Philadelphia International Flower Show

Other than the 137 islands that make up the state of Hawaii, Philadelphia offers your best chance at getting leid this year.  Yes, Hawaiian flora will be blooming in Philly next month when the City of Brotherly Love hosts the Philadelphia International Flower Show.  Celebrating the theme, “Hawaii: Islands of Aloha,” the largest indoor flower show in the world will turn 10 acres of exhibit space into a tropical experience blending natural beauty, digital technology and cultural displays.

Presented March 4-11, guests can expect a 25-foot-high waterfall, one of the largest white orchid displays ever assembled, a trip through the Hawaiian rainforest, and a tribute to the memorial garden at Pearl Harbor, among other dazzling displays.   According to the Flower Show’s director Sam Lemheney, “Interactive and experiential is the goal of the 2012 Flower Show.  Visitors will feel like they are walking across the beaches, jungles and mountains of the Hawaiian Islands.”

The show will also feature Hawaiian performances, restaurants, shops and special social events including the “LGBT Night Out” on Monday, March 5.  The night of cocktails, food and friends is quickly becoming a perennial favorite in Philly.

For more information and tickets visit theflowershow.com

Winter Party Beach Party

Get a tan this winter.  From February 29 to March 5, Miami heats up the season with the 10,000-guest, six-day Winter Party Festival.    This year’s events range from cocktail soirees to cultural outings to—yes—parties, parties, and more parties.

And as if you needed another reason to head south, Winter Party is produced by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which donates the majority of net proceeds to The Miami Foundation and the Task Force’s national efforts to “build power, take action and create change for the LGBT community.”

Once again, the Surfcomber is serving as the host hotel, though this year’s guests can expect some delightful surprises.  In December, the Surfcomber officially reopened as a member of the Kimpton Hotels brand, following a multi-million dollar renovation.   Kimpton Hotels are always inclusive and sassy, and now they are inviting you to party on South Beach.

This year, the official events begin on Wednesday and continue beyond the weekend.  Two of my favorite, not-to-be-missed events are the Under One Sun Pool Party at the Surfcomber Hotel and, of course, the main event: the Winter Party Beach Party, grooving on the South Beach sand to the beats of DJ Joe Gauthreaux.

For a list of all Winter Party events and passes, visit their website at winterparty.com.

Surfcomber Hotel

Touring the city of Amsterdam, you will discover that houseboats make cozy homes for people…and kitty cats.

For a unique perspective on the lives of some of the Netherlands’ most frisky felines, check out the Poezenboot (or Cat Boat), a floating sanctuary for stray and abandoned cats, on the Singel Canal. When Henriette Van Weelde took in a mama cat and her kittens in 1966, she never imagined she was setting a course toward creating one of the world’s most famous shelters. Officially registered as a charity in 1987, the Cat Boat serves as a home and adoption shelter for the four-legged furries and a tourist attraction for us two-legged travelers. As the Poezenboot receives no government assistance and relies solely on volunteers and private donations, make sure to leave a little contribution after your visit—a little cat-tip for the catnip.

(To learn more, read the full article published on TravelSquire.com)

South Beach, Miami

Ivan Quintanilla is the featured travel expert on Toronto’s Proud FM Radio “Your Morning With Richard & Chris.”

In this segment, IQ talks about thawing from the cold in Miami, Florida.

Click below to listen (3 minutes):

And click here to read my South Beach article published in Out Traveler.

*Photo by David Mahler

Urban Gentry

You’ve hopped on and hopped off.  Now, one London tour company is letting you steer your own sightseeing course.  Urban Gentry  matches your interests with an industry professional to provide in-depth, personalized tours of London’s art, fashion, design, food or architecture scenes.

All itineraries can be tailor-made to your specifications, or you can choose from one of their most popular tours.  Take the “East End: Hip Neighborhood Tour” to explore shops and galleries of London’s new creative hub, the “London Architecture Tour” to learn about the city’s iconic buildings from a London-based architect and professor, or the “London Fashion Tour” to visit both off-the beaten path boutiques and designer stores with your own fashion insider guide.

Learn about the different tours or start creating your own at www.urbangentry.com.

(Article originally published in Out Traveler)

There is wild and then there is wild.  From February 27 to March 4, Extraordinary Journeys Africa, the organizers of luxury, customized safaris on the continent, will help you unleash a bit of both by living the wild life at Cape Town Gay Pride and viewing the wildlife at the Madikwe Game Reserve.

The tour begins with four nights at the gay-owned, boutique hotel, Kensington Place, just steps from the party-popular Kloof Street.  From here guests can experience Cape Town’s nightlife and Gay Pride events, as well as trips to Robben Island, the 4,000 year old prison now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sea kayaking with African Penguins, and a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain.

Your adventure continues via chartered flight to Jamala Madikwe Royal Safari Lodge for a three-night stay.  The luxurious (and also gay-owned) lodge consists of only five villas, each with its own splash pool for ultimate privacy.  While in Madikwe you’ll have access to elephants, lions, monkeys and more than 300 square miles of game viewing in South Africa’s newest reserve.

A leader in luxury safaris, Extraordinary Journeys Africa has specifically designed this 8-day-tour to explore the unique contrasts of South Africa… because there is fierce and then there’s fierce!

Many exciting trips and 119 posts later, I want to thank you for joining me.

I hope you will continue to follow my travels on Facebook and Twitter, and I look forward to exploring our huge, small world… together.

More than ever, London fashionistas are feasting in the East.  Improved access by public transportation, cheaper rents for shops, and a renewed interest in East London, which is serving as the main site for the 2012 London Olympics, have fueled a flurry of new store openings over the last year, appealing to residents and visitors alike.  Click below to read about our East London faves, as published in Out Traveler:

Founded by the Dutch tattoo artist Henk  Schiffmacher, the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum is dedicated to the art, history and preservation of tattoo culture. Occupying 21,000 square feet of two beautifully restored 19th-century buildings, the collection is a wide-ranging one that documents the history of tattooing, from the prehistoric era to the present day…

Read IQ’s full article in The New York Times, by clicking on the picture below:

From January 13-15, Washington D.C. trades the khakis and polos  for a little leather and rubber.  Every year on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend our nation’s capital attracts some 2,000 visitors for Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend (MAL) .   The festivities kick off on Friday with the Opening Reception at this year’s host hotel, the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill .  Throughout the weekend, the hotel’s Leather Exhibit Hall serves as a bazaar of leather goods for bad boys.   With events that range from bar crawls to dance parties to, of course, the Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather Contest on Sunday, MAL is filled with friendly fetishists, leather and Levis men, and titillated tourists.

During the day, the host hotel is the center of all activity with the most amazing people-watching this side of the Mississippi.  Don’t miss the opportunity to mingle at the hotel’s Leather Cocktails on Saturday evening.  Come nighttime, Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club is the place to move your boots to the dancing beats.

On Saturday, the club hosts the nationally popular Blowoff Party featuring DJs Richard Morel and Bob Mould’s signature mix of indie rock, electro and house.  On Sunday, the venue is home to the MAL official closing party, Reaction with DJ Quentin Harris.

A little intimidated?  Don’t be.  The crowd is ultra friendly and won’t bite… unless you want them to.