Out in the World: An LGBTQIA+ (and Friends!) Travel Guide to More Than 100 Destinations Around the World

by Amy B. Scher, Mark Jason Williams

This first-of-its-kind travel guide explores inclusive destinations around the world where LGBTQIA travelers and their allies can have an uncensored and memorable vacation experience.

Full of fun and practical travel information, this comprehensive guidebook takes you from familiar destinations like Ojai, California, long known for its inclusivity, to surprising spots like Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a small town that has been welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community for decades.

With an eye toward memorable and meaningful experiences, each destination highlights what to see, where to eat, and where to stay—without focusing solely on gay bars and pride parades. Each robust itinerary—a guide to Curaçao’s beaches, Christmas in the Cotswolds, or a kitschy trip to Dollywood—provides all the information needed for a well-rounded vacation that also supports local LGBTQIA communities. With personality-focused chapters such as “Romantic Rendezvous,” “Boozy Trips and Trails,” and “Fun Haunts and Spooky Spirits” there is a destination in these pages for every type of traveler. Veteran travel writers Amy B. Scher and Mark Jason Williams offer can’t-be-ignored advice, including how to plan, ways to be safe while traveling, and important customs to honor while touring abroad.

Here, at last, is the LGBTQIA guidebook you’ve been waiting for—and one that will inspire you to make that bucket list and go out in the world!

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer

304 pages, Hardcover

Published May 7, 2024

About the author

AMY B. SCHER is a bestselling and award-winning author of six books translated into over 20 languages. She teaches and writes on the topics of healing, human-ing, and writing.

She's been featured in Oprah Daily, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, CBS, Cosmopolitan, and more.

Amy lives with her wife in New York City where they spend most of their time planning their next meals, next adventures, or watching another episode of The Golden Girls.


If you'd like Amy to speak at your book club, either in person or by video, feel free to reach out to her via her website or social media.

She can be found at www.amybscher.com and on instagram at @amybscher.

Reviews

[♡Heather✩Brown♡]

This is such a fantastic travel book. If you’re looking for a specific spot or just want to pick one, this is the book for you. It gives you all the information you’ll need and even shows you pictures. Even if you’re not wanting to take a trip it’s a great book to see parts of the country you haven’t been able to.

Great book - I highly recommend this for travel or adventure.

[Natasha Israni]

I love how Out in the World takes a far more intuitive and fun approach to vacation planning compared to other guides, with chapters based on experiences, vibes and themes. The layout and pictures are bright and welcoming, practically radiating joy. I'm enjoying the succinct and easy to read Need To Know section for every place, as well as chuckle-generating chapter titles like Where No One Gets Hangry. This is a gloriously useful book for travel planning for more than 120 destinations across the world for both LGBTQIA + and friends. Highly recommend for travel lovers! 

[Myra]

I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway. My review is authentic and not at all influenced by receiving a free book.

5⭐️

This is a wonderful resource for anyone to have on hand (hence “friends” in the subtitle), but it is an especially helpful resource for travelers who are LGBTQIA+. With current political climates what they are, having a guide full of safe and inclusive travel choices is extremely important. When I entered the giveaway, I had my son and his future travels in mind. That being said, I planned to purchase this travel guide had I not won it.

This travel guide truly did not disappoint. It is broken down into twelve sections and organized by destination type, experience, and vibe. There is an index in the back enabling readers to look up destinations by city, state, or country, for quicker referencing. For the destinations listed, items such as a mini breakdown called “The LGBTQIA + Lowdown,” when to go, where to stay, and what to know are included. Destination descriptions are rich and informative, and many pictures are included. Travel guide readers are even told what to watch out for. For allies, there is a section titled “Be an Ally Out in the World” with helpful tips and suggestions. It is easy to see that the authors took great care when creating this guide.

I was very pleased to see that Ogunquit and Kennebunkport, both in my home state of Maine, made the cut. The chapter titled “Fun Haunts and Spooky Spirits” was an awesome section, because who doesn’t love Salem, Massachusetts? The chapter on holiday season escapes and, conversely, where to escape the holidays, was a favorite as well.

This travel guide would make a wonderful gift or even an excellent graduation present. I can envision bucket lists being created from this travel guide and that very thought makes my heart happy.

[Stephanie Pennetti]

This is such a fun travel book, from the writing, to the pictures, to the colors! I love how it’s organized by vibe/ topic, instead of region. It’s a great way to learn about new places and plan your next travel destination!

[Laura Bone]

Goodreads Giveaway

This is such a cool book and I'm really glad I was able to win it in a Giveaway. The quality is fantastic, and it contains great pictures and illustrations. The descriptions of the various places to visit were well written and (as the book title says) focuses heavily on LGBTQIA+ topics, activities, and inclusivity. Each destination entry provides a small snapshot of the location and its various attractions. I also liked the unique way of organizing the sections by related activities e.g., "Where No One Gets Hangry," "Nature and Nurture," "Can't-Miss Coastal Spots," etc.

Even if I never get to visit these places, it is still a fun book to read through and look at.

[Andrew]

Travel to 100 Destinations in the United States and around the globe in some of the most LGBTQIA+ friendly vacation spots.
Some of them shocked me...Many I wasn't surprised by.
However, I will say, that if you're like me in the Mid-West, you're kind of f**ked. There are a few nearby destinations though.
The book is super helpful with tips, places to stay, things to be aware of, best travel time, memorable activities or places to visit there, and things to do, all neatly bundled into one-page each of these destinations.
Ample pictures provide wonderful views.
Personally, if you want travel spots beyond Florida or New York (which are included), this is going to provide those for you.
Grab your suitcase and enjoy being out in the world!

[Angela]

I loved mostly everything about this book. My only major concern is that they do recommend places that are considered very unsafe for LGBTQ+ travelers — with caveats, yes, but I did feel places like the Maldives, Morocco, and India really wouldn’t be worth the risk for the level of reward you’d be getting by going there. People who aren’t able to pass as cishet would especially have a hard time, and I say this from experience.

So, as long as you fully research locations prior to diving into booking your trip, and don’t rely on this guide as your only source of information, I think you’d be good.

[Adriana]

I thankfully don't have to worry about a place being particularly welcoming/safe, but it's nice to know what open-minded cities are out there waiting to offer some fun and relaxation.

My one quibble is that I would have liked more information about the places instead of the super basic, CliffsNotes version of them, but I get that they had to cram 100 locations and very pretty photos to tempt you with in a finite amount of pages.

[Jaime Stathis]

This book is a MUST HAVE for every home! Reading it feels like sitting next to you well-traveled bestie telling you about all the must-see places around the world. Out in the World is also beautifully put together and the photos have that "Nat Geo quality" and it's a stunner all around.

This book would make a great gift for graduates, weddings, etc.

[Meredith]

This is such a great book!! I love travel books and this one was so much fun❤️🧡💛💚💙🩷🩵🤍🤎🖤 Wonderful pictures and information. Would make a great gift or coffee table book.☺️ I found several places to add to my ‘must visit’ list! Beautiful Book!

[Morgan]

Some interesting places that I want to visit! Some international, some much closer to home, and some places that aren't included at all, which is also interesting to me. Good guide with lots of color, images, and tips for traveling alone, with a partner, and/or with kids.

[Joshua]

This book really helped me find the mall bathrooms with glory holes, a good therapist, and a good church that shows me this type of activity is actually contrary to natural law.

[Sara Neufeld]

A book that is both beautiful and practical -- it looks great on my coffee table and I'll refer to it in planning travel for years to come. I'm also gifting it widely.