGBT-friendly travel brands?

Planning a Coronavirus Summer Staycation

Well, ya'll. It looked for a minute that we might be getting close to being able to travel this summer, and if you're into outdoors and hiking, then you might be interested in road tripping to less populated places like National and State Parks. For the rest of us, who want to travel, but are also seeing worrying spikes in destinations we want to travel to, and know that most borders are closed to us, here's what we can do close to home.

Head to the beach/lake

While we can't go on our annual Vegas t

rip this summer, we have been thinking about what we can do close to home. Many beaches and lakes are great alternatives, because there are much fewer people, especially during the middle of the week. You're able to social distance while still getting away from home and soaking up some sun. I'd definitely try to keep away from the popular areas, just to stay on the safe side, but being outside is really helpful, too. 

Take a self-catered break

If you don't mind making your own food and your own entertainment, then this might be the way to go. Since many things are not open, or aren't safe to do, your vacation is going to feel a lot different. By staying in a vacation rental instead of a hotel, you'll get a nice change of scenery without being around a ton of other people. Bring your own cleaning products to sanitize throughout your stay. A lot of travelers are going this route right now, just to get away from home and relax and recharge.

Create an outdoor oasis

Take a portion of your vacation budget and invest in making your backyard, porch or balcony a space you want to hang out in and enjoy. Whether that means new furniture, a firepit, a movie screen, cool lighting, or an above-ground pool. Make it a space you are excited to hang out in, and then order some delivery food and it'll be super relaxing and also can get your kids out of the house and off their video games. get some backyard games out there and you've got the makings of a summer full of awesome family memories.

Participate in Zoom activities

Whether you want to learn a new activity like cooking, get fit, or mix and drink and participate in pub trivia, there's so much available through Zoom right now. We host a weekly brunch for a group of friends, just so amid the monotony of working from home and getting grocery deliveries there is at least one thing that's fun to look forward to. Often we choose a theme and we dress up or find an appropriate background, then we share what we made four our meals and just chat for an hour or so. 

Have a small "Quarantine" party

Last weekend was my husband's birthday, which he was sure was going to be lame, but I wanted to make it special. Usually we do something fun, like have people over for a party or go to an escape room and out to eat. I was seeing a lot of people doing drive by parties and graduations, and people bemoaning not getting to travel, so I came up with a travel party. I purchased some props, including an airplane backdrop, decorated our front yard/house, set up a snack and drink cart and then made some antipasto skewers and two different kinds of sliders that I wrapped up in tin foil and served in to-go containers with a Biscoff cupcake (like the cookies you get on the plane). 

I told everyone we would be wearing masks and social distancing. When people arrived, they got their picture taken "in the plane" and were served food and they could either leave or hang out on the lawn for a while. Souvenirs were available (we gave out sleep masks and passport stamp books) as a thank you for coming to celebrate. We had about 14 people rotate by, and it was really fun and safe. 

Tips for your party: Keep it short and manage expectations. I let people know that we'd be out between 12 and 3 and they could come by anytime during those hours, say hello, get some food in a to-go container, and have a little fun. Keep it outside and let people know that social distancing will be observed. By letting them know this and to-go containers will be available, it lets people know that you won't be letting people in the house if at all possible.

Sightsee in your own city/state

I bet there are a lot of outdoor things in your city you haven't seen yet. Beautiful parks you haven't visited. Street art you didn't know was there. History you haven't absorbed. One of my favorite ways to see the city is through a virtual scavenger hunt. You download to your phone, solve puzzles to get clues to the next spot, and learn about spots you've never even seen. Do some research or ask friends for suggestions on what to see near you, charge your phone, gas up your car and go check it out. I mean, I walked around my neighborhood to find joy, you can do that, too.

What are your plans for summer vacation?