Author Mark Twain once wrote: ‘Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.’ It’s a reassuring thought for traveller Chris Tune, at least, whose latest escapade requires an awful lot of open-mindedness indeed. After 12 years of living and working in London, Tune decided he needed a break from both, and, having never taken a gap year before, decided to take the plunge, have one now, and begin plotting a trip around the world.
After contacting several friends in various cities across the globe, and receiving invites to stay for a few nights as he passed through, our intrepid traveller got to thinking that there might be a way to call on friends of friends, mutual acquaintances and contacts, and find someone to stay with in every city across his trip. With this, life was breathed into what is now Tune’s blog, Twitter feed and Facebook page: 80 Gays Around The World.
‘My mum and sister were a little concerned at first, naturally,’ jokes Tune. You can see their point; there can’t be many gays to stay with in, say, Islamabad. Or Orkney. Or even Norwich, come to think of it. ‘But,’ details Tune, ‘once I explained that I wouldn’t be staying with complete strangers, and that there would, essentially, be a mutual friend who would act as a referee for the people I’d be staying with, well, they came around a little bit.
‘They were also concerned about the practical aspects of going away for a year,’ he adds. ‘You know, what would I do for a job after I got back? What would I do with my flat while I was away? But in spite of that, they’ve been really supportive of my trip.’
The trip itself is going very well. At the time of writing, Tune is staying with ‘Gays 15 of 80’, and his latest Facebook entry reveals that, after just three consecutive nights in the same bar in Memphis, Tennessee, the barman now not only knows Tune’s drink of choice, but also all of his little nuances, too: like how he requires a paper napkin to wipe his fingers after squeezing his lime into his gin and tonic. It’s not a bad life, is it?
Chris Tune (via http://www.80gaysaroundtheworld.com)
Tune’s friends have also been instrumental in making 80 Gays a success. ‘A couple of my friends have been really helpful in getting the website set up, spreading the word about the trip and helping to find places to stay,’ Tune tells me. ‘Some areas are proving a little easier than others,’ he admits, ‘so I have plenty of offers for the States and Australia; but some other places, where I don’t have the contacts, are a little bit harder.’
The blog is helping, too; and while Tune admits he isn’t exactly sure how many gays he still needs to find – he has instead been focusing on getting his trip secured on a month-by-month basis – he’s enjoying the feedback he’s getting on his writing, at least. ‘I’ve never really done any writing before, so I am still finding my way a little,’ he jokes, before explaining that he simply wants the blog to be enjoyable for those people back home, as well as followers that he’s picking up along the way.
As such, as the word about 80 Gays spreads, offers for places to stay are likely to increase, which is only more of a good thing for Tune’s success story. ‘The people I have stayed with so far have all been great: very welcoming and hospitable,’ explains Tune when I ask about his 15 hosts to date. ‘I think it takes a certain person to get involved in a project like this from the host side,’ he adds, noting that people need to be friendly and outgoing, and how that’s certainly helped from his point of view as a guest in their city, and their home.
So, where exactly is Tune headed on his trip? Well, as he explains on his blog, despite his having a colour-coded spreadsheet (cute), his itinerary remains relatively fluid. As it stands his route, which kicked off in June in the US and across East Coast Canada, will see him go on to South and Central America, West Coast America, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, the UK, and then end in a tour of Europe.
‘I feel like I can’t chose one place as a favourite so far,’ Tune comments as he looks ahead to the rest of his trip. ‘Apart from New York, everywhere I have been has been a new place for me to visit, so I have really enjoyed each place for different reasons. I also feel like I will need to take time out from my travels in order to absorb and process everything before I can really pick a favourite place. It’s all been non-stop so far, so I’ve not had a chance to do that yet.’
He does, however, admit, he’s especially excited about being in Sydney for New Year.
‘Ultimately though, the most exciting thing is meeting lots of new people,’ he adds. While he acknowledges the fact that arriving in a new city where he doesn’t know his hosts can be daunting, and that it’s scary to think that he won’t see his family for nearly a full year, he’s most thrilled about meeting so many great people on his travels. ‘It’s really allowing me to see the good side of human nature,’ he says excitedly. ‘I’ve honestly been welcomed so warmly wherever I have been.’
And then, of course, there’s ‘Dean’ (pictured in our main image), a toy mounted police officer given to Tune by a couple of good friends as a leaving present. Now, as Tune’s travelling companion, Dean is having his photo taken alongside famous monuments and alongside Tune’s hosts, has now developed a few fans of his own via Facebook, and has his own page on the blog.
To end, I ask Tune what lies beyond 80 Gays, but he admits he isn’t yet sure (‘Maybe Dean is the future’, he jokes). He says that he’ll probably give more serious thought to what’s next nearer the end of his travels in 2012, noting how, for now, it’s just exciting to see where this adventure takes him. He does say, however, that a lot of people have said the concept [of 80 Gays] could work as a really great book, though: You hear that HarperCollins?
However, we at SSG think there could be a whole plethora of themed blogs for Tune to dip his toe into: (500) Gays of Summer? 30 Gays of Night? 28 Gays Later? Gays of Our Lives?
Well, if he doesn’t take them, SSG will!
If you think you can help Chris achieve his goal of staying with 80 gays across the globe, hit him up via either his Facebook, Twitter, or blog.
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