These Nomadic Boys Have Gay Travel Unlocked

For over a decade, the Nomadic Boys, made up of couple Stefan and Sebastien (Seby), have been killing it in the social media scene with curated content from traveling the world. What started off by sharing pictures and videos from their travels with family friends has evolved to a full brand, a website, and now their debut travel book, Out in the World: The Gay Guys to Travelling the World. Their mission is to inspire travelers from the queer community and show them all the travel opportunities in the world while keeping things safe and fun.

This Greek/French couple met by chance, or fate, in London in 2009 at a gay bar as Stefan had plans to meet with a colleague and Sebastien was celebrating his decision to move to Spain.

SEBY: It was at the GAY bar in the smoking area. At first, we were both too shy to talk to each other, so as we were leaving, Stefan’s friend went over to Seby and got his number for Stefan.

STEFAN: After a few days of messaging/emailing, we had our first date at Le Beaujolais bar in Leicester Square – it was Friday 27th February, a day we continue to celebrate every year!

STEFAN: It absolutely was love at first sight! I’ll never forget the moment I first saw Seby, those puppy eyes staring at me with the cutest smile you’ve ever seen.

SEBY: I knew it was serious from the moment we got talking on our first date. We had so much in common, everything from our backgrounds, our interests, our music tastes, and most important of all, the desire to see the world!

Needless to say, Sebastien did not end up moving to Spain. They settled down in London and made a comfortable life for themselves, Stefan working as a lawyer and Sebastien working in finance. Their vacation was relegated to two-week holidays during the year, and the couple wanted more.

SEBY: The first thing I said to Stefan at the beginning of our relationship was that I did not want to stay in London forever. I wanted to travel but slowly. I wanted to find a way to make money online so that I could be based anywhere. I wanted to live in places like Buenos Aires and Barcelona for extended periods of time. I remember telling Stefan this. His reply? He took my hand, looked me in the eye, and said, “I would LOVE to go with you!”

The couple saved up their money, left their jobs and life in London behind, and embarked on an 18-month trip through Asia. They knew little to nothing of Asia and decided to explore the continent slowly, sometimes spending one month in each destination, making local friends, and experiencing the land from their queer perspective. They checked off Russia, Mongolia, Japan, China, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia on their travel lists. They started cataloguing their travels. The Nomadic Boys were born.

SEBY: So, our NomadicBoys gay blog started as a way for our friends and family to travel along our big trip in Asia back in 2014. We never intended to become influencers. We just wanted our family to know we were ok and to laugh along to our stories and photos we were sharing. Especially my mother who was always stressed about my wellbeing!

STEFAN: About a year into our Asia trip, we started noticing random people coming to our website. Our content had started ranking on Google for certain gay travel search terms and people were stumbling on our content. At the time there was little information about gay travel, and gay travel in Asia online so we were unwittingly filling a void with our content. At this stage, we decided to publish more content for LGBTQ travelers and at the same time started @nomadicboys across all social media.

After their Asia trip, they returned to Europe for a few months and, seeing their success as influencers, made the big decision to make travel their lives. They set off on another 18-month trip, this time to Latin America. Their vacation turned into a vocation.

STEFAN: The most rewarding thing about being a travel influencer is the positive feedback we receive from people who have read our content and booked a trip or event off the back of it. At LGBTQ events or destinations, we are often stopped by someone who recognizes one of our blog posts or has seen a video of ours on Instagram and we love this.

SEBY: When we were growing up, we had zero representation in the travel sphere from LGBTQ people. To be able to be a part of this representation for a young Stefan or young Seby today fills my heart with joy and pride!

In some cases, they were forced back in the closet for safety and legal reasons but were intent on not boycotting these nations to spread awareness and support the efforts of the LGBTQ communities in these restricted regions.

STEFAN: There are certain countries where being gay is illegal. In these circumstances we need to assess the extent to which these laws are enforced and therefore ascertain the extent to which we need to jump back in the closet – and of course if we want to go!

SEBY: For example, Egypt – it was my DREAM in life to visit the pyramids, but the country has a nasty anti-gay law, and the police actively enforce it using apps like Grindr to target and arrest gay men! So, for this trip, we booked a local gay-friendly guide recommended to us who met us as soon as we got off the plane and stayed with us for the entire trip until we left. We agreed we would function as “friends” on this trip and avoid all public displays of affection. Also, we agreed not to post anything on social media before and during the trip.

STEFAN: We think it’s important to keep visiting these nations. At first, we thought “Absolutely not, we must boycott them!” But very quickly we learned this is not the best solution at all. By avoiding them you prevent the chance of being able to go there and help local gay/gay-friendly businesses. There is also a local LGBTQ community that would benefit from you giving them some form of positive visibility.

