OREGON S GAY/LESBIAN/BI/TRANS NEWSMAGAZINE
JUNE 12 2009
|7
PERSONALITIES
Travel writer Andrew Collins who made
a name for himself as the author of
the original Fodor s Gay Guide to
the USA. is the mastermind behind
About com s popular Gay Travel Web
(gaytravel about com). The site offers
an ever-evolving database of gay
friendly travel destination synopses, as
well as information on gay. lesbian, bi
and trans film festivals, and gay pride
events
for when they’re reading about travel.
“I think a lot of it is just birds of a
feather. We like to be able to identify with
the people who are reading.”
This ethos has occasionally backfired.
“People have gotten annoyed that I’ll
write about places that, for whatever reason,
they don’t feel I should be writing about,”
he said. “Most recently Utah; some people
got a little bit annoyed that I continued to
write about Utah because of Prop 8. But,
yeah I did, and I do.”
Collins has, of course, traveled the globe
over, but he has trouble adhering to a set
answer about exotic locales, or surprising
destinations - “I’m pretty much always
comfortable when I’m traveling somewhere
where I can at least read signs,” he joked.
Perhaps most shocking is that he has yet to
speak any foreign tongue.
“My greatest strength as a travel writer
is I have impeccable sense of direction — I
can find things immediately,” said Collins.
“But I speak no other languages and it’s
a big problem. I speak ‘menu French’ and
‘menu Spanish. ”
Above all, though, the question of Col-
lins’ draw to Portland - of any place on the
planet - to “reside” emerges as the foremost
inquiry. After agreeing to visit Portland
on a press junket - not one of his favorite
things, mind you - he met and befriended
Penny Trumble, more widely known as an
inspiration for the “Penny Lane” character
in the film Almost Famous.
“I met her on this trip and we really hit
it off,” explained Collins. “She said to me,
right after meeting me, ‘You have to move
here, there’s just no question. This is the
perfect city for you.’ So part of it is that
when Penny Lane tells you to do some
thing, you do it. Two months later, I moved
here.”
That, and “Portland, for whatever rea
son, seems to completely embrace the ir
regularity of my schedule,” he joked.
As for the town’s culinary bragging
rights, “I would put [Portland] up there,
honestly, with any city in the country...”
gushed Collins. “That’s a big part of it, too.
No question, the only other city, and par
ticularly for the size of the city, I would put
New Orleans on the same level. But New
Orleans is a little, let’s just say, a little less
healthy.”
Coming from a world-renowned travel
writer, I think it’s safe to say we can file
that one away in our resume, vlffi
Kw/Z blogout.justout.com for the full tran
script of Collins' interview.
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