How to Get There 

Sooke is less than an hour drive from Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. To get to the island from the mainland you can take a ferry, fly into Victoria airport, or take a seaplane right into Victoria harbour! Sooke isn’t a very walkable destination, so we recommend either driving onto the ferry, or renting a car on the island. We drove from Victoria and it’s a really beautiful drive, the island has so much natural beauty!

The Resort 

Prestige Resorts has locations all over the province, and their Sooke resort is truly stunning. The property is right on the water and it has the most beautiful ocean views! They are also pet-friendly, which means that little Theo got to come along, and that is so much fun for us. We spent our mornings cozied up in our room relaxing, and our afternoons exploring the property and taking Theo for walks by the water. The full service resort also has an on-site cafe, restaurant, bar, fitness centre, spa, and pool, so you’ll have everything you need during your visit! It’s such a perfect place to slow down and enjoy island living, we absolutely loved it. 

The Rooms

There are a variety of rooms available at the resort, including many with an ocean view and beautiful balconies! There are also options with kitchenettes and dining areas, which are perfect for longer stays. The accommodations are all beautifully decorated with luxury amenities, it’s really such a comfortable resort where you will feel right at home. We stayed in an oceanfront room with a huge balcony, and our favourite thing about it was the beautiful view of Sooke Harbour! We highly recommend this resort if you’re looking for a unique getaway on Vancouver Island, it’s a perfect escape from Victoria and a great starting point to exploring Sooke. You won’t be disappointed! 

The Town of Sooke

Sooke is a quiet, seaside community best known for its amazing nature activities. You can go whale watching, kayaking, and hiking, and explore the amazing beaches in the area. There is such an abundance of things to do any time of year, even if you’re coming for a relaxing vacation we highly recommend venturing out at least a little bit! As a same-sex couple, we found Sooke to be extremely safe. The resort and all the businesses we visited in town were very kind and welcoming. We felt completely comfortable being out and open as a lesbian couple, and the entire community felt really inclusive. BC travel destinations tend to be some of the most LGBTQ+ friendly spots in Canada, and Vancouver Island is no exception. We love taking trips in our home province and we can’t recommend it enough to other queer travellers! 

For more information on Prestige Resorts and their different locations, you can visit their website here.

Disclosure: Prestige Resorts generously hosted us (and Theo) for our stay in Sooke. We had such a wonderful experience and are so excited to share them with our audience! 

The post A Lesbian Friendly Stay at the Prestige Oceanfront Resort in Sooke, BC appeared first on Lez See the World.

How to Get There 

The Empress is a gorgeous hotel that sits on Victoria’s inner harbour. If you’ve been to the city of Victoria before, then you’ve definitely seen it! To get to Vancouver Island, you can either take the ferry over from the mainland, or fly directly into Victoria Airport. You can also arrive by seaplane and land right in the harbour! The hotel is in a beautiful location, right on the water with plenty within walking distance. It’s in a great spot to explore the city, and experience everything Victoria has to offer! 

The Hotel

We’ve always loved Fairmont Hotels for a number of reasons. First, they have such beautiful properties and they are always in amazing locations. Second, they are proudly LGBTQ+ friendly and we always feel so safe and comfortable staying at a Fairmont as a lesbian couple. We actually partnered with the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver during Vancouver Pride earlier this year, and we were really impressed with everything the brand is doing to become more inclusive and supportive of our community! Lastly, our favourite thing about Fairmont is that they’re pet-friendly. It’s so fun to bring your pet along to a luxury hotel, and Theo got to come with us to the Empress! He was definitely treated like a VIP (very important pet), and we had such a fun stay with him. Many of the Fairmont Hotels including The Empress also have canine ambassadors, so we got to meet Winston, their resident hotel doggie!

The Rooms & Amenities

The Fairmont Empress has 464 rooms and suites, it’s a huge hotel! Many of the rooms have lovely views of the harbour, and all the accommodations are decorated beautifully. The hotel also has some great amenities including a health club, a heated indoor pool, the Willow Stream Spa, and of course the on-site restaurant and bar. You will have plenty to do during your stay without even leaving the property!

Q at The Empress

The main restaurant at the hotel is open daily for breakfast and dinner, offering Pacific Northwest cuisine and a menu focused on fresh, local ingredients. You can also arrange in-room dining and we highly recommend ordering breakfast to your room one morning! That way you can stay cozied up in your robe to start your day and have your meal delivered to you. Q Restaurant offers plenty of options for everyone and they can also accommodate dietary restrictions. We enjoyed an amazing plant-based breakfast each morning during our stay! 

Afternoon Tea at The Empress

The Fairmont Empress is probably best known for its famous Afternoon Tea. The hotel has been serving a traditional tea for 113 years and counting, and they offer various options including vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free. It is a full tiered tea service with fresh scones with house-made jam, pastries, finger sandwiches, and a rotating menu of ethically produced, looseleaf teas. It’s such a unique experience! Afternoon Tea at the Empress has become an important Victoria tradition, and people travel from all over the world to experience it. In the summer months, the Empress serves more Afternoon Tea than most hotels in London! The tea is served in the hotel’s elegant Lobby Lounge, on royal china that was a gift from her Majesty in 1939. It’s served from Wednesday through Sunday and we highly recommend booking in advance! This was absolutely one of the highlights of our stay, a proper vegan Afternoon Tea is hard to come by and being able to enjoy it at the Empress was so special. 