@NomadicBoys

@NomadicBoys

@NomadicBoys

@NomadicBoys

@NomadicBoys

@NomadicBoys

Almost 15 years into the relationship, they come as a package deal. Not only are they a power couple on social media, but they run and manage all aspects of their influencer business. How do they maintain a healthy relationship while working and traveling together?

SEBY: We are not only traveling together but managing NomadicBoys together. It’s certainly made our relationship more intense! I always said that the best test for a new relationship is that first big trip you do together. If you can survive that, then you’re both onto a win!

STEFAN: I’ve certainly seen our relationship elevate. We’ve got a better understanding of each of our personalities and temperament. Of course, we argue/bicker all the time – all couples do this, but NomadicBoys has made us tighter, made the relationship stronger.

STEFAN: Oh, there is one simple rule with us – “Seby is always right! A happy Seby is a happy home!” In all seriousness, we work because our personalities are so different but compatible at the same time. I am the driver; I like to get things done and am bored with detail. Seby on the other hand is a perfectionist and wants to spend ages deliberating over every single small aspect.

SEBY: We’ve also appreciated the importance of solo time and do factor in the occasional solo trip. This only helps the relationship and each other in many ways. I have to visit France a lot for family obligations, Stefan has to do the same in London, so this already forces us to separate in a healthy way every few months.

Making their relationship and private life very much public, how are they the most different than the version we see on social media?

We like to think we are exactly as we present ourselves on our socials. Most people say that to us when they meet us in person. Obviously, we don’t post online all the arguments and bickering – not because we avoid doing so, but because we don’t think it’s something people want to see online. We’ve alluded to it on occasions but always tried to give a positive spin on it. Our aim is to inspire LGBTQ travelers with our content, and we truly hope we achieve this.

STEFAN: We used our social media to inspire gay travelers to plan a fun and safe trip. By setting the aim of our posts in this way we’ve already set the standard for the type of content we want to publish. For example, I love the Eurovision Song Contest, Seby’s not so keen, so anything related to this I reserve it for my personal account.

SEBY: Another example, I LOVE gaming, Stefan does not, so anything about gaming I’ll reserve it for my personal account.

Literally having seen the world many times over, what do they want the queer community to understand most about other cultures?

STEFAN: The most important thing to appreciate from other cultures is that at the end of the day, we are all the same! We all want the same thing in life – a good career, success, happiness, a lover. In that way, we have so much more in common!

SEBY: One thing we found is that no matter where you go in the world, there is always a gay scene and LGBTQ community whether open or underground and it’s very easy to make friends with them. They are always eager to show off their culture.

Besides travel, how else does the couple “get away?”

STEFAN: I love baking and binge-watching a show like “Golden Girls” while doing so. I am happiest when I’m in the kitchen giggling away to Blanche and Dorothy’s bants whilst mixing egg flour and sugar…

SEBY: I love playing guitar and computer games.

With their long list of travel destinations, what trip has made the most impact?

Our first trip to Thailand together! We visited early on in our relationship and fell in love – both with the destination and the idea of traveling the world together. We also discovered diving on this trip and wanted more. This trip many many moons ago set the seeds for NomadicBoys.

Growing their travel empire even further, the debut of their first travel book, Out in the World, has been extremely well received.

Our book is our first-person LGBTQ travel guide organized into each continent. We’ve selected our favorite gay destination from each and highlighted the best things to do there for LGBTQ travelers, practical safety tips, and a personal travel story – such as chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland, or gasping for breath at 5,000 meters on the Annapurna Trek in Nepal, or swimming with manta ray on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

STEFAN: Our main goal from our book is for LGBTQ travelers to be inspired and to also be able to plan a fun and safe trip. This has always been our goal from our 10 years of publishing gay travel content online.

SEBY: But most importantly, we want our book to be a part of the conversation for change that needs to happen. Growing up, LGBTQ visibility was almost non-existent. Homophobia thrived from our invisibility in society. As more of us have come out of the closet publicly in the last 20 years, we have forced important conversations in the press and online. It’s when these conversations take place that we start to see progressive change happening for our LGBTQ community.

We want our book to be a part of that change!

The couple continues to be infectious with their positive energy, artful content, and optimistic queer representation. Not only are we jealous of all the travel destinations they’ve been to, but also of the beautiful relationship they have built. After five years of constant travel, they have made their home in Stefan’s homeland of Cyprus. Their multi-month-long trips have given way to smaller trips so they can enjoy their home together. The world is at their fingertips, and we love seeing their journey.

Their message to the queer community this Pride season?

Love yourself no matter what! That *thing* that makes you different from everyone around you is your superpower. Own it, love it, and inspire everyone around you to do the same.

Follow everything Nomadic Boys at NomadicBoys.com