Welcome to Queer IRL, a monthly Autostraddle community photo series that gathers little clips of lesbian, bisexual, queer and otherwise-identified women, trans and non-binary folks, just living our lives in 2017.

I gave you two months to vacate your daily activities, travel somewhere cool, and then send me pictures of it! Some of you went on staycations, some of you drove across the country, some of you flew across the globe. Quite a few of you went on your honeymoon! The best part is that you all seem very happy and relaxed and, I presume, ready to kick patriarchal ass well into autumn. Enjoy your community gallery!

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Raquel / 28 / Martha’s Vineyard

“I am watching the ferry dock while waiting to go eat oysters and a lobster roll!! As I live in Texas this is very exciting for me.”

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Gabi / 29 / Croatia and Italy

“At Hvar Island and Walls of Dubronvnik, Croatia, and Venice, Italy, with my wife, Leslie, on our honeymoon!”

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Anna / 18 / Toronto, ON

“When this was taken I had been up for well over 24 hours and had just gotten off my plane. My brother and I were invited to help plant trees for Earth Day and, being the over-enthusiastic tree-hugger that I am, I simply HAD to say yes!

Tree-planting may not be a typical holiday activity (especially for someone who is almost always buried in landscape design projects), but we had a blast! I was totally in my element!”

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Rachel Mongeluzo and Lucy Gross / 27, 26 / Toronto, ON

“This picture was taken in the plaza outside the CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto. Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday this year.”

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Jay, Jordan, Sierra / 27, 26, 26 / Laurel Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

“I’ve seen Boys Don’t Cry too many times so I always get really anxious about getting hate crimed when vacation in rural areas (which is a problem because we really like camping), BUT we actually saw a ton of queers, which was rad. Our 7-day camping trip became a 5-day due to severe storms and a $300 Days Inn excursion in which the wi-fi didn’t even work, but we still managed to have a lot of fun.”

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Olivia / 22 / Moray Firth, near Inverness, Scotland

“I don’t have much time off this summer, so i’ve used it to run up to the highlands, stay in a yurt, and live my ideal eco-queer lifestyle ft. paints and dog.”

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Cait / 27 / Saltburn-on-Sea, UK

“I have a girlfriend!  We went on a bank holiday weekend trip to the seaside and had the best time skipping stones and eating ice cream and being gay as all heck!”

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Emma / 26 / Litchfield County, CT

“A couple former Brooklynite friends moved out here to buy a farmhouse and host a monthly Big Gay Supper Club. We loaded up our cars with dogs and lesbians and spent Memorial Day Weekend in the woods.”

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Jessica / 30 / Liberty Park Jersey City, NJ

“I’m a trans girl from North Jersey currently living in Philly. This was taken by my best friends Memorial Day Weekend when I visited. This outfit plus my current hobbies of gardening and making soap made my best friend laugh and call me a “Crunchy Granola, Earth Mother” we then went on to search crystal dildos and vagina steaming.”

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Sarah Renz / 27 / Lake Union, Seattle

“After 5 years of dating in secret we came out to our friends and families and haven’t turned back. Now 2 years later we are happier than ever and enjoying our summer travels together and out!”

Lynda Kubas / 35 / Tabacón Hotsprings, Arenal, Costa Rica

“Biromantic demisexual water-obsessed queer on holiday in Costa Rica, June 8, 2017.”

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Resmiye and Gizem / 28, 22 / Çanakkale, Turkey

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Tory Domena-Quinville / 32 / Mukwanago, WI

“With Heather Hogan at the A-Camp 8.0 ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ dance.”

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Michelle and Lynne / Middling to High / Sorrento, Italy

“Windswept with Vesuvius in the background! We are from the UK and have spent more time in Italy these past six weeks than at home – probably just as well. Rome in May for the tennis – YES MARGARET COURT, WE’RE EVERYWHERE – and Sorrento for a week with my family in June. Molto Bene!!”

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Lj / 28 / The Philippines

“I went on a quick holiday because it was a long weekend in celebration of a National Holiday. It was the Philippines’ Independence Day and I went on a solo (get it?) mini-road trip and it was fun and refreshing. (San Juan beach, San Fernando City, La Union).

