A listing of all the places I've been and traveled to in 2015, including travel highlights from around the world
I’m very lucky to be able to travel so much for work and for fun (just yet another benefit of living in Europe!), so I want to be able to remember everywhere that I’ve been and all the amazing things I’ve done. Below are the travel highlights of my year—updated each month.
January
Berlin for New Year’s Eve. Read my Silvester tips and see photos here.Day trip to Szczecin, Poland to eat all the pierogi and drink all the beer. Read more about Szczecin here.
February
Quick trip to Amsterdam to visit the new Late Rembrandt exhibition at the Rijksmuseum and learn more about the Dutch Golden Age. Read more stories from Amsterdam here.Berlin for the annual Berlinale International Film Festival. Read my film reviews here.Speaking gig at the Social Media Week Hamburg about travel journalism and social media. See the event details here, or watch my presentation here.Nice, France for one of the world’s largest Carnaval celebrations, plus the first ever gay Carneval in France: Lou Queernaval. Read more stories from France here.
March
Berlin for the annual ITB travel trade show. Read my Berlin travel guide here.London Soho to see some theater (Wicked the Musical) and explore the Soho neighborhood. Read my report on the best things to do in London’s Soho neighborhood here.Chicago for a weekend to check out the gay nightlife and eat all the food! Read more stories from Chicago here.Road trip through Illinois with stops in Chicago, Galena and Rockford. Read about my road trip here, or more stories about Illinois in the full travel archives.
April
Boston, Massachusetts for Easter Weekend and to eat my favorite burrito in the whole world!Los Angeles (and, of course, West Hollywood) to attend the IGLTA conference and consumer trade show. Read my crazy stories from Los Angeles here.Two weeks around Andalusia including Seville for the annual Seville FeriaPortugal for the very first time—the Algarve region and Lisbon
May
Updating & editing a printed guidebook for Berlin — lots of fact-checking and sightseeing!
June
Manchester for the first time! The start of my über-gay summer! Read all my stories from Manchester here.Athens for gay pride (and to see the famous sites!)Riga, Latvia for Europride with #mygaypride. Read my stories about Riga, Lativa here.Berlin for one of the best summer festivals: CSD gay pride
Copenhagen for gay pride (part of #MyGayPride). Read all my stories from Copenhagen here.Weekend in Edinburgh with Edinburgh Festivals for the Fringe Festival, Book Festival & Arts FestivalManchester for the UK’s largest gay pride event, plus a road trip through the Peak District.
• Berlin’s first ever Lollapalooza music festival
• Lausanne, Switzerland for a postcard-perfect holiday
October
• Dublin and Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way for The Outing festival
• Weekend in Tel Aviv — but on a tight budget!
• One week in London, for fish & chips, theatre & researching a new Hipster City Guide
November
Orange County, California to visit family and squeeze in some beach time at both Laguna Beach and Newport Beach
Dallas, Texas to visit family and check out the gay and hipster scene in one of the biggest cities of Texas
Costa Rica for a tropical holiday with the boyfriend to see friends, hang out at the beach, explore San José and see the sloths!
Haiti to visit my sister and see experience a bit of Caribbean culture
Houston, Texas to visit friends and see what America’s fourth largest city is really like, plus an opportunity to check out Houston’s legendary LGBT scene
December
Copenhagen and Malmo for a long winter weekend of shopping, Christmas markets and Scandinavian fun