Lesbian Friendly 

The Fairmont brand prides itself on being LGBTQ+ friendly, and welcoming to all queer travellers. The Empress is definitely an inclusive space, and we felt completely free to be ourselves as a lesbian couple during our stay! We can certainly recommend this hotel to other LGBTQ+ travellers and same-sex couples for a great romantic stay in Victoria. Be sure to add it to your list! 

For more information on the Empress, you can visit their website here.

Disclosure: The Fairmont Empress generously hosted us (and Theo) for both accommodations and meals during our stay. We were able to experience so much of what this hotel has to offer and we had such a wonderful time. We’re so excited to share the Empress with our audience!

The post A Romantic Lesbian Friendly Stay at The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, BC appeared first on Lez See the World.

The Maxwell Hotel is a part of the Staypineapple brand, and is one of 10 boutique hotels in 7 different cities across the US. They are all fun, funky, and stylish, and in great locations for urban adventure. At The Maxwell Hotel we fell in love with the colourful decor, friendly vibe, and incredibly comfortable bed! We were also very impressed with how friendly and attentive the staff was. Something else that really attracted us to the Staypineapple brand is that it’s very LGBTQ+ friendly and welcoming to same-sex couples and queer travellers. The location we stayed at even hosts gay speed dating events!

The Maxwell Hotel blew us away with how truly welcoming they are to four-legged travellers. Not only did our dog Theo get tons of attention when we checked in, he also received a doggy bed, food and water bowls, poop baggies, treats, and a personalized welcome sign in our room! All Staypineapple hotels are dog-friendly, have a reasonable pet fee, genuinely welcome dogs, and even let you leave your pup in your room if you need to (most hotels won’t allow that!). Theo got completely spoiled and was greeted warmly by the staff every time we came through the lobby. It feels like they are genuinely happy to have doggy guests which feels so nice when you’re travelling with your pet!

If you’re looking for a great dog-friendly hotel brand for your US travels, we highly recommend checking out Staypineapple. They have three other locations in Seattle, along with hotels in Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and NYC. We had such a great time at The Maxwell Hotel in Seattle, and are so happy that Theo got to come along for our trip. We can’t wait to check out the other Staypineapple locations!

For information on The Maxwell Hotel and other Stay Pineapple locations, you can visit their website here.

Has anyone else had a Stay Pineapple experience? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: This post is in collaboration with The Maxwell Hotel and Staypineapple. We are so happy to be working with them to share pet-friendly accommodation options with our audience! Staypineapple generously hosted us for a 2 night stay at The Maxwell Hotel, one of their Seattle hotel locations. Our dog Theo was incredibly spoiled and we had a truly wonderful experience. We highly recommend the Staypineapple brand as a great dog-friendly boutique hotel, and we can’t wait to check out their other locations across the US.

The post Our Favourite Pet-Friendly Boutique Hotel Brand in the US appeared first on Lez See the World.

Of course, not every dog will enjoy travelling, and some pets really do best in their own environments, with a regular routine and steady patterns. Before you consider flying with your dog, be sure to consider their age, health, and behaviour, to help determine whether or not they will be able to handle it well. In this post we are talking about flying with a small dog, in cabin. To fly with your pet in cabin with you, they need to weigh 20 lbs or less. They must travel in an airline approved soft pet carrier, that is leak proof and well ventilated. The carrier needs to be stowed at your feet, underneath the seat in front of you, and your pet must be able to turn around and lie down comfortably inside it. 

If you do decide to travel with your pet and they meet these requirements, you’ll want to make the experience as comfortable as possible for them. Keep reading for our tips on flying with your small dog!

Do Your Research

Before booking your pet on any flight, you should start by doing a lot of research. If you are flying domestically, you should look up all of the pet policies for each airline and compare prices, procedures, and requirements, and determine what will be best for you. If you plan to fly internationally, you will need to look up specifics for the country you are exiting, as well as the country you are entering. Some countries require certain vaccinations to be up-to-date prior to entering which you will need to provide documentation for. Some countries require certain paperwork that may need to be signed by your vet and/or your national food inspection agency. In most cases your dog needs to be microchipped, and in very few cases your dog would need to be quarantined. We fly domestically with Theo often, and find it all to be easy and stress free. We’ve flown with him internationally several times and it’s definitely a bigger hassle, but still possible. We have never taken him anywhere where he requires a quarantine, and we always keep him up to date on his vaccinations anyways.

Book Your Flight Far in Advance

Once you’ve done your research and decided on your airline and preferred flight, you should book it as far in advance as possible. Most airlines only allow a certain number of pets on a flight, so you will want to reserve your spot as soon as you can. There is a fee to travel with your pet, and it varies between airlines. You also generally need to phone to book your pet, so even if you buy your flight online, you will need to call the airline afterward to add a pet to your reservation. Different airlines may have varying weight requirements, and different regulations on pet carriers, so be sure that you have all of the information and choose the best fit for you and your dog.

Opt to Choose Your Seats

When booking your flight, opt to choose your seats in advance. There are so many factors that go into having a comfortable flight, and you want to make things as stress free as possible for you and your dog. We like to choose seats in a low traffic area so there won’t be a lot of extra noise. We generally choose something closer to the back of the plane, but away from the restrooms. We also try to book just two seats together, so that we don’t have anyone sitting next to us. This way Theo can hear our voices but doesn’t feel the need to want to say hello to strangers. We generally try to put Theo by the window, so he isn’t hearing all of the noise coming down the aisles. The quieter it is, the more likely he will just take a little nap during flight. Some airlines have regulations on where pets can be on a plane, and they sometimes keep certain sections dog free for people with allergies. These are all questions to ask when booking your flight, so you don’t end up getting moved to a less desirable seat at the last minute.