The rest of the weekend was spent in my hometown (Dagupan City) with family and friends, who are basically family, who fed me home-cooked meals. It was a much-needed stress reliever, energy booster, and change in scenery for when this healing-from-a-break-up provincial girl goes back to the big city for work.

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Jenna / 28 / Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY

“In the bustling metropolis of New York City, it is easy to forget that the Atlantic Ocean is just a train ride away. Being a barista (or more generally, working in the service industry) means working when other folks generally aren’t. This is cool because it means we aren’t working when most folks are. I have never seen this beach so empty in the summer time. I think this was a Tuesday or Wednesday. It was a fun day!”

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Pat Denbeau and Emma Madorsky / 31, 21 / Pacific Ocean

“This photo was taken while enjoying a weekend with Emma’s family. It was awesome to have one of those moments where you couldn’t love each other more captured.”

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Grecia / 22 / Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ

“A visit back home, where saguaros wave hello. Tiny desert witch/space cadet takes on astronomy (and 117 degree heat) in the Sonoran Desert, just before a big move to Chicago for graduate school takes over her life. Featured: a thrifted space camp t-shirt, resolving those wistful feelings of having never actually attended it.”

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Madi/ Southeast Missouri

“I usually spend my weekends on my grandparents’ land down in rural Missouri. I will pack a bag and take the ATV all around the land and just explore nature. Its real nice for just relaxing and is what I do on my summer vacation.”

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Hannah and Samantha / 27, 22 / Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA

“Hannah and I live in Perth, Australia and made the 24 hour trek to San Fransisco to visit my parents. Even though I’m from the area, we decided to be embarrassing and go on a segway tour of Golden Gate Park with my mom. We are now pros.”

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Chandra / 41 / Broughton Archipelago and Kootenay Lake, BC, Canada

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Valerie Anne / 30 / St. John, US Virgin Islands

“A group of nine coworkers-turned-friends going on vacation together could have been truly disastrous but it ended up being one of the most relaxing and enjoyable vacations I’ve ever had. The food was all delicious, the beaches were clean and bright and beautiful, the sea turtles were huge and majestic, and I spent about 80% of the time in one body of water or another because I wore swim trunks for the first time in my life and therefore felt comfortable in a bathing suit for the first time in my life.”

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Imogine and Tat / 26, 28 / Westport District, Kansas City, MO

“Tat and I met online in a group chat and slowly moved into our own one-on-one chat. About 10 months later we met in person for the first time and started Officially Dating. We met in Kansas City! Our Anniversary has passed but we still wanted to have a mini vacation in Kansas City to reminisce and also to re-visit our favorite shops and restaurants and cruise the flea markets. This photo was taken at the incredible Air B&B we stayed at(thanks, Alison!). We both live in different cities in Missouri currently so it’s nice to not have to travel far but still go to an awesome location. You’d never think a city in Missouri could be so great but Kansas City really takes the cake. It’s young and hip and has a slew of unique stores to visit. Stores we recommend are: Oracle, a shop that sells taxidermy, bones, stones, and everything you need to complete your spell-casting shopping list, and Aquarius, the most beautiful, chillest(and cleanest) New Age type store we’ve ever seen. As far as restaurants go, Beignet in the City Market is truly incredible and has the best staff and atmosphere. Succotash is another gem, but prepare for a lengthy wait as it’s a local hit. Don’t forget to hit up the booths selling odds and ends in the City Market on a Sunday, you’re bound to find something incredible!”

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Emma / 26 / La Crosse, WI

“Can you tell my brother and I are tourists? Nothing like riding a segway while wearing a bike helmet and stopping for staged photos at city landmarks to really drive home the point. (10/10 would recommend a segway tour though, just know you will get stares of confusion, envy, and annoyance).”

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Hannah Leffingwell / 24 / Opoul, France

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Christina and Lucia / 25, 24 / NYC Pride

“We met while I was in Peace Corps in Guatemala (Lucia is Guatemalan) and still live there. This was taken when went back to the States to see my family and to finally enjoy being OPENLY gay AF.”

