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Partners in Life, Partners on Vacation: Peace of Mind in Travel It may be months away from spring and summer but now is the timeto plan the adventure of a lifetime with your partner. First,did you know that there are tours, cruises and adventures allover the world that are tailored for the LGBT? Second, planningstrategies are suggested that can make your vacation stress freeand give you the peace of mind you need. Lastly, a variety oftravel destinations, events and research strategies arementioned to help you plan that perfect vacation with yourpartner. By the way, some of what I offer here is sound advicefor preparation in business travel too. FACTOIDS: American LGBT persons spent 54 billion dollars intravel in 2004; UK LGBT persons spent nearly 44.8 billiondollars on travel in 2004 (These estimates include travel within and outside theirrespective countries, what part of the UK's $$ are coming toAmerica or vice-versa is not reported.) All over the world travel industry specialists have developedgreat cruises and travel packages specifically designed for theLGBT traveler and their partner. These travelaccommodations/packages include, but are not limited to, gayfriendly cruises that include travel with others that are gayand vacations packaged for gay pride festivals. There is a wide variety of cruise destinations available to theLGBT traveler. The new 2006 itinerary and offerings for gaycruises are available throughout the internet. Destinationsinclude Costa Rica, Ireland, Alaska and the Mediterranean toname a few. Cruise liners/companies such as Atlantis andWindjammer West specialize in accommodating you and your partnera cruise you will never forget. Consulting the many gaymagazines online will also be a great resource to find yourperfect vacation. Gay pride festivals provide a vacation that is not only fun andinspiring, they also offer a time of mutual exchanges in socialsolidarity. Worldwide from the United States to the UK and otherlocalities, gay pride festivals are being organized. Forexample, one of the largest and most popular gay pride festivals(GPF) is being held this summer in Paris, France. Contacting theParis office of Tourism will enable you to locate the best gayfriendly accommodations. Through research on the internet, youcan find websites specific to booking flights and travelpackages to this and other GPF events. The best news I found wasthat you don't have to be wealthy to take advantage of themultitude of travel offers available. On that note of affordability, much of the vast information Igarnered from several research sources suggests that a hugepercentage of LGBT persons are wealthy. Many so-called expertshave perpetuated the myth and refer to the community as being"DINK" (dual income no kids). I don't know about you, but


travel,,Flights,,vacation package

I amacquainted with several LGBT persons who aren't DINK.Thankfully, the travel industry doesn't play into this myth(well not most of them) and many offer "travel packages" thatare affordable and inexpensive. So check out the internet, talkto friends who have traveled and can suggest a good travelpackage or destination (word of mouth is the best), watch forwebsites that are tailored to the LGBT community. Many states inthe US and other countries have LGBT specific websites abouttravel and don't forget public and university libraries thathave travel sections full of reference materials. After you havechosen your destination, its time to plan that vacation. Aside from researching your trip for a destination and a pricecomparable to what you can afford, start planning your tripearly. You will want to include in your plans arrangingappropriate passports, hotel or rental car reservations,tickets, visa's and travel insurance. Make sure the travelinsurance you purchase covers emergency assistance, job loss ortransfers, uninhabitable accommodations, travel accidents,delays, lost or delayed luggage, weather-affected cancellation,medical and dental expenses, terrorism, and identity theft. Forthe LGBT community one more consideration needs to be taken intoaccount. Be sure your travel insurance covers domestic partners.Travel specialists such as http://www.csatravelprotection.com/are one place to get useful information on the above mentionedinsurance protections for travelers. When planning your vacation find out if your hotel or B&B is gayfriendly. Sometimes just asking the staff (or here's where thatword of mouth from a friend comes in handy) will get you theinformation you need. Does your choice of vacation location havea variety of dining out options, exciting activities, localculture that you would love to explore? By doing some researchyou can choose a location that will be fun and affordable. We have talked about research and choosing your vacationdestination, strategies and advice on planning. Now comes apersonal piece of advice. Don't forget to take the camcorder andtwo cameras. You two can decide who takes which camera buthere's my point. Have you ever been on a trip, came home andthere's pictures of everything but what you wanted pictures of? This article was written by Rita R. Powers with support fromCSA Travel Protection, providers of Travel Insurance and travelassistance services. Unlike other insurance companies, CSAoffers travel protection for you and your domestic partner. Findout more by visiting http://www.csatravelprotection.com. Anyreproductions of this article must provide a link back to CSATravel Protection About the author: Rita R. Powers with support from CSA Travel Protection,providers of Travel Insurance and travel assistance services

Written by: Rita R. Powers

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