Arrive at the Airport Early

With most airlines, you can’t check in for your flight online when you have a pet on your reservation, so you will need to arrive to the airport with plenty of time to stand in line and check in with an agent. We like to arrive early, check in at the desk, and then leave ourselves enough time to take Theo outside the airport for one final bathroom break before going through security. All of this contributes to making him as comfortable as possible on the flight! Some airports do have pet relief areas indoors, so this is something else you can research beforehand. If your airport does have a pet relief area, just leave yourself enough time to find it and give them a break before boarding your flight. When going through security, you will need to send the carrier through with your carry on bags, and carry your dog through the metal detector. This is where Theo makes friends with all of the airport employees! Also note that with most airlines, your pet carrier counts as one of your carry on items.

Purchase Your Carrier Far in Advance

When flying with your small dog, they will need to travel in an airline approved pet carrier. It needs to be small enough to slide under the seat in front of you on the airplane, and it needs to be a “soft carrier”. This is the style of carrier that we use and Theo loves it. (They don’t make the exact model that we have anymore, but this is the closest one!) We’ve never had any issues going through security with his bag or with taking it on the plane. It always fits where it needs to, and does its job. Before travelling with your dog, purchase your pet carrier as far in advance as possible so they can get used to it. When you first get it, open it up inside the house and allow your dog to smell it, inspect it, and check it out on their own terms. Give them time to get inside it only once they’re comfortable, and allow them to warm up to it on their own. Then start implementing it into your routine by using it in the house, in the car, etc. so it becomes a safe and comfortable place for your dog. The more time they have to get used to it, the better! 

Make Their Carrier the Coziest Place in the World

Now that your dog is comfortable with their travel carrier, you want to make it the most amazing place in the world for them, so they’re happy being in it for a longer period of time. We put an extra comfy pillow in Theo’s bag for him so it’s like his own portable bed. We also put a little blanket in there for extra comfort and as a just-in-case, if he were to get sick. (This way you only have to wash the blanket and not the entire bag!) Theo loves his bag so much that as soon as we bring it out he jumps inside. He associates it with travelling and coming with us, and knows to get in and get comfy for awhile. He obviously feels safe and comfortable in there, and it makes travel days so much easier for everyone. We love this style of bag, because you can open it on either end, and also on the top. This way, on the plane we can unzip the top of the bag to check on him, or rub his tummy when he asks. There’s also a spot to clip on a portable water bowl if he wants a drink!

Try a Thunder Shirt for Anxiety

At least in the beginning, travel might cause some anxiety for your dog. And while they will likely adjust to flying, it’s still best to do everything you can to alleviate their anxiety, and make them feel safe and stress free. Something we started using for Theo when he was a puppy is called a Thunder Shirt. It’s a “natural calming solution”, that applies gentle pressure to your pet’s body, like swaddling a baby. We started using it on Theo when we left him alone to ease any separation anxiety, and on travel days to make him feel calm and safe. Even though he probably doesn’t need it anymore, we still put it on him before flying because it’s part of his routine, and signals to him that it’s a travel day and it’s time to get cozy in his bag. Thunder Shirts can be used for everything including storms, fireworks, separation anxiety, travel, visits to the vet, and anything else that stresses out your pet. They come in different sizes and have worked really well for plenty of our friends. We highly recommend them! 

Try Aromatherapy for Additional Calming

Just like humans, dogs can respond well to aromatherapy. Certain essential oils work really well for stress and anxiety, and can be a great addition to your pet’s travel routine. We will spray Theo’s travel blanket and Thunder Shirt with a calming spray, and it helps to further alleviate any anxiety that may be caused by flying. Great calming scents that are safe for dogs include lavender and chamomile, and can be available in drops or a spray. Thundershirt makes a great spray that we’ve been using for Theo for years. All of these things work to make Theo’s travel carrier the coziest place possible for him, and also somewhere that he feels safe. On a flight, he’s perfectly happy curling up in his bag for a nap, and stays nice and calm the whole time we’re on the plane. We try not to bring any attention to him, because the only thing that makes him excitable is people that want to say hello to him!

Flying with your dog doesn’t need to be stressful, but of course there are a lot of factors that depend on your pet. Be sure to keep their health, safety, and comfort in mind at all times, and only travel with them if you know they can handle it. Hopefully these tips help you plan your trip, and if you have any questions or suggestions please leave them in the comments down below!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.

The post 8 Tips for Flying with Your Small Dog appeared first on Lez See the World.

Home Exchange

This article is a review of the house swapping website called HomeExchange. They are the largest home exchange network online, with hundreds of thousands of properties listed all over the world. We are writing solely based on OUR experience using them.

HomeExchange offers two different payment plans. You can sign up for free, and then choose a membership plan when you’re ready to book an exchange. You can either pay a low fee per-night, or an annual membership that allows for unlimited exchanges. If you sign up for an annual membership and do not complete an exchange during your first year, your second year is free! We started off with an annual membership, and recently renewed at no cost because we didn’t complete any exchanges during our first year.

When we signed up for HomeExchange, we listed our property in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We recently added our Vancouver property, and have been receiving a lot of interest for both simultaneous and non-simultaneous exchanges. HomeExchange has a ‘GuestPoints’ program, where you can earn points when you host and spend them when you stay as a guest. This offers a great, flexible option for travellers!