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Carmen SanDiego / 37 / Where In The World

Here I am in Sequoia National Park, CA; Devil’s Pool in Victoria Falls, Zambia (you can only visit the Devil’s Pool during summer, the dry season, so the water is surprisingly warm); Roatan, Honduras (it is incredibly loud in that “personal submarine”); Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; American River in Coloma, CA (when your raft the American river you go by Sutters Mill where they first discovered gold in California); Cape Town in South Africa (Surf lesson with the majestic Table Mountain in the background).

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Lindsey Perkins/ 30/ Key Largo, FL

“While visiting my hometown I went out on the boat with four of my best friends. We’ve known each other for 29 years. It was perfect.”

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Jay / 22 / Eugene, OR

“Spent the weekend catsitting Bart and Charlotte (not pictured – very fast) for my best friend of almost 20 years while she went on vacation. Read a lot while cuddling with the kitties; best introvert vacation!”

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Katy / 31 / Coastal South Carolina

“While most of my summer has consisted of the usual reading/writing/meetings/crying cycle that is grad school, I was afforded one wonderful week off to travel with family where I kayaked with dolphins and took in the ocean breeze while exclusively reading things that cannot be found via a PubMed search.”

Julia H. and Claire D. / 18, 17 / Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

“We’re gay girls/friends (not gay girlfriends), on vacation with some other [straight] friends, and this is us after a hike up Mt. Erskine yesterday!”

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Alex Brown and Sadie LaBriere / 26, 32 / Santa Cruz, CA

“We took a road trip to Santa Cruz and spent the day at Shark Fin Beach. Just a couple of bros chasing waves and making memories.”

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Zoë / 22 / Tent near Lake Mývatn, Iceland

“Snapped this photo of Zoë chilling in the tent after a day exploring a lava tube cave filled with ice in Iceland. Yes, she looked that queer the whole day.”

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Sarah / 30 / New York, NY

“My partner and I took a trip to New York for the weekend to hang out with her best friend/partner and ex-girlfriend/partner (very typical lesbian hang, right?). Anyway we were urged to enter the Hamilton lottery and somehow won? This is us before the show started! Our seats were front row and I could literally feel the spit from the actors and actresses raining down on my expectant and exuberant face. I also ugly cried at least four times. Amazing show.”

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Tess / 20 / Pride in London, UK

“I’d been to Pride before, but this year was my very first Pride in London! It was very hot and very busy, but here’s a picture of me being super excited about having a rainbow flag on my face.”

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MacKenzie / 22 / Chicago, IL

“Mini vacation to Chicago for a blues dancing event. Got to listen to a lot of amazing live blues bands at the Chicago Blues Festival, dance all night, and run through the fountains in Millennium Park with a bunch of amazing people fully clothed.”

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Leah and Katie / 30, 24 / Pennsylvania

“Here we are visiting my family in Pennsylvania on the Fourth of July. We went as a fruit salad.”

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Kerri / 33 / Marlboro, NY

“I live in New York and did some house/dog/chicken-sitting for a friend. The definition of upstate? North of wherever you are!”

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Erica / 27 / New York City, NY

“I grew up in New Jersey and spent the entirety of my life hating New York City. Now that I live on the other side of the country, I love doing touristy things in NYC every chance I get.”

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Meg and Abigail / 25, 22 / Cricova, Moldova

“Moldova may not be the first place that comes to mind as a gay vacation destination, but we did our level best to make it one. Pictured here is our excitement to be on a tour of the (very Gringotts-like) Cricova wine cellars. Though we considered sneaking away from the group to become cave-dwelling witch-hermits, our guide was a little too vigilant and we were unable to realize this dream.”

Emily / 26 / Cinque Terre, Italy

“My beautiful girlfriend, Jess, and I took our first holiday together to Italy this June. We hiked along the coastal paths of Cinque Terre (where the photo was taken), then recuperated in Milan and ended with a few lovely days in Venice.

I’ve travelled a lot on my own before but it was infinitely better to be with her. It always is. Here’s to many more adventures together!”

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Geneva / 25 / Minneapolis, MN

“I didn’t really get to go on any fun vacations this summer, but Minneapolis has tons of parks to explore, so I’ve been doing that in my free time as much as possible.”

