HOLLAND | A walk in Rotterdam

For years, I have been celebrating my birthday abroad, unless it was impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions. In June 2023, Steve and I went to Rotterdam in the Netherlands in a deal combining a dinner at Restaurant Fred and an overnight stay at Marriott Rotterdam including a champagne breakfast. 

Europeans visit other European countries over 7 nights on average

In the COVID-19 pandemic stricken year of 2021, tourism trips made by residents of the European Union to another EU Member State had an average duration longer than one week – 7.9 nights – ranging from 4.3 nights for trips to Czechia and Luxembourg to 11.3 nights for trips to Romania. 

Kazerne Dossin museum in Mechelen 

In April Tim, Danijel and I visited Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen. A museum dedicated to Belgium‘s involvement to the persecutions during World War II.

71 (68) countries where gay sex is illegal 

The 17th of May is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia. IDAHOBIT, or more commonly in Belgium, IDAHOT. As it falls on a Tuesday this year and Tuesday is one of our default publishing days with Thursday and Sunday, I’d thought I’d take a look at the state of affairs regarding state-sponsored…

AfricaMuseum in Tervuren near Brussels

In December 2021, we visited the AfricaMuseum or Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren. A historic building and institution in Belgium, it obviously has a controversial subject, as Belgium had the Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a colony. When one mentions colony, one mentions abuse, exploitation and worse. 

Travel guide for people with HIV

For World AIDS Day, the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) and its charitable IGLTA Foundation created a travel guide for people living with HIV, the ‘LGBTQ+ Travel and HIV: Navigating the World Safely‘. Travelling as an out LGBTQI+ person can be challenging, travelling as person with HIV as well.

2025 WorldPride in Kaohsiung, Taiwan  

InterPride has announced Kaohsiung City in Taiwan wil host WorldPride 2025. A bold choice. The other bidding city (pride) was Washington DC‘s Capital Pride.