Come Out and Play

Unless your
profile is public enough to draw attention in grocery store
aisles, coming out can be a daily task. Like groundhogs, we
find ourselves coming out again and again, to new
friends and coworkers, unsuspecting acquaintances, and
the occasional relative. Even when it’s years
behind us, coming out remains a monumental personal
achievement. Yet we don’t tend to see it as
cause for an actual celebration. This year, why not
combine the act of coming out with a fabulous gay getaway
for you and somebody you love?

Go Where the Gays Are

Dip your toes
into gay-friendly waters at one of the ever-increasing
number of gay-popular destinations around the world. In
Provincetown, Mass., as nowhere else on earth, gay
women and men crowd streets and beaches all year long.
Fall may be the most perfect time to visit: Crowds
have thinned and events like Provincetown Women’s
Week light up the calendar. Or just head for the
mother ship: San Francisco still reigns as the most
gay-friendly, gay-popular, and gay-integrated destination in
the country, if not the world. If your hometown is
still a little stressed in the gay department, a
couple of days in the Castro will do you a world of
good. If you’ve got your passport handy, there's
an easy acceptance of lesbian and gay visitors in
friendly Curaçao—rooted in Dutch
tolerance, filtered through a laid-back island sensibility,
with a touch of Curaçao's singular
progressiveness thrown in.

Take to the Waves

If you want a
full-immersion, all-gay vacation, there’s a flotilla
of enticing cruises to consider. To celebrate the
unrestrained joy of being out, book a berth between
two hot South American destinations—Rio and
Buenos Aires—with Atlantis’s Rio Carnival
Cruise (February 3-15, 2008; AtlantisEvents.com; from
$1899). Those on board will experience a packed
itinerary on Celebrity Infinity, consistently
ranked one of the top three ships in the world by readers of
Condé Nast Traveler. For a more intimate break on the
breakers, RSVP’s Barbados Bliss (March 1-8,
2008; RSVP.net; from $1895) will whisk 227 pampered
passengers from one stunning island to the next by luxurious
private yacht. While guests on these two cruises are mostly
gay men, women have a tempting array of cruises to
choose from, courtesy of Olivia. Ready for a quick
turnaround? Then snap up one of the last cabins
available on Olivia’s 100th trip, Sunsets of the
Mexican Riviera, which sets sail from San Diego
(October 20-27, 2007; Olivia.com; from $2,299). The
voyage includes some of Mexico's sultriest spots, from
Puerto Vallarta to the Sea of Cortez.