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Giselle and Olivia / 23, 25 / Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA

“We went on our first camping trip together!”

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Jamie / 30/ Livermore,CA

“Putting the BAE in baywatch.”

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Veronica and Abigail/ 24, 22 / Mañaria, Spain

“Veronica has waged a years-long, entirely successful campaign to get Abigail to like walking.  It has paid off in spades and we summited multiple mountains!  Unfortunately, Abigail was less excited about sunscreen application than she was about walking and is now bright red.”

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Megan / 27 / Orlando, FL

“This is the most unapologetic, unflatteringly honest photo of my entire essence. I am unironically wearing a Margaritaville shirt and a BEES hat, which is a fake softball team my friends and I made up so that we could order fun hats for my friend’s birthday a couple years ago. These hats are wonderful for finding each other in theme parks. We went to this mini golf place between checking out of our rental home and heading to the airport.”

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Roxy / 26 / Puerto Rico

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Priscilla Kennedy / 28 / Mount Hood, OR

“Mini Weekend getaway to Oregon with my beautiful wife for her cousin’s wedding! Awesome time with amazing people!! Loved Portland!”

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MB Stanton / 30 / Bellingham, WA

“Here we find this city queer perched up like the tree king they actually are, on an natural rooted seat in the middle of a forest.”

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Tracy Buchholz / 38 / Glen Onoko Falls Trail in Jim Thorpe, PA

“Spent the summer of 2017 checking out every hiking spot my gay buddies and I could find in the Northeast. Great friends, great exercise, incredible views (and waterfalls). Up in August… Whitewater rafting!”

Marissa / 23 / From Houston, TX visiting New York City, NY

“Went to Brooklyn/NYC to see Fia (left) and Autumn (middle), my best friends from A-Camp! This pic is from NYC pride.”

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Hannah / 25 / Cap d’Ail to Monaco

“Picture is taken on a windy walk from Cap d’Ail to Monaco on a vacation with my parents and brother (such is the life of a poor (and single) student).”

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Melia / 21 / Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

“This is the strongest aesthetic I will ever pull off in my entire human life. My first time camping, with my favorite girl gang.”

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Grace and Maureen / Pride in Northampton, MA

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Paige, Judy, and Kass / Washington DC

“Mini-reunion vay-cay in DC featuring 3 members of last A-Camp’s Starstruck Cabin!”

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Clellie / 21 / Student / Ludington, MI

“At Bait N More on the first morning of our first ever family vacation. We found a gluten free food truck for breakfast. It was parked between a live bait shop and a putt-putt golf course. It was called Don’t Worry Beach Happy. Here you can see me wearing the queerest (and warmest) clothes I had packed. Plus a sweatshirt revealing my East Coast prep school past. It was 60ºF. In July.”

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Rhiannon / 24 / Donegal Ireland

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Tori Cárdenas / 25 / Waikiki, Hawai’I

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Tia (she·her), Charlie (they·them), and Elora (she·her) / 25, 25, 23 / Phoenix, AZ

“My best friend, Charlie, and their partner, Elora, and I vacation together fairly frequently (#thirdwheel) and we revisited Arizona (coming from Minneapolis/St Paul, MN) over my birthday this June. We spent a few days eating tacos in Phoenix, a few days with the old dykes of Tucson, and we made several new dog friends along the way. The shirts were a hit, I spotted one on tinder once and we had to find them for ourselves. Our gaybaecation seemed like the perfect debut.”

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Molly Priddy / 32 / North Fork of the Blackfoot River, MT

“This is a selfie of me on my ideal summer vacation, which is getting in my car and driving to meet up with pals in some of the wildest areas in Montana and playing around in them (the places not the pals). As you can tell, I am stoked on life.”

Nora / 29 / Long Island, NY

“This is me, my excellent cousin, and his wonderful girlfriend. We had a fun day at the beach, and then later I saw Julie Andrews IRL and my sun poisoning manifested!”

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Siobhan / 29 / My grandparents house

“I’m here helping out while my parents are on a real actual holiday abroad but I’m one country down and its hot so that’s a vacation right? Plus grandad keeps producing sweets from nowhere.”

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Casey Stepaniuk / 32 / Salt Spring Island, B.C.

