Editor’s Letter: Here’s to a Successful Journey Ahead
Welcome to Vacationer Magazine! We’re extremely excited that the website has finally launched and that our front cover has been unveiled. Our hope is that as we continue to grow as a travel publication, we will also create a platform for the LGBTQ+ community to share our unique and diverse travel experiences no matter how we identify ourselves.
When I was asked to take the helm of Vacationer earlier this year, I felt a great sense of pride, but also an enormous challenge to create a path for a travel publication that would serve the entire LGBTQ+ community. It was a decision that I didn’t take lightly because I wanted to ensure that making the decision to join Gray Jones Media was not only the right decision for me but right for what the CEOs, Robin Gray and Richard Jones, envisioned for the relaunch of their newest digital endeavor. During our initial conversation, I remember hearing the words like ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusive’ as well as ensuring that the editorial direction of the new publication would represent and serve more than the chiseled-featured gay male sporting a red speedo.
As a queer person of color, I’ve often flipped through travel magazines or clicked through my share of travel websites, and never felt fully seen as a Black gay man. So, I can only imagine how other underrepresented niches of our community felt.
As the Editor in Chief for Vacationer, I do my best to ensure that we highlight our community’s diversity, and always be aware of looking for candid voices and viewpoints of all types of travelers, including lesbian, transgender, non-binary, bears, queer families, and QPOC who travel. If last year has taught us anything, it’s the importance of celebrating our differences and taking substantive action to correct inequalities. We all must find ways to do our part to continue the wheel of progress moving forward in a positive direction.
We not only want Vacationer to be an inclusive publication, but more importantly, we want to inspire the community to travel to places where it’s safe to be your authentic selves, providing credible information to help you make the trip-planning decisions.
Already, we’ve started to build the foundation of our travel philosophy. Out the gate, we have the companion video series, Check Your Luggage with Justin T. Russo, which demonstrates how you can explore new places in your neighborhood or town to inspire and quell your wanderlust spirit.
In a monthly feature, “Spilling the Travel Tea,” celebrity chef Jonathan Bardzik tells you his earliest travel memory, the most interesting food he’s tasted during his travels, and what singer is at the top of his travel playlist.
We chat with trans travel writer and activist Bani Amor who explains why decolonizing travel culture is so important to them. Journalist Ernest White II reveals how at a young age he discovered the transformative power of travel. Dara Brewton, a straight ally and parent of queer children, offers her list of top queer-friendly destinations, and Lisa Lippiello gives us the inside scoop about her and her partner’s new adults-only inn, Downton Valley, for women. But wait… yes, there’s a lot more! We hope you enjoy the new content and we’re always looking for new writers and pitches.
Over the next few months, we’ll tweak things to better serve our audience and the LGBTQ+ traveler. So, take a seat, buckle up, and join us as we embark on this exciting new journey.
Stay inspired, do you, but travel safely.
Best Wishes,
Kwin Mosby
Editor in Chief
