This gay couple’s 5 unforgettable travel moments will leave you breathless

Travel has always been a significant part of our 15-year relationship. Ever since we met in February 2009, we talked about one day quitting our jobs in London to travel the world together.

After several years of planning and saving, we finally took the big jump in 2014 and left London for a big trip to Asia. To reassure our friends and family, we set up our Nomadic Boys travel blog so they could follow our journey. What started as a humble blog in 2014 grew exponentially to the point where it became our full-time vocation, allowing us to continue our travels beyond that Asia trip.

We’ve since traveled to over 70 countries, spanning 6 continents, and blogged about every place we’ve been. This culminated in publishing our first gay travel book, Out in the World: The Gay Guide to Travelling with Pride (Pavilion Books), which will be available on May 14^th.

We’ve picked out our top 5 most memorable travel moments from all these wonderful memories.

A size queen souvenir

Stefan and Seby in front of the Tiger’s Nest Monastery.

We’ve wanted to visit this mysterious country nestled in the Himalayas for years. Bhutan is remote and takes effort because you must go on a guided tour. And it sure ain’t cheap: as well as the guided tour costs, the government also requires visitors to pay a daily ‘tourist fee’ of $100. They do this because they want to keep Bhutan pristine and save it from being ruined by mass tourism; hence their slogan, “high-value, low volume” tourism. Even their constitution requires that at least 60% of the country must have forest cover.

The result is a nation that will blow your socks off – a true culture shock. For us, it felt like we’d stepped back in time to a place where life is simpler, far beyond the stress of modern-day society.

We arrived at Paro Airport, which looked more like a museum. It was surrounded by Tibetan artwork, and the building was carefully carved out of wood with care and detail. In fact, every building in Bhutan had this style, especially the monasteries and temples. It was a type of fine art we’d never seen before.

The people go about their day wearing traditional robes that date back hundreds of years: a ‘gho’ for men, a ‘kira’ for women.

The country’s biggest tourist attraction is the impressive Tiger’s Nest Monastery, which sits atop a cliff at an altitude of 10,236 feet, like something the Gods carved out for us all to marvel at.

But our big takeaway souvenir? The erect phallus. No, really, it’s a thing in Bhutan! It’s considered a symbol of good luck and wards off evil spirits. Phallic art is found everywhere in the country, particularly around the Temple of Fertility (Chimi Lhakhang) in Punakha.

We left Bhutan with not only unique memories but also an 11-inch thick wooden phallus souvenir, beautifully decorated with Tibetan art, which now adorns our living room table.

Tango dancing lessons in Argentina

Stefan and Seby dance the tango in Argentina.

There’s nothing more intimate than dancing the tango in your lover’s embrace, moving in time to the music.

We were at our first queer tango class in a ‘milonga’ dance hall in Buenos Aires. Although total beginners, we picked up the basic moves and continued dancing freestyle after class. Boy, was it romantic!

Like nothing else we’d experienced before, the nostalgic sounds of the tango music made us feel like we’d been transported to another era: the distinctly accented staccato, the sudden changes in dynamics, and the melancholic sounds from the bandoneon accordion.

It surprised us to discover this, but the tango at its roots was a dance between two men. It began in the lower-class immigrant communities of Buenos Aires in the 1870s. These communities were male-dominated. Famines ravished Europe then, so families sent their sons to the New World to make money. Due to the shortage of women, men in these communities would dance together to “brush up their moves.” The tango is quite an intimate dance; you can imagine the homoerotic vibe amongst these young, virile men.

Our queer tango class took place in the district of San Telmo, an area of Buenos Aires we love. As well as its milonga dance halls, San Telmo is famous for its Sunday Market and the awesome queer Pride Café, which is our top spot for brunch. The city’s gay scene extends to nearby Palermo and Recoleta, where most of the local LGBTQ+ community lives.

For fellow tango lovers, we recommend looking out for the next Queer Tango Festival, which usually takes place later in the year (this year’s is 5-9th December 2024). Check their Facebook page for the latest info.

Learning to swim like mermaids

Stefan and Seby live out their Little Mermaid dreams.

We came to the Philippines with low expectations, knowing nothing about it. We left feeling besotted, enthusiastically trumpeting their #itsmorefuninthephilippines slogan across our social media.

With 7,641 islands that straddle the Coral Triangle, the Philippines is a paradise for snorkeling and scuba diving. It also rivals Thailand’s reputation for having the type of beaches that will forever decorate your laptop background.

But the real highlight? The day we learned to swim like mermaids on Boracay Island!