“Salt Spring is actually my home town, although now that I live in the city it feels like a holiday going there to visit family because it’s so beautiful and green and rural! Here I am in the woods where I went for a walk with my sister and my partner. I found this cool deer skull and decided to pose with it as if I were a person who knows anything about science and could look at a skull like a scientist would.”

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Nicole / 20  / Ontario County Park

“Self-proclaimed nature lesbian. I visited some parks over the weekend to get some fresh air. I sit behind a desk on the computer all day at work so I go explore nature as much as possible. I try to get out of the virtual world and into the real one.”

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Kat / 26 / Chicago, IL

“At a Pitchfork port-a-potty, celebrating annual music festival bowel disturbance!”

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Katie / 30 / Nashville, TN

“The Lipstick Lounge feels like it could be anywhere, but this particular one is in Nashville, TN, along with my best friend (pictured on the left).”

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Lynne McCabe and Ruth Robbins/ 41 / Crear, Scotland, and Rhodes, Greece

“Here are a few pictures of my new wife and I on our wedding and honeymoon in both Scotland and Greece. We live in Houston, TX, but got married on the west coast of Scotland where I, Lynne, am originally from, then we headed to magical romantic Greece.

The first picture shows our first dance at the wedding, the second, third and forth are by the pool at our glorious and super queer friendly hotel, The Lindian Village and the third one shows us atop the Acropolis of Lindos.

What makes all of this sweeter still is that up until January of this year, I was using a wheelchair because of my severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus. Due to dramatically changing my diet and coming off steroids and all the other drugs I was on, I was not only able to dance at my wedding looking great after losing 80lbs, but also able to walk up a million stairs to the top of the acropolis!”

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Tali and Annie / 25, 27 / Washington, DC

“My girlfriend came out this year. We celebrated Pride in so many ways! She’s brilliant, beautiful, and bisexual and I’m *~shook~*. Q: What do you get when you mix Saturday + Being Queer™ + 90s glam + Pride kickoff? || A: Chicks who slayyyy.”

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A bunch of kickass queers / Woodbridge, VA

“We were cabinmates at A-Camp 7.5 and traveled from around the country to the D.C. area to reunite at the wedding of two of our cabinmates! We spent the evening crying through the beautiful ceremony, drinking the best wine we’ve ever tasted, taking over the dance floor, and sharing feelings in a gazebo.”

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Hanna / 18 / Oklahoma

“This was taken on a trip up the West Coast I took with my mom  before I start college. We started in San Francisco for Pride and ended in Vancouver. This is at the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum in Seattle.”

Wilson Rae / 24 / Philadelphia, PA

“I took my first real, adult, paid vacation this summer, with my favorite people in the world. It was a much needed break from a job that made me miserable. I was hired for a new job just a couple weeks before this vacation, which made relaxing while we were gone so much easier, and getting to leave my old job when we got back was amazing. We had a great time seeing a bunch of museums, eating good food, and getting a little lost (other wise it wouldn’t be an adventure). A great start to what’s been an amazing summer.”

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Molly Rangiwai-McHale and Luisa Tora / Wainadoi in Fiji

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Eddy / 22 / Badlands National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park

“I drove cross-country with my family this summer and stopped at a bunch of national parks. It was super fun and interesting for my geologist self.”

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Emily / 30 / Edinburgh, Scotland

“This was taken at the top of Arthur’s Seat. I’m not even remotely outdoorsy, so I spent most of the climb whining…but it was very pretty and very worth it. Post-hike pub crawl didn’t hurt either.”

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Emma / 29 / Austin, TX

“Ive struggled with my identity and sexuality since I was a preteen. I’ve finally, at 29, started coming out as queer and feeling so much more honest and free. This summer, I spent a lot of time recovering from a hard year of grad school and visited Austin for the first time. I went to the graffiti park and had a blast!”

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Laurie / 28 / Smithers, BC, Canada

“I went to visit my bestie Carly and her friend (now MY friend!) Maya up in northern BC. We went to Hyder Alaska for the 4th of July which was quite an interesting experience. Here’s a pic of us in Hyder, I’m in the middle, Carly is on the left, and Maya is on the right.”