Our Experience

This past week we did our first swap through HomeExchange. We headed down to Portland, Oregon (one of our favourite US cities) for a 3 night visit! The hosts we connected with offered us a beautiful coach house in a great neighbourhood in East Portland. The suite was entirely private, had a full kitchen, a work space, a comfortable bedroom, and everything we needed for a short stay. We agreed on a non-simultaneous exchange, and we will be hosting the owners in our Vancouver property early next year. They were absolutely lovely people to deal with, and it reminded us why we love the community nature of house swaps. We had such an excellent experience during our first swap using HomeExchange!

Here are all of the things we loved:

-users on the website are active and respond quickly

-booking an exchange was easy and stress free

-there were plenty of properties to choose from in our desired location

Of course, because things went so smoothly during our exchange, we aren’t able to fully review the HomeExchange website’s customer service. We didn’t need to contact a customer service representative for any reason, because nothing went wrong! We have had bad experiences with another home swapping website, so we did look into all of HomeExchange’s policies before booking our exchange.

They state the following policies to their users:

-HomeExchange will handle the mediation between the host and the guest in case of incident or damage

-HomeExchange will compensate you in case of any unforeseen incident or damages as a host or guest

-Customer service is available by email or telephone Monday-Friday from 10am-6pm

-There is a live chat platform where ambassador members can answer questions

-In case of emergency, personalized assistance is available by email and phone 24/7

We are confident that the HomeExchange customer service team is far superior to that of smaller home swapping websites. They appear to have systems in place for dealing with problem guests, incidents, and emergencies, and their platform also has a great review system. We feel good knowing that we would be protected as hosts in the case of a bad experience, and that the website would work to mediate and compensate us (unlike Love Home Swap).

We absolutely recommend HomeExchange as an excellent house swapping website. From what we have experienced, they are the best option out there! Being the largest network, they have far more properties available to choose from compared to other websites. They also have excellent policies in place, and a dedicated customer service team in case problems arise. Click here to join the community!

Have you ever tried a home exchange? Let us know how you liked it in the comments below!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post may be affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.

The post Our Review of HomeExchange.com    appeared first on Lez See the World.

Love Home Swap

This article is a review of the home exchange website called Love Home Swap. Founded in 2009, Love Home Swap is one of the bigger home sharing websites out there. We are writing solely based on OUR experience using them.

Love Home Swap offers a free 14 day trial membership, as well as 3 tiers of paid memberships. The paid memberships offer different benefits, and the monthly fees are billed annually. We started off with a 14 day trial and then started a paid platinum membership.

When we signed up for Love Home Swap, we listed our property in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We immediately had quite a bit of interest for non-simultaneous exchanges, also known as “points swaps”. This is offered as a more flexible option, meaning that you earn points when someone comes to stay in your home, and you can use the points on a future trip. In theory, we could host guests at our house in Niagara Falls, earn points, and then use those points to book a stay at a destination of our choice.

Our Experience

We accepted our first exchange, and hosted guests over a 5 day period during the summertime. We offered them a stay in our main house, while we had Airbnb guests downstairs during the duration of the exchange. We expected respectful guests, since in the past we have found home exchangers to be great people! If someone is trusting others with their home, they tend to be very respectful of someone else’s space. It’s one of the reasons why we love the community nature of home exchanges. Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with our first Love Home Swap home exchangers.

Here is what we had to deal with:

-noise complaints from our Airbnb guests (who we ended up refunding for the inconvenience)

-the biggest mess we have ever had guests leave (we needed to pay our cleaner extra)

-minor damage to our home and items that needed replacing

-numerous house rules that were broken including additional un-authorized guests and pets

-all of our doors left unlocked when the guests departed

While this AWFUL experience came as a surprise, we do understand that a certain level of risk comes along with allowing people into your home. However, we have been Airbnb hosts and home exchangers for many years, and have never experienced such an unfortunate situation. Our only source of comfort, was the assumption that the Love Home Swap customer service representatives would help us to rectify the situation.

Unfortunately, upon contacting the website with our concerns we were told that:

-they have no policy for problem guests

-they have no resolution centre to help rectify issues

-they want to believe that this was an “isolated incident”

-they do not allow home exchange hosts to review guests

-this guest would continue to be able to book home exchanges without other hosts knowing about the incident

-we could not receive any compensation for the trouble/damages unless we requested it from the guest directly

The Love Home Swap customer service representative encouraged us to “keep communication open” with the guest, and told us that they would be willing to help mediate “if they were being unresponsive”. They offered to make a note on their account for monitoring purposes, but indicated no consequences for the guest whatsoever. We were extremely disappointed with the way the situation was handled, and shocked that Love Home Swap didn’t have any policies in place for issues such as this.

Other Things to Note

Naturally, we chose to cancel our membership after this happened and try a different home exchange website with better policies! Aside from our terrible experience with the problem guest, we also had some other issues with Love Home Swap that we wanted to mention:

-the benefits offered through the platinum membership were difficult to access, and were only received after emailing Love Home Swap to inquire about them

-many users were inactive and wouldn’t respond to inquiries, making it difficult to book exchanges or use the points we accumulated

-memberships cannot be cancelled immediately by the user, and cancellations can only be requested by emailing or calling Love Home Swap

-Love Home Swap will not cancel a membership immediately and instead will attempt to keep you in the program (we had to sternly ask 3 times before they agreed to cancel our membership)

In short, we do NOT recommend Love Home Swap as a home exchange website. There are better options out there! We have been much happier with our experience so far on HomeExchange.com It’s the largest home exchange network online, and there are hundreds of thousands of properties listed all over the world. We are doing our first exchange this week, so stay tuned for our review!

