Vacationer of the Week: Dominion Onyx
At Vacationer Magazine, we embrace all facets of our diverse LGBTQIA community. So we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the sector of our community that enjoys traveling for annual queer events. So, we thought we’d reach out to DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) native and Washingtonian, Dominion Onyx.
The 50-year-old blogger and kink educator travels where he feels the most authentic as a Leatherman, but also where he can find botanical gardens and good ramen. In our Vacationer of the Week Q&A, Dominion tells us what event sparked his passion to travel, which jazz artist is at the top of his music playlist when he travels, and he explains why traveling to leather or kink-related events are important to him.
Vacationer: Please tell us how you identify yourself on the LGBTQIA spectrum. Does it influence the way that you travel?
Dominion Onyx: I am a gay man. That identification only minimally influences my travel choices. I am more interested in the botanical gardens and museums, the food scene, and proximity to water or some other attraction than I am in a vibrant gay scene. In my experience, globalization has watered down the things that used to make the gay scene unique in each city, so a gay bar in one city is the same as another, even outside of the US. Perhaps, I am just jaded.
At what age did you receive your first passport? What was your first trip?
I didn’t get my first passport until 37. I had done lots of traveling but none of it required a passport until then. My first trip with the passport was a cruise that my sister and I took our father on for his 65th birthday.
What trip or travel experience sparked your passion to travel?
It was my first trip to Atlanta for Black Gay Pride on Labor Day Weekend 1999. I had been to Atlanta many times before, but that trip was like going behind the curtain to a world you didn’t know existed. Once my mind was opened to the possibilities of gay travel, that lead me to MAL, IML, trips to Fort Lauderdale and the Caribbean, and everything else.
What inspires you to travel?
I like exploring new places and discovering new aspects of my favorite places. The best travel experiences for me combine both. Throw in a little kinky fun and it just might make it into the top 5 trips ever!
What’s are your top 3 favorite places to visit?
Fort Lauderdale
It’s the most freely gay place I have ever been and it’s where I will go when I retire.
Dominica
It’s a tropical paradise with a great botanical garden, and it was great seeing people of the African diaspora thriving. It also felt like home, even though I was raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC.
New York City
Everything seems possible in New York. There is an energy that I feel whenever I am there.
What domestic and international destinations do you feel comfortable visiting as an out queer traveler?
I have rarely felt unsafe anywhere I went, and when I did, it was likely more because of the color of my skin than my gayness. The places where my gayness was particularly and openly affirmed include Fort Lauderdale and Toronto. In both of those places, queer people are an outwardly visible facet of the public life that you don’t quite see at the same level even in “gay” places such as San Francisco and NYC – although I enjoy both of those places immensely.
What LGBTQ+ events do you look forward to each year?
I identify as a Leatherman, so I look forward to Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) in DC, International Mr. Leather (IML) in Chicago, and Dore Alley in San Francisco. There are other events I attend but I typically plan my travel year around those three events. Like most gay men, I am a creature of habit. Although the open expression of sex and kink is a draw for me and others, it’s more about the community and family for me at these events.
MAL is where I was first introduced to the leather community, so there is a bit of nostalgia there. It’s also a slightly less hectic pace than some other events. IML always feels like a big queer family reunion that starts at the airport – there’s almost always someone you know on the flight – and continues all weekend long. Dore Alley is the most openly sexual event for me, but even that is more in the context of being in a space amongst friends where you can be as completely kinky and free as you like. Plus, it’s in San Francisco so I can get great ramen!
What three places are on your travel bucket list to visit?
Santorini
I want to spend a week overlooking the sea in one of those blue-roofed villas.
Tokyo
A tour of the Japanese ramen scene sounds like a great way to spend a week or two.
Maldives
Decompressing in an overwater bungalow seems like the life!
What’s one thing you never forget to pack in your suitcase?
My ONYX leather vest. You never know when a chance to take in the local leather scene might present itself.
You’re going on a road trip. What singer or band is always on your playlist?
Ella Fitzgerald. I have a 17-hour playlist of her entire songbook. It might come in handy on that trip to the Maldives.
Follow Dominion Onyx’s latest adventures on Facebook and Instagram.
