Adam Joshua, Part of the Famous Gay TikTok Trio, Dishes on Traveling as a Throuple and More!
Millennials Adam Joshua, Zeke Taylor, and Derrick Kennedy are a Canadian throuple made famous thanks to a TikTok post that went viral more than likely because of the unconventional relationship rather than the recap of their trip to South Korea.
Of course, we asked about the famous TikTok post. However, we really wanted to get the scoop about how Joshua and Taylor, both junior engineers, and Kennedy, a Canadian police officer developed a unique bond around their love for hiking. We chatted with Adam Joshua to get all the details about that, how they met, their bucket list, and their process when planning a trip.
Adam Joshua (Photos courtesy of Adam Joshua)
Vacationer Magazine: How did you guys meet? And what was that ah-ha moment when you, Derrick, and Zeke decided to become a throuple?
Adam Joshua: Zeke and I have been in a relationship for six years. We [he and Zeke] met in engineering school, did the entire degree together, and essentially grew up together. We met Derrick after our fifth year together.
About four months before we met Derrick, we decided to try an open relationship. Neither of us has pushed for it. It organically kind of happened. We both had become very comfortable with each other, trusting each other to the point where we were pointing out if we thought a guy was attractive, which led to a one-time experiment with another guy.
We enjoyed that and decided to try an open relationship, so that went on for about five months until we met Derrick and then started spending all our time with him. He had the same hobbies as we did. He really likes hiking, so we started spending all of our time together. Throughout the summer we went on hiking adventures and that just never really tapered off. When the summer ended, you’d think we hang out less because of hiking, but we hung out even more to the point we were hanging out every day.
None of us really knew what was forming because none of us had been in a polyamorous relationship or a throuple before. So, we were in denial, but we were enjoying what was happening and moving forward with it. Eventually, feelings of love were starting to creep in, and we started to say “I love you” to each other.
And then at some point after that, we had a sit-down conversation and decided to pull the plug and become a throuple.
How long was it from the time you were hanging with one another to the point where you decided to become a throuple?
Two months
Let’s shift to a travel question. You all bonded over hiking, so what are some of your favorite places to hike as a throuple?
So, our first hike together was essentially our first date because we had been briefly introduced by mutual friends and we liked each other enough to continue casually talking on Instagram. We decided to do Panorama Ridge and Black Tusk (in British Colombia, Canada). It’s about an hour-and-a-half drive north of Vancouver.
It’s a pretty popular one, but it’s this big, crazy hike. You have to scramble up this vertical chimney and you have to wear helmets. It’s quite the intense adventure, but it has the most stunning views. So, that was a significant hike for us because that was the first one that we did together.
And do all kinds of other hiking around the Vancouver area, including along the Sea-to-Sky Corridor, which is the area between Vancouver and Squamish.
So, how does it work when you want to plan a trip together? What are the steps in deciding where you travel as a triad, including booking your accommodations?
For us, I would say that being a throuple hasn’t changed how we planned trips at all. As gay men, we’re always aware to check where we’re going, and how safe it is for gay people in that country. So, that’s always part of the process when traveling anywhere. Traveling as a throuple, we’re definitely more aware of the sleeping arrangements like if we can get a king bed, that’s ideal, but obviously, that’s not always the case. So, we make do. We have a queen bed at home, so we’re used to squeezing in. (he laughs)
Have you traveled to any international destinations together?
So far, the only international destinations that we’ve done so far are a few places in the U.S. and Korea. As a solo traveler, I’ve been to a whole bunch.
Do you guys have a travel bucket list of places you’d love to visit as a throuple?
Actually, we want to go down to South America and go hiking in Patagonia. Yeah, that’s kind of the next thing on the bucket list. We’re thinking about planning that around January or February 2024.
I also have two friends who are getting married and they’re going to do a bachelor party in Puerto Vallarta this winter so that’s also on our list right now.
And I’ve always wanted to spend more time in Southeast Asia in general. I was supposed to go there after graduation, but COVID was a big thing at that time. It’s still on my bucket list to take a month or two to do a full backpacking-style trip to explore Southeast Asia.
So, speaking of Asia and Korea, what made you decide to go to South Korea which is featured in your now-famous TikTok post?
We all like international travel. So, I kind of traveled all around during university. I did two university exchanges. I did one where I lived in Australia for five months and one in the Netherlands. So, I traveled a lot around Oceania and Europe, but I haven’t traveled too much in Asia yet. I’ve done a little bit of solo travel to Asia like Thailand and Tokyo.
Korea had always been on my bucket list. Derrick had a trip planned to Korea previously. So, as soon as we started spending all this time together, Zeke and I decide to go with Derrick, too. I’ve always wanted to visit that area. We’re also from Vancouver and the city has a big Southeast Asian population, and we have a lot of Korean friends. So, it was a no-brainer – go to Korea – why not?!
And what made you decide to do the TikTok post?
I never expected that post to be such a viral thing. It had a life on TikTok, had a life on Twitter, and I was featured in a Rolling Stone article all about the post. But the post was not some crazy thought-out thing.
One day, I was at work during my lunch break, and I was like, “Oh, I should make a TikTok about our recent trip to Korea.” And I literally sat down for one hour and threw some clips together and narrated the clip in a stream-of-consciousness, kind of tongue-in-cheek, silly quotations, and threw it up on TikTok. That was that! It really wasn’t this masterminded post.
So, what has the overall response been?
The response to throuplehood in general has been interesting. The Korea video was just one example. I’ve been posting about this throuple for some time before that. And in the Korea video, the comments about us as a throuple, range from people who are very supportive of it, particularly from people who are polyamorous, open, or whatever alternate relationship they may be in. They reach out to me and thank me for posting this kind of stuff. They don’t see this online a lot because it’s usually kind of hush-hush or just not visible. So, there’s been a lot of support from that community.
Of course, there are also those people who post their opinions about it. People usually say something along the lines of “it won’t work,” they criticize the relationship and say it’s not going to work, which I don’t really believe at all.
Being in a relationship, you have to really want it in order to keep it going. I would say that we are demonstrating pretty well that we want to be in this unconventional relationship because it does require a lot more effort to be a throuple than a couple. In my mind, it’s a really healthy relationship; we’re doing well; and it has a good chance. So, that’s my response to those negative comments.
Is there anything else you wanted to mention that you’d like to set straight about what’s either written about you guys or clear up misconceptions about your relationship?
In general, with my content, I’m not trying to tell people how to live their lives. I’m not saying that everyone should go and be in a throuple. I’m just living my life and doing my thing. I am providing some visibility for these types of relationships and there are some people that it is helping because I do have people reaching out to me and telling me that. I’m out here doing my thing and I’m not too worried about it.
You can follow Adam Joshua’s travel adventures with his boyfriends and more on Instagram and TikTok.
From left to right, Derrick Kennedy, Adam Joshua, and Zeke Taylor (Photo courtesy of Adam Joshua)