Have you ever tried a home exchange? Let us know your experience in the comments below!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post may be affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.

The post Our Review of Love Home Swap   appeared first on Lez See the World.

Choose a Great Destination

The most exciting part of planning a trip, is choosing an incredible destination. Whether it’s a bustling city, a relaxing beach town, or something in between, finding the perfect place to go is very important! We tend to research the weather patterns, as well as the high and low season trends in a destination. This gives us a good idea of how busy it will be, as well as how expensive. Because we can be so flexible with our time, we tend to travel to destinations during their low season or shoulder season to avoid the crowds. We also steer clear of travelling during any major holidays! As a married lesbian couple, it’s also important for us to take into account the safety of a travel destination. We generally plan our travel to places where we can be out and open, and will feel safe to be ourselves. If you are part of a same-sex couple, or a member of the LGBTQ+ community, these considerations will likely play a large role in your travel planning. We like to research a country’s LGBTQ+ laws on Wikipedia, as well as the public opinion of the locals. These things give us a good idea of how comfortable we will be during our trip, and what safety precautions we may need to take.

Research the Details

Now that you’ve found the perfect travel destination, it’s time to research the details! Do you need a visa to enter the country? Are there any vaccinations that are required or suggested for your travel? We make sure to always have travel insurance that will cover the length of an upcoming trip. Beyond these necessities, we also like to research other details that will make our trip go smoothly. We will look into the local currency and whether or not it’s recommended to have cash on hand. If so, we will do an exchange at our bank for the best rate, so we don’t have to worry about it once we’ve arrived. For longer trips, we also look into a destination’s mobile phone plans to see if getting a local SIM card is worth it. We like to stay connected, but make sure that we aren’t paying crazy roaming rates when we travel! You can generally purchase a local SIM card at major airports, and get a reasonable pay-as-you-go plan for the duration of your stay.

Find the Best Flight Itinerary

Air travel can be expensive, which is why we always do our research for the best possible flight itinerary. We travel a lot on points (we mostly use the Aeroplan program), but we do occasionally buy flights. Google Flights is a great tool for comparing fares! Especially if you are flexible with your dates, their calendar feature makes it easy to find the least expensive dates to fly. You can filter the results if you have preferred airlines, or a preference for direct flights or a certain number of stop overs. Along with Google Flights, we also like to use Skyscanner. They offer daily flight deals, and have an “everywhere” feature in their search. If you’re flexible on your destination and just want to find the least expensive flight, this is a great way to open up your options! The more patient you are, the better chance you will have of booking great flights. Keep checking the fares, set alerts, and wait for the perfect time to book.

Book Your Transportation

Outside of air travel, you may have other transportation to book. This might include buses, trains, ferries, and more. Our favourite tool for researching other transportation options, is Rome2Rio. It gives you multiple options of how to get from Point A to Point B, and allows you to choose the most convenient or cost effective option for your trip. Booking these tickets in advance tends to be far less expensive! If you have your travel itinerary set and you know your dates won’t change, we recommend booking your bus, train, and ferry tickets in advance. Outside of these, you might also want to look at a rental car for your trip. We find that staying loyal to one company gives us the best rates, and perks. We personally love Hertz, and find that staying loyal to them serves us best. As a Hertz Gold member, you can earn points toward free rentals, and skip the line when picking up a car. As 5 Star Gold members, we also get a free upgrade almost every time!

Discover Amazing Accommodations

Your accommodations will be one of the most important parts of your trip. Finding an incredible place to stay can have a huge impact on your travel experience! When we’re looking for accommodations for a trip, we like to compare plenty of different options. We usually start by seeing if there are any home exchange options available. This means that we stay in a locally owned property in the destination, while offering up one of our properties in exchange. It has worked well for us in the past, and because no money changes hands, it’s a free option! After home exchanges, we tend to look at Airbnb next. We love staying in properties that are owned by local hosts, as they tend to be in great neighbourhoods with a more authentic feel. Depending on the length of our trip, Airbnb almost always ends up being more cost effective as well. We love to have access to a kitchen so we can prepare meals during a trip, and having a full apartment is far more comfortable than a hotel room. If there aren’t any Airbnb’s available in the destination we’re going, we will look at hotels. For this, we use Hotels.com because they have great rates, and a loyalty program that offers one free night for every ten nights booked!

Plan Fun Activities

Once you have your accommodations and transportation in order, it’s time to start looking at what a destination offers. Are there some must-see attractions that you should add to your list? What are some fun activities that you can plan to do while you’re there? Are there certain things that might be best to see with a guided tour? These things are usually best to book in advance! Popular ticketed attractions will sell out quickly, so don’t wait to buy tickets once you’re already on your trip. Big tours will also book up quickly, so it’s best to book these before you depart. If you aren’t much of a tour person (we aren’t really either), you might enjoy something through Airbnb Experiences. They are small, intimate experiences led by local hosts. Including things like food tours, hikes, cultural experiences, and more, it can be a great way to do something unique in a travel destination.

Get Your Travel Essentials

To make for smooth travel, you want to make sure you have all of your essentials in order. Look into what plugs and voltage are used in the country you’re going to, and be sure you have the proper electronics and power converters for your trip. If you’re going to a warm destination or plan on doing a lot of adventure activities, you may want to look into an insulated water bottle like a Swell bottle, that keeps your water cold for 24 hours. We like to have passport wallets, and small card wallets with us on all of our trips. We tend to divide our cash and cards into several bags in case something ever got stolen. Also, be sure to have any medications or health essentials with you! I like to have a few things packed for motion sickness. (I love Sea Bands, and any natural ginger chews).

