The price of airline tickets seems to be on the rise, and then there are those darn luggage fees. What person in their right mind can pack a week’s worth of stuff into a carry-on to save some money? (If you have ideas, please let us know!) The cool thing about travel this year is all the amazing hotel deals that are out there. But, is that going to help sway you in one direction or another? Sure, you can save some money by being frugal on your hotel, but this IS vacation, right? Whatever you decide to do, your vacation or staycation should be more than choosing the perfect hotel or finding the perfect flight. It has to ignite a passion in you, a desire to do something you’ve never done before, to see places you’ve never seen.  It’s about a tandem skydive over Phoenix, doing a canopy tour in Costa Rica, or getting a Eurail pass, a map and your backpack and discovering Europe.  Find your passion and share it with us. We’d love to hear all the juicy details!

John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which actually meant that he was a jelly donut, but you can be “ein Berliner” as well for a lot less than you’d think.  Germany’s recently enjoyed a renaissance as the cool capital of Europe.  With comparisons to Manhattan circa Woody Allen’s (and, arguably, the city’s) heyday, Berlin has become a haven for creative types, edgy art, music and a party scene that would exhaust even the most crazy club kids in Chelsea.

Check out the Berghain Club, Germany’s most famous techno club for a high-energy gay scene that get your heart racing.  Afterwards you can recuperate at the Treibhaus Sauna, which really, ‘nuff said.  Of course, you can’t visit Berlin without taking in some culture, so visit the Gay Museum for a history of Gay life in Germany.

Check out these deals, including a package for flight and five-star accommodations for less than a G.

On Gay Travelocity, we’ve just rolled out our European travel packages (sounds sexy, right?).  One international destination that should be on every gay traveler’s agenda is London.  Put aside the cute Buckingham guards in those cheeky fur hats that would make Galliano green with envy, London is home to the largest gay community in Europe and its vibrant culture reflects it (who do you think was designing those fabulous dresses for Queen Elizabeth back in the day?).

Get all the touristy stuff done on the first day and save the rest for real exploration: the unparalleled shopping from Saville Row with timeless tailoring to the fast-fashion shops of High Street, there’s no shortage of ways to drop major Pounds in this city.  If you love antiques, the Portobello Road Market is one of the best in the world for finding fancy treasures to haul back to the US.

And even though Estelle might extol the virtues of an “American Boy,” we’ve always had something for guys with British accents.