From concerts to cruises, Olivia Travel has been creating inclusive LGBTQ+ spaces for nearly 50 years.
The class is 1990 and Judy Dlugacz , co - founding father and president of Olivia Records , has an idea to serve her esteemed but struggling record company . Launched in 1973 using a $ 4,000 loanword — and not - so - surreptitiously named for the1949 classical lesbian novelette by Dorothy Bussy — the mission of the collective was to bypass the predominantly manly financial doorkeeper of the music business , in a sentence when a adult female could n’t even get a credit card without aco - sign from a man(that happened shortly after in 1974 , with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act ’s monolithic passing ) . Olivia Records would make medicine by women , for fair sex , keep the money in the pockets of creator .
The patronage saw some high compass point . They produce the first lesbian anthology , in response to Anita Bryant ’s 1977 anti - brave campaign . They sold out Carnegie Hall for two consecutive nights , at the time the largest single - grossing result at the hallowed space since it open up in 1891 . And they racked up thousands of names on their mailing list .
But being beloved did n’t then — and often still doesn’t — inevitably interpret to Johnny Cash flow . Then one day a fan mused , “ Would n’t it be great to have a concert on the water ? ” Dlugacz , strike by the idea , reimagined it as a four - night sail in the Bahamas with Olivia artist like Dianne Davison and Cris Williamson headlining as entertainment . She scrape up together $ 50,000 for the deposit to charter the SS Dolphin IV , and announced the event to Olivia ’s devoted mailing list .
Not quite a whale, but still works.|Courtesy of Olivia Travel
It was an immediate smash . “ She said ‘ institutionalise in your deposit , and you ca n’t cancel , ’ ” summarizes Tisha Floratos , Olivia ’s vice president of travel and business operation . “ Within hebdomad , the first ship was sold out , and Judy engage a second ship for two back - to - back cruise . That was the scratch line ofOlivia Travel . ”
L is for lesbian… and liberation (also other stuff)
Now , one year shy of their50th anniversary extravaganzaof back - to - back cruises in the Caribbean ( coincidently 50 is the Roman numeral L , “ from Lesbian to Liberation to Love ! ” notes the internet site ) , Olivia Travel is the most influential lesbian travel company in the worldly concern . Throughout their storied history , their programming has been booked by more than 350,000 the great unwashed , ship on 300 trips sweep sail , riverboat vacation , and stamping ground , all of which are rented or engage specifically for Olivia guests . There have been author summits and movie festivals on board , leaders trips with icons like Billie Jean King , and tennis clinics with champion like Martina Navratalova . Continuing the bequest of their melodious roots , performer have include the like of the Indigo Girls , k.d . lang , and Melissa Etheridge .
They ’ve even made history : In 1993 , Olivia visited the Hellenic island of Lesbos , “ probably the largest sapphic pilgrimage in a few millenia , ” Dlugacz has enunciate . And they ’ve also had some sentence in the spotlight . In 2006 , the Showtime seriesThe L Wordintroduced Olivia to the cosmos via time of year two ’s “ Land Ahoy . ” The episode showcased what the sail could be : part Lilith Fair on the sea , part summertime camp , and part feminist seminar , with a dash ofHedonism II .
This twelvemonth , they once againteamed up with Showtime andThe L Word , taking over Punta Cana ’s Club Med Resort for an all - inclusive party with the stars of the currentGeneration Qreboot . Cast members beamed in through Zoom to the 1200 guests , a number that encompasses those first cruises combined .
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The Punta Cana junket was one of 35 trips Oliva has scheduled through 2023 . The barrage represents a reemergence from their COVID - relate hiatus , as they ordinarily average 10 to 15 trips each yr toLGBTQ+ friendly destination , stick in both the guests to the body politic , and the res publica to the guest . “This society has been around for so long , not only creating these vacation experiences for women so that they could feel free , but also creating visibility for LGBTQ+ women , ” says Floratos . “ We go to unlike parts of the world , where maybe there ’s a certain view about gay women . And we come and we get benignity and joy and generosity everywhere we go . ” casing in point ? After dock at a port in Turkey just after the close of the Kosovo war , the guests on board infused so much money into the economy there were articles write about the “ tremendous women of Olivia . ”
Olivia Travel has cover everything from Amsterdam during tulip time of year , Rio De Janeiro , and theAmazonto Africansafaris , theBritish Isles , Japan , Tahiti , Israel , and theGalapagos . You name it , they ’ve gone there — and if they have n’t , they welcome node suggestion .
And yet , even as the world ’s big , most influential lesbian cruise company , helmed by a leader once charge toPresident Obama ’s LGBT Leadership Councilfor his re - election committee , they ’re barely known outdoors of LGBTQ+ circles . Most of the growth has been word of mouth . “ ally secern admirer , Quaker bring friend , ” says Floratos . It ’s fundamentally organic , much like their grassroots commencement .