Research Food

Now that your trip is shaping up, it might be time to start researching some local food! We are MAJOR foodies, and eating the local food is always a big part of our travel. Because we’re vegan it can be a bit tricky, but it’s made easier with plenty of research. We like to use Google Maps and Yelp to look up cafes and restaurants before we head off on a trip. I will “favourite” all of the best options on Google Maps, so that we know where everything is once we’ve arrived. Another great tool is Happy Cow, which shows you vegan and vegetarian options in every destination. It will also show you markets, grocery stores, and specialty shops, which is great if you want to pick up some cooking essentials!

Research Drinks

Along with researching the local food options, we like to research the best spots to grab a drink as well. We tend to love craft breweries, wine bars, cocktail bars, and hidden speakeasies! We will always google the best options before leaving on a trip, and save them for when we arrive. Both Google Maps and Yelp are user review based, so you can read all about what others have experienced. This is also when we research any specifically LGBTQ+ friendly bars and establishments. It can be really fun to have a drink in an inclusive space when travelling, and it’s great way to experience the local community. Not all destinations have a “gaybourhood” or gay-friendly bars, but if they do, we always try to check them out!

Find Some Hidden Gems

It’s becoming increasingly popular for travellers to look for “hidden gems” in a destination. Rather than seeking out the big tourist attractions, we all want unique and authentic experiences! We’ve found that the best way to do this is by reading travel stories, and taking personal recommendations from other people who have been to the destination. This is one of the reasons why travel blogs are so wonderful! We read a lot of other travel blogs, and it’s such a great way to add some hidden gems to our itineraries. Whether it’s a beautiful park or beach that’s only popular with the locals, or a great eatery that’s outside of the tourist area, we love discovering lesser known spots. Do some reading on a destination before the trip, and be sure to add some hidden gems to your list.

What do you do when planning your trips? What are your favourite tools for planning travel!? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post may be affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.

The post 8 Tips for Planning an Amazing Trip appeared first on Lez See the World.

Save Up

If you want to travel more, it’s time to start saving up! Put yourself in a position to be ready for adventure whenever the opportunity arises. That doesn’t just mean saving money, but saving up hotel nights and airline points too! Here are our top tips for saving up for travel.

Get a travel rewards credit card. Seriously. This is our number one piece of advice for EVERYONE who wants to travel more. Use the card on everyday purchases and regular monthly expenses, and start racking up those points to use on flights and hotel stays! Depending on which country you’re based in, you will have different options for travel cards. Do some research on the best travel rewards card for you.

Join frequent flyer programs and do everything you can to earn points. If your travel rewards card is associated with a program, you can earn even faster! If you’re in Canada, we highly recommend the Aeroplan program, which is what we use. You can earn extra points by going through the Aeroplan E-Store when shopping online. If you’re in the US, we recommend the Delta Skymiles program, which we also use. Delta points never expire and you can earn extra points every time you book an Airbnb by going through the skymiles portal!

Develop a savings plan and start putting money into a travel fund. It’s a good idea to have both a short-term savings plan, and a long-term savings plan! For our short-term savings, we use Tangerine because it’s a direct bank with no fees and high interest rates. For our long-term savings, we have investment portfolios and retirement savings plans with Wealthsimple.

When you have something to save for, it feels a lot easier to put the money aside. You might be surprised at how easily you start saving once you decide to grow your travel fund with zero negotiations. It’s also worth taking a look at your relationship with money, and seeing where you can cut expenses and maybe even grow your income. This year we made a large real estate investment, and it had us get very serious about our personal finances. We’ve been tracking our expenses much more closely, and diversifying our income streams to bring in more money. The biggest game changer for us has been leveraging our property to earn us extra income.

Make the Time

When it comes to fitting more travel into your life, a big barrier can be finding the time. Whether it’s a full-time 9-5 job, or one of the many other things that keep us at home, it can certainly be difficult to fit in globetrotting adventures. The best way to find the time, is to MAKE the time. Here are our top tips for making the time to travel.

Use your weekends, long weekends, holidays, and annual vacation days to travel, and make the most of them! Try tacking on vacation days to either side of a long weekend, or use them in-between a weekend and a national holiday. Get creative with your scheduling to give yourself more days off to enjoy a trip!

Take advantage of any time you have in between work contracts or in between jobs, or consider asking for a short unpaid leave from your 9-5. Use any and all days you have off from work to travel!

If you ever travel for your job, add on some vacation days to the start or the end of the trip. Or you can try arranging your business travel close to a weekend, so you can have the extra days to explore. Turn your business trips into an opportunity to travel!

When we learn to make use of the time we do have, we realize how much time is really there. Remember, you are in control of the time constraints you have to some degree. If you wish your job gave you more flexibility, find one that does! Look into other options in your field. Consider contract work, freelance work, or work you can do remotely. Think about additional income streams, as well as passive income. When we wanted to have more time to travel, we made the time, we gave up our steady work contracts and started working entirely for ourselves. We have never had so much freedom to travel, and we’ve never looked back!

Spend Less

If you want to travel more, start spending less on your trips! This means your money will go further and you will be able to go on more adventures. There are plenty of ways to save on your travel expenses, and people do it all the time. Here are our top tips for saving money on travel.

Plan effectively. Compare costs, and research the best prices! If you’re flexible with your dates and destination, it’s much easier to find flight deals and inexpensive accommodations. If you’re NOT flexible with your dates and destination, book as far in advance as possible!