Boracay Island is a prime tourist hotspot in the Philippines, famed for its colorful coral reefs, palm trees, and long, white, sandy, pristine beaches. It’s also developed a reputation as a party destination, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community. And it has a mermaid school!

We took a class on White Beach with our hot instructor, David. Swimming with a monofin is challenging because it requires significant upper-body strength, particularly core strength. So, let’s just say mermaid instructors are ripped!

Hot David took us through various warm-up exercises to stretch our muscles before sliding into our foxy monofin: mine, a dashing warm lavender; Seby’s, a verdant green.

With our fins securely fastened, it was time to get into the water.

Swimming like a mermaid is hard work. It’s an intense workout on the core and not for the faint-hearted. Hot Ripped David told us that our legs needed to stay straight and our arms locked and stretched out before us. Getting into the perfect groove takes some time, but we started to nail it once we got our bodies to move with a subtle ripple-like wave effect.

By the end of our mermaid swimming lesson, we were exhausted but exhilarated! It was like nothing we’d ever tried before, and the photos from our shoot were hilarious!

Chasing the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are an unforgettable sight.

Iceland is our all-time favorite road trip destination! We spent three unforgettable weeks traversing this enchanting country by car along the renowned Ring Road during the deep winter months when thick, powdery snow enveloped everything in sight.

Our trip was in February, timed to coincide with the winter months, and we were eager to glimpse the mesmerizing Northern Lights. Along the way, we were treated to awe-inspiring sights of massive glaciers, erupting geysers, abundant geothermal baths, picturesque fjords, and thrilling whale-watching experiences!

Spotting the Northern Lights requires a bit of planning. For starters, the sky needs to be dark, clear, and free of light pollution. We decided to view them at Diamond Beach, close to the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. As well as being completely isolated, it was far from any human settlement, guaranteeing complete darkness at night.

We’ll never forget the adrenaline and anticipation we both felt during that drive to Diamond Beach in the dead of night. We were acting like two excited schoolchildren let loose in a candy shop!

Once there, we left our stuff in a pile and stood looking up at the darkness. There was no one else around us. Just complete darkness everywhere we looked. We waited patiently as the biting cold wind blew hard on our faces. We pulled each other close to share the body heat.

Suddenly, a dash of green broke out in the darkness, lighting up the night. Then another one. Then a third…

We were speechless. It was the Northern Lights!

As each ray of green light broke through the darkness, we would point at them, smile at each other, and laugh joyfully. It was a celestial kaleidoscope of alien-like waves of dancing green, like a giant lava lamp lighting up the sky. We were euphoric.

This was what we came to see, and it did not disappoint!

Out in the middle of the Icelandic countryside, pitch black, in the freezing cold, we were wrapped in each other’s embrace, watching something magnificent together.

This is one of the most romantic moments of our lives that will live in our hearts forever.

Swimming with a manta ray at the Great Barrier Reef

Doing it together is what matters most.

We love diving. We always strive to do at least one snorkeling, free-diving, or scuba diving tour in our travels.

For years, we both dreamed of diving in the Great Barrier Reef one day. Finally, we made it happen last year when we visited Sydney for the first time. We agreed that as part of this trip, we would head north to dive in the famous reef – specifically around a small cay called Lady Elliot Island.

This tiny cay is one of the southern reef islands on the Great Barrier Reef, located 80km from the mainland and reachable only by plane. It is surrounded by a living reef thriving with marine life, including a cleaning station popular with manta rays.

We’ll never forget the moment I first put my face in the water: we saw two black-tip reef sharks swim by, followed by a turtle! We continued swimming, letting the current carry us as we watched the marine life go about its daily life.

Suddenly, a large shadow passed by the corner of my eye. We quickly turned round to see, and oh my god, there it was!

A manta ray in her full glory swam right up to us.

We both stood still, frozen in the water. It almost touched Seby’s nose as if it was checking him out before turning round and briskly gliding away.

Then, as if by magic, a second one appeared! This time, it stopped and swam around us. Like the other one, it came close to us, but this one stayed longer.

We held our breath. We were spellbound. It was huge!

Its wingspan was around 5 meters, and its large gills pulsated as it held itself in the water, as if trying to whisper something to me, like, “Hey guys, how are you doing today? I’m glad we finally got the chance to meet!”

We continued looking at each other for a few more moments until it circled us, then said its goodbyes as it swam away.

As we stood on the beach afterward, recalling what had just happened, Seby wiped away a tear of joy from his face, turned to me, and proudly declared: “Let it be known that from this day forth, I shall forever be called The Manta Ray Whisperer!”