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Vanessa / 28 / Autostraddle Community Editor

“So, full disclosure, I had set aside six months of this year to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and then I…didn’t finish hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. More details on that as soon as I get my brain together to write a feelings-filled essay – soon, I promise. But I’ve been trying to make the most of the time I took off work to go on as many mini vacations and adventures as possible, and it’s been working out really well! Here are a few of my favorites so far.”

Battleground Lake, Washington “My girlfriend, Alley, loves bike camping, and I’d never done it before, so we decided to try it out together for her birthday. We invited some friends along and it turned into a very cute queer weekend. There were six of us total, and four of us biked and two of us drove, THANK GODDESS, because biking 30 miles to the campground was VERY HARD and I absolutely could not do it on the way home so luckily we were able to fit all our bikes on bike racks/in the cars and drive home luxuriously. Also thanks to the two babes who drove we were able to have a very fancy camping experience with cheese and champagne and fire wood and a rug as opposed to a rugged typical bike camping experience with like, hot dogs and a mini stove, ya know? Anyway it turns out I do not love bike camping but I do love lakes, queers, champagne, and my girlfriend, so all’s well that ends well!”

“One of my best friends works at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington (because she’s a total fucking badass nature diva) and as such, she is able to reserve any of the structures in the park to camp in. Last weekend she reserved a fire lookout and we camped there for two nights! It was so incredible – the hike to get to the lookout was steep and I found it a bit difficult, but ultimately it was so, so worth it. We had a perfect view of Mt. Rainier for the whole weekend and on our last morning there we woke up above a blanket of clouds. It was magical.”

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado “Every year my mom and I pick a place neither of us have visited and then we go there together and explore! It’s very cute and very fun and I love it a lot. This year we picked Colorado, and even though my mom is not outdoorsy in the least, she humored me and agreed to spend a day at Rocky Mountain National Park. She even went on a FOUR MILE HIKE with me, because she’s a total boss, and then wrote a really cute Facebook post about it saying she would treasure the day forever! I love my mom.”

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Lara Aschenbrenner and Linda Witke / 27, 30 / Koh Samui, Thailand

“Love Asia and travel, so we decided to take a longer “vacation” here and are currently study in Bangkok, originally we’re from Germany.”

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Courtney and Dora / 24, 30 / Lesbian Lake, Oregon City, OR

“We went on this camping trip a week into seeing each other because nothing tests a new relationship like spending a weekend camping with all your friends at a place called Lesbian Lake! Its the new U-Haul!”

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Kate / 38 / Scarborough, England

“Quintessentially British seaside holiday… in summer…in July… in the rain. (My Mother was jubilant that the cold meant no shorts – which means she couldn’t see the tattoos on my legs. I am mildly convinced she controls the weather.)”

Emily / 23 / New York, NY

“My family went to Zion Canyon in Utah in the middle of June during a heat wave. There were stunning views the whole time but because I’m from the east coast I spent the whole vacation complaining about the 113 degrees, so here I am atop the canyon clearly thinking more about my problems than this breathtaking image. My sister is both more chipper and significantly more active so she kept making us stop to take pictures and I would gripe every time and she would say we’d come to appreciate all the photos in the end and well she was right.”

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Korrine Wojcik / 31 / Kalamazoo, MI

“I found this adorable shot of my friends and I having what we call a “day-cation” at Lake Michigan in South Haven, Michigan.”

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Caissa / 27 / Troy, OH

“My partner and I drove from Minnesota to Ohio last month to see her best friend get married. It was incredibly casual and incredibly fun (the superhero theme didn’t hurt either). And I got to wear a tuxedo t-shirt!

We went outside after the party and found a train track, where we both took pictures. She took this one of me, and I haven’t felt this powerful in a long time.”

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Mary Anne / 17 / Northern Michigan

“This is me being super stoked about seeing a rainbow on one of the last days of pride month and subsequently making my friends take about a thousand pictures of me with it.”