Get creative with your accommodations. Expensive hotels are not the only option! Try looking at apartment rentals or vacation homes. Consider a home exchange or house sitting arrangement. We have a full blog post all about booking smart travel accommodations.

Cash in your flight points, or redeem a free hotel stay for your trip. Allow your money to go toward experiences and activities once you’re in your destination! Travelling in the low season and choosing less expensive destinations will also allow your money to go much further.

Travel doesn’t need to be expensive or out of reach. And spending less doesn’t need to mean having a “budget travel” experience. There are SO many different ways to do it! When you start looking at all of the options out there, you might realize how accessible travel can be. With a bit of extra research and planning, you can spend far less on travel than you think you need to. The more you do it, the better you will get at spending less!

Do you have any tips for fitting more travel in your life? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post may be affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.

The post 3 Tips on How to Travel More appeared first on Lez See the World.

He’s a small dog and can’t always keep up when we’re walking around a new city all day, so we often end up carrying him! One day when we were carrying him around Quebec City, Canada, we saw another dog owner carrying her dog in a backpack that looked AMAZING. She gave us the name of it, we quickly ordered our own, and our lives were forever changed!

The backpack is called a K9 Sportsack, and it was made with a dog’s comfort and safety in mind. It’s the original forward-facing dog backpack, and is the perfect way to bring your dog along on your adventures! We mostly use it when we’re walking, but we’ve also used it while cycling and hiking, and Theo loves it. As soon as we take it out and put it on the floor, he hops onto it waiting to get put inside. He knows that it means he gets to come with us wherever we’re going! While he’s in the bag he loves getting to see what’s going on, and being up high enough to say hello to everyone who walks by. Sometimes he’ll even take a little nap while he’s being carried around. It’s made travelling with him SO much easier, and we can’t believe how much use we get out of it. It’s one of the best purchases we’ve ever made for him!

Another reason why we love the company that makes the K9 Sportsack, is because they donate a portion of every sale to animal rescues and shelters all around the world as part of their “No Dog Left Behind” promise. Knowing that your purchase goes to helping animals in need is such a bonus!

The backpacks come in a wide range of sizes and adjustability options, so be sure to read their website carefully to get the best fit for your dog. When we upgraded Theo’s bag a couple of years after buying his first one, we actually bought a size down. We found that he had too much space to wiggle around in his first bag, and he’s comfier and safer in a smaller one. Their website also has lots of great tips for settling your dog into the bag, as every dog is different! They ship all around the world from the US, and we’ve had a great experience with them as a company. We highly recommend them! K9 Sportsack was also kind enough to give us a discount code for our audience.

Have any of you tried a K9 Sportsack or any other doggie backpacks for your dog? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Best Dog Backpack for Travel appeared first on Lez See the World.

Here are our top 5 Tips for smart travel accommodations:

1. Stay With Friends & Family

This one is easy! If you’re lucky enough to have friends or family in other parts of the world, go visit them! Use it as a jumping off point for a bigger trip, or make a trip out of their destination. We often stay with friends and family members that live in other cities or countries, and we love the quality time we get to spend with them. We are fortunate to have these people spread out all over the world, and it’s a great excuse to travel to see them. These trips are a fun way to visit with loved ones and also experience a new place from a local’s perspective. It can also save you a lot of money on the cost of accommodations! We like to repay our generous hosts by cooking them delicious meals, tidying up around their place, and treating them when we go out. We find this to be the perfect way to be smart about accommodation costs. Staying with family and friends who are supportive of you no matter how you identify, can also take away some of the potential discomfort you may feel staying in other accommodations. It’s also just a really nice way to spend time with the wonderful people in our lives!

2. Home Exchange

Home exchanges have become very popular as a smart means of accommodations when travelling, and considering them may even inspire you to travel somewhere that you’d never thought about going. There are plenty of trusted house swapping sites online, and we’ve used several of them. When we first tried home exchanging a few years ago, we preferred to use a specifically LGBTQ+ website called Home Around the World. We did both simultaneous and non-simultaneous exchanges with other travellers, and it was an amazing way to save on our accommodation costs. This site was also great for ensuring that you are exchanging with people who are either members of the LGBTQ+ community, or allies. While we were living in Vancouver full time, we did a direct swap with a gay male couple down in San Francisco. They came to BC and stayed in our Gastown condo, and we spent a week in their beautiful San Fran townhouse. We both gave each other tips and advice on how to get the most out of our stays, and of course our homes were both well respected. We also did non-simultaneous exchanges with people living in LA, Toronto, and NYC.

More recently we’ve tried out two other websites, as Home Around the World users aren’t as active as they used to be, due to how popular and inclusive other websites have become. The biggest home sharing website around (and the one we now recommend) is HomeExchange.com as they have the most users worldwide! Properties can be listed as specifically LGBTQ+ friendly, and you can even filter your search to find these properties. It’s our first year on the site, and we have yet to do an exchange, but we’ve already had requests from a lot of people with amazing properties all over the world. Staying in someone’s home is a great way to get a local’s perspective when you’re in a new location. It also gives you all the comforts you’re used to, and most of these houses will have full kitchens, and laundry available for use during your stay.

We highly recommend home exchanges, but of course you need a home that you’re able to offer up in order to use this method!

