Else & Ilse | LGBTIQ+ adventurers

We are addicted to traveling. So when COVID-19 put so many travel restrictions on us, we certainly agreed with the measures, but we also knew that we would miss traveling a lot.  When the numbers of new infections started to drop and travel restrictions were slackened, we carefully went on a three-day hike not too far from Cologne . A month later, we joined Else’s family on a family vacation in central Germany . And when Ilse’s birthday approached and travel in Europe seemed okayish again, Else planned a birthday present that would bring us to Paris. Yet, during summer time when everyone goes on vacations (and apparently many don’t care to wear their face masks), infections were bound to rise again.  Not surprisingly, a couple of days before our journey to Paris, Else had to reveal the destination of our surprise vacation so that we could discuss together whether we should go or stay at home: infections in France, particularly in Paris, reached critical numbers. We finally dec...

"Ever had a threesome?" "Hello. Can we have sex all three? Are you active or passive during sex?" "I reduce stress by putting my 10 inches between two sets of lips like those." As probably every other lesbian couple, we regularly meet (well, 'meet') men who objectify us, who use us for their sexual fantasies. Living in Cologne with a rather diverse population—a recent study speaks of 10.6% queer identifying people in Cologne, while just 6.9% identify as LGBTQ+ in Germany's total population—we experience this objectification only occasionally. But as soon as we leave the city and travel in regions where queer people are less open with their sexuality and gender (or left for more open cities), sexual harassment, remarks, and salacious gestures are part of the experience. Representing our lives on social media has intensified this issue. Sometimes, we don't get any obvious messages or comments in days. At other times, we get a few within a day...

[SERIOUS CONTENT WARNING: THIS IS CHEESY!] Today is Ilse's birthday and for me, this is the most important day of the year! This day celebrates the birth of my favorite person and I am beyond grateful to have her in my life. As you know, we met on Tinder  about one and a half years ago and didn't expect anymore that we would find a person we would  really like on this platform. Additionally, I had a serious shortcoming: my bangs! Ilse didn't like bangs at all, but she states that she does like them now. (I would give them up for her, though!) A couple of weeks later, we went on our first date; our second date eight days after that made it obvious: we might be right for each other. Ever since, we are inseparable. We go on the most amazing vacations (remember our posts on Portugal and Belgium ?), have outdoor adventures while hiking, canoeing, or cycling, and explore our city in the best way possible. But our biggest adventure so far is still to come: moving in together! We...

About a week ago, we went on another adventure exploring Germany and stayed in a tiny village in Hesse (central Germany). Else's mom had planned this trip as a family vacation for Else's siblings, their partners, and Else's nephews. Not far from our vacation home was the 'Lochbachklamm,' a small valley with fourteen wooden bridges. The valley was part of a shortish hiking trail of about 8.5 kilometers and our host strongly recommended it. The next day after breakfast, we started out to find the bridges. It wasn't easy to combine the interests and abilities of eight adults and three children. One of Else's sisters and her partner were taking selfies (or asked others to take pictures) all the time. Her brother wanted to get on and was annoyed about all the breaks. Her other sister and her husband are not accustomed to physical exercise and insisted that we shouldn't walk the entire trail and should just go to see the bridges. As soon as we left our vacatio...