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Madison and Hope Rorschach / 22, 21 / Fort Worth, TX

“We got married on Saturday, July 22! There’s a picture of us during the ceremony, when our INCREDIBLE officiant Mey Rude began reading a personal message from Brittani Nichols, followed by messages from Yvonne, Rachel, Heather, and Riese. Then our first dance, which was to “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds. The group shots are of all the queers in attendance. The smaller group is wedding party queers plus Mey and Cecelia, and the bigger group is of every queer person I could find. Immediately after these pictures, we went and danced to “Let’s Have a Kiki” by the Scissor Sisters. Naturally we had memorized and practiced the dance for it in the months leading up to this.”

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Claire and Claire / 23 / Grand Canyon, AZ

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Yvonne Marquez and Gloria Delgadillo / 26 / San Francisco, CA

“My partner and I decided to visit the Bay area because it has a good mix of city life and nature, which is the perfect combination of things we want out of a vacation. We hiked for three solid hours at Muir Woods, saw Be Steadwell in concert in Berkeley, ate at a bomb-ass vegetarian Mexican restaurant, Gracias Madre, walked all over Chinatown and the Castro, checked out mural art in the Mission District, chilled at Dolores Park, had so much fun at a queer dance party in Oakland, and explored Pier 39. But my all-time favorite part of our vacation was when we took the bus to Baker’s Beach to get an excellent view of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was sunny and the weather was perfect! Gloria and I hung out on the beach all day and people watched. In my day-to-day life, I don’t really ever get to pause to take in a moment because there’s just so much to do! At Baker’s Beach, I sat looking out at the ocean and just felt grateful to be there, feeling the sand underneath my feet and sitting on a log with the woman I love the most. If I’m being completely honest, I was also grateful I wasn’t staring at a computer screen.”

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Harley / 21 / Ontario County Park, NY

“I’m a 21 year old butch mechanical engineer, and this shot was taken while I was relaxing from a long week of work at Johnson and Johnson and an even longer week of chasing women.”

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Maggie / 23 / Ocean City, MD

“My partner took this photo while we were at on vacation at our favorite restaurant called On the Bay, which is ironic because it’s actually on the ocean side of the city. We shared a pitcher of beer and then went to the boardwalk where they won a giant Pikachu from a claw machine!”

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Stephanie / 24 / Ocean City, MD

“Just me flexin’ during a quick beach getaway with my family. Applying for jobs sucks hard so I’m trying to have fun whenever I can.”

Beth Maiden / 34 / Isle of Canna, Scottish Highlands

“The Isle of Canna is one of the Small Isles in the Hebrides – it’s five miles long and full of puffins and skuas and eagles and wildflowers and ancient burial tombs and the Grave of the King of Norway (I know). I’m not usually one for beach holidays but this deserted white sand beach had me lazing in the sunshine for hours.”

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Susanne Salehi / 29 / Somewhere in Roosevelt National Forest, CO

“I love this photo of me, which is really neat because that’s normally hard. It struck me that this is the me I’d always hoped I’d be when I was a little girl. This hike was beautiful but brutal: 9 miles round trip, and I had to turn back less than half a mile away from the end of it because the weather changed quickly and a hot summer day turned into freezing rain. It’s a relentlessly uphill hike, with lots of waterfalls and gorgeous mountain views. I pulled a muscle in my groin doing it! Worth it. Anyway, this photo represents so many things to me: independence, freedom, being the badass I always hoped to be.”

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Jaime Lazich / 30 / In-N-Out Burger at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, CA

“About to partake in the greatness that is In-N-Out during a fantastic summer trip to The Bay.”

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Dijana, Octavia, Ella / 34, 11 months, 28 / Hamilton Island, Australia

“We took Octavia on holiday when she was 6 months old. We found out she’s a big thrill seeker. She loved the turbulence on the plane and laughed hysterically when Dijana got seasick on a boat. I don’t know if I’m ready for that but she’s gonna do her either way.”

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Kris H / 34 / St Anthony, ID

“I went to meet up with one of my (biological) sisters in Idaho to do some weird Mad Max dunebuggy shit. I felt super gay, and super alive because everything was wide open space and huge dunes.”