3. Couch Surfing

We’ve only tried couch surfing once, and while it’s not our ‘go-to’ style of travelling, it’s popular with a lot of travellers. There is a website called couchsurfing.com that matches travellers in need of accommodations with locals who have extra space (most of the time, a spare bedroom) and are interested in meeting people from around the world. This can be a good option for solo travellers, or anyone who likes to socialize and meet new people. This isn’t the best option if you like to keep to yourself and have your own space, as you are definitely expected to spend time visiting and being social! There is a wide range in the type of accommodations hosts are able to provide, but in some cases, you will be able to find a private room with use of the kitchen and laundry. In these cases, a couch surfing stay can be quite comfortable, and since no money is exchanged, it’s a very smart option in terms of affordability.

When we used this website, we stayed with a woman who was an active member of the LGBTQ+ community, and we had a good experience. We spent time talking with her about the queer magazine she wrote for, and discussed different LGBTQ+ events in the area. Just like when we stay with friends and family, we made a point to be very respectful of her home, and we brought her a gift when we arrived to thank her for having us as guests.

We definitely recommend couch surfing, and the only reason we haven’t continued using it is because we generally like to have our own space to work remotely, and we frequently travel with our little pup!

Couch surfing as an LGBTQ+ person can obviously add an additional layer of safety concerns, so it’s important that you feel safe with your host. From our experience, some hosts on the website will list themselves as being members of the community or open to hosting LGBTQ+ travellers. If they have that information listed on their profile, you’re able to search the ‘keywords’ for inclusive hosts. As always, do your research and listen to your instincts. There are other couch surfing platforms outside of this website as well, some of which are geared more toward LGBTQ+ travellers. Facebook groups, and online travel forums are a great place to start if this is your style.

4. House Sitting

We haven’t tried house sitting yet, but it’s become a very popular way for travellers to find accommodations around the world! There are always people who are looking for a responsible person or couple to care for their home while they are away. Sometimes you would be expected to water plants, check the mail, or even care for a pet, and in return you would stay in the home free of cost. We recently signed up for one of the biggest house sitting websites called TrustedHouseSitters.com which is mostly geared toward pet-friendly people! We see several new house sitting opportunities posted every day that you can submit to, and we plan on using this method more in the future. You definitely need to be flexible with your dates, and it helps if you’re even flexible with your destinations. When you sign up, you are expected to create a thorough profile, so you can introduce yourself to homeowners looking for a sitter. We chose to be very open about the fact that we’re a same sex couple in our profile, because we would only want to house sit for someone who is inclusive of our community.

Typically, the people who have house sitters take care of their homes take great pride in their properties. The homes are generally very well kept and have all the comforts you would need during your travels!

5. Airbnb

Our last option and definitely the one we use most often, is Airbnb. There are other vacation rental sites which use the same home sharing principle, but we have been using Airbnb exclusively for close to 7 years and can only speak to it specifically. Of course, of the five options, this is the only one that isn’t free of cost, but if you are going to spend money on travel accommodations, Airbnb is a great way to do it. It’s far more affordable than a hotel, and you get so much more for your money! Rather than staying in a small room with no kitchen and having to go out for all of your meals, you can have an entire apartment or a whole house to yourself. Because we travel full time and work remotely, it’s important to us to have a proper work space and a sense of home. We love to grocery shop and cook healthy meals at our accommodations, and having a real kitchen is definitely worth it for us. We also travel quite often with our small dog, and Airbnb makes it easy to find pet-friendly accommodations so our pup can feel at home too. If you do spend money on your travel accommodations, we definitely think Airbnb is a great way to go. If you’ve never used it, you can use our code to get a $45 credit toward your first stay by clicking here. While searching for the perfect place, keep an eye out for properties that have a weekly or monthly discount. For longer stays, you can end up saving a lot of money!

As a lesbian couple, we feel safe booking accommodations through Airbnb because they are a very inclusive platform. Hosts on the website must agree that they will not discriminate against any guests based on race, sexual orientation, or for any other reason. If there is a discrimination incident, the Airbnb resolution centre will mediate the situation, and they do not tolerate any anti LGBTQ+ behaviour. Of course we still recommend reading reviews before booking, and as always do your own research to ensure your safety while travelling.

*BONUS TIP*

While hotels are generally your most expensive option for accommodations, sometimes they do make the most sense when travelling! We will often book a hotel for single night stays while on a road trip, or when we want to treat ourselves with a fancy night for a special occasion. Sometimes we will stay in a boutique hotel rather than an Airbnb if we’re travelling abroad and would feel safer doing so. Hotels generally have more security than an apartment or home, and we’ve travelled to some destinations where the Airbnb accommodations didn’t provide enough security to make us feel comfortable and safe.

When we do book hotels we use Hotels.com because they have great rates, a lot of sales, and a good loyalty program. For every ten nights you stay, you get a free night for the average value of the ten nights you purchased. We’ve saved up our free nights to use on a beautiful villa in Bali, and an upscale hotel in downtown Vancouver to celebrate our wedding anniversary. You can use your free nights on many hotels around the world, and if the room you want costs more than your free night, you can redeem it and pay the difference. Something to keep in mind with this website, is that when you redeem any sale coupons, the night will not count towards your ten stays. You will need to determine if the coupon discount is worth it, or if it’s better to have your stay contribute to your free nights. Hotels.com also does price matching, so if you find a lower price on another website or on their own website after you’ve booked your reservation, they will always match the lowest price. We recently saved $200 on a reservation in Mexico, because the price had been lowered closer to our travel dates.

Happy travelling! Let us know if you have any other great tips for being smart with your travel accommodations!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.

The post Top 5 Tips for Smart Travel Accommodations appeared first on Lez See the World.