They know how to do summer.|Photo courtesy of Olivia Travel
Letting it all hang out
Margaret Chotells a jokeabout a gig early on in her vocation , working as a comedian on an Olivia sail . Or as she calls it , the “ sapphic love boat . ” It was to Alaska , an apt choice because , as she explains , “ lesbianslovewhale watching . ” In her standup routine , she quip that there were 800 lesbians onboard , and a whole boatload of play : “ Were you looking ather , orher , orher , orher , orher , orher , orher … ? ” ( You get the word-painting . )
And yeah , if you ’re looking to stamp a sapphic cruise , this is likely what you ’d come up with . And yeah , lesbiansdolove whale watching . Floratos confirms that when it derive to requested trips , Alaska is “ definitely high on the list of where people desire to go . ” But put a group of tribade and trans folk together on vacation , and thing can quickly get off-color , even in the tamest of destiny — like when they ’re naming their horses for a horse cavalry racing event . In Cho ’s recounting , they went with Galloping Clitoris , follow by crowd favorite No Dick For Me .
“ What fix us apart is get entertainment that ’s by the residential area , for the residential area , ” says Floratos . If you ’re looking for folk medicine , poesy recital , funniness , memoir and titillating writing instruction , discussion on lesbian sex activity health , advice from sex therapist , and imaginativeness workshops with a life coach , you ’ve come to the right billet . There are also commitment ceremony . “ It ’s so much more than a vacation that we ’re able to offer for our invitee , ” adds Floratos . “ It ’s recondite , meaningful connections in such a beautiful fashion . ”
And if you need to hold out practically nothing , go to a neon - light ‘ 80s theme company , lounge in a pool while comic recount dirty jokes , and give your horses NSFW names — yeah , you’re able to do that , too .
Like so many queer spaces that come up before it — frombookstoresto back rooms providing places for mingling , plot revolution , or just manifestly live — at their core , these trip-up are places where you could be yourself , candidly , freely , and without worry , while feeling the strength of an in - tune and like - given residential area . In fact many — likethis Twitter substance abuser — don’t pull in how much the load of mainstream society is lift until they actually go through such a magical environment . Olivia even has its own idea song call “ Beautiful Together ” ( lyrics : “ Beautiful Together ; We lift each other up and we ’re feelin ’ free ” ) . And the guests keep on booking . On average , 60 to 80 % of Olivia ’s Guest are repetition customer . It ’s the “ O effect . ”
Finding love, lust, and everything in between
In Floratos ’s 20 - year tenure at Olivia , she ’s seen a striking change in demographic . Whereas in the past they may have skew older and couple up , today ’s guests roll from 21 to 92 year old ( the old guests are called OWLs , or old Wiser Lesbians ) , arriving as friend , couples , chosen families , mothers support daughters , and vice versa . attending issue are also rising for non - binary and trans clientele .
“ On [ the Generation Q ] trip we commence to see more transgender guests get together and have this sense of feel so welcome in the residential district , whether that ’s female to male person or virile to female person , ” says Floratos . “ And there were so many guests that I met and come up to me and introduced themselves as non - binary , or clearly were in the transgender community . And that ’s the beautiful thing about Olivia , as the company continues to grow it ’s beyond just women as well . ”
But the biggest growth in universe by far has been solo travelers . “ We had most 400 solo traveller on the [ L WordGeneration Q ] slip , ” say Floratos . There are so many solo travelers book Olivia trip , in fact , that there ’s now commit solo programming , should you want to participate . “ you may go and have your alone prison term if that ’s what you want , ” enounce Floratos . “ But you know that this is where you ’re gon na have your meals , this is where you ’re gon na sit in the theater for the shows , these are the events that we ’re gon na have during the day , so that you may meet other solos . ”
There’s a multitude of entertainment to choose from every night.|Courtesy of Olivia Travel
And though they do n’t actively promote the “ exclusive ready to amalgamate ” ethos , as Floratos puts it , an Olivia trip-up could easily service as a vacation singles club . Or even a matchmaking service . “ We want solo to feel that they have quad to satisfy other solo , ” say Floratos . “ There have been many guests who have found their love on Olivia . ”
For evidence , depend no further than Floratos herself . 18 years ago , she was approached by DJ Rockaway , the woman who would eventually become her wife . “ I was moderate a recourse , and my married woman was on as a vacationist , ” she aver . “ She came up to me at the end of the hebdomad and said ‘ I ’m a DJ in New York , here ’s my business card — if you ’re ever looking for a disk jockey , call me . ’ ”
A yr later on , they hired Rockaway as regular amusement for the company . Then thing started to happen . “ There ’s an interesting matter about our Olivia team , our entertainers , our DJs — we’re like a veridical family , ” enounce Floratos . “ There were a few geezerhood where we would be on trips together , [ but ] in other relationships . And then on one trip to Punta Cana , we were both unmarried . We ’d always had a heart for each other as friends , and we realized , ‘ My gosh , I think there ’s something a little more than just friendship here . ’ ”
Save one for us.|Photo Courtesy of Olivia Travel
They got hook up with in 2015 , and in what seems like a dream get married life scenario , often do work together in paradisiacal locations . Inspired , perhaps , by her own journeying , Floratos imago writing a book about all the relationships she ’s seen blossom on the trips . “ Where else are you gon na find the love of your life ? An Olivia vacation ! ”