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Sandra and Jay / 40 / Hannover, Bremen, Berlin, Rome, Madrid

“We like to spend out holidays by touring different cities. This year our hobby might have gotten a little out of hand. In March we spent a weekend in Hannover to visit the opera. In May we made a trip to Bremen, just to get out of our daily routine for a while. In July we went to see U2 in Berlin. From there we flew to Rome, came back home for two days and then travelled to Madrid. Now we‘re on the couch trying to relax from hard-core holidaying.”

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Tess and Ellie / 21 / Students / Washington

“We’ve been best friends for 10 years, and while normally we only get to see each other at the holidays because we study at different ends of the UK, this year we spent a whole 10 months apart while studying abroad. We reunited in San Francisco and took the road trip of a lifetime up to Seattle through Oregon. Most memorable, queerest moment: arriving at a gas station after a tense few miles running low, only to see the most stunning, coolest looking lady in a leather jacket on a motorbike, whose smile got us so flustered we nearly drove off with Tess’ wallet on the roof of a car.”

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Lark Malakai Grey / 30 / Northern Michigan

“The unicorn’s name is Gwendolyn, and you have to take a kayak paddle with you when you float on her because just like a real unicorn, she goes where she wants.”

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Kristen McElveen / 40 / Wells, ME

“I was tempted to keep paddling until the lambs stopped screaming, but then I remembered I had a pork butt in the crockpot.”

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Naimah / 26 / London

“My fiancée and I (her right, me left) at London pride. She is actually from London and I was visiting for the week. We meet these cool leather guys and had to get a pic.”

Austin, Joyce, Terrell/ 29, 27, 28 / Three Sisters in Katoomba, Australia

“Celebrating after the 2nd annual International GAF (Gay AF) Caucus, an organization started in Ljubljana, Slovenia during a year-long trip that resulted in matching tattoos (not a cult, promise). Not pictured: wine, block of cheese, Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”.”

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Ali / 33 / Lisbon, Portugal

“I couldn’t afford to go back to San Francisco like I wanted this summer, but I somehow managed to pick the most San Franciscan city in Europe instead (seriously, look up the 25 de Abril Bridge and those hill gradients!). This photo was taken in a little courtyard we found by a church on my first day there, the pink flowers that’d dropped were all dried into the perfect confetti to throw around.”

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Jamie / 29 / Maine

“This pic was taken at a pitstop at Allagash Brewery on our way to Acadia National Park last summer. My friends and i rented a large creepy house on top of a mountain with a old quarry as a swimming pool. We ate, drank, hiked, played board games and relaxed for a week. The weather was perfect and the air was clean. A nice change from dirty jersey. Here i am in my happy place trying some beer (I wound up drinking most of this beer and passing out in the car for a few hours as my friends drove…oops). My friends aren’t photography skilled so no cool action shot of me running up a mountain.”

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Jen Nalbantyan / 32 / Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah, GA

“My wife and I live in Chicago. We met nine years ago this month in Atlanta and (very) shortly thereafter took our first road trip through Savannah and on to Tybee Island (aka trashy tybee – if you know, you know). We decided to be nostalgic and revisit some old haunts. This is a picture of me which I’ve tentatively titled “Stussy draped in southern moss.””

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Katrina / 34 / Bellingham, WA

“Post-Bellingham Pride, enjoying a sunny afternoon by the water in all my rainbow glory.”

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Amanda and Jess / 29, 24 /Rochester, NY

“First couple’s vacation together! We went to the Museum of Play and the Owl House. We love reading Autostraddle together and separately.”

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Fia / 27 / Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Playing tour guide at the Met is a favorite past time, followed by hot dogs and ice cream on the infamous steps. What better way to celebrate the anniversary of The Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler than with an in depth exploration of the Temple of Dendur?”

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Shauns and Sam / 23 / Victoria By The Sea, Prince Edward Island, Canada

“We left Ireland to go exploring the East Coast of Canada, Sam’s childhood home, and found dinosaurs at the Discovery Centre in Halifax and hot chocolate in Victoria by the Sea with Sam’s trusty old polaroid in tow.”

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Emma / 28 / Spain

“This is me buying olives in the central market in Valencia. I’m 28 and I’m a PhD student in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, in the Netherlands.”

Tasha and Devon / 24, 25 / Rainbow Falls, Hawai’i

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Sophie and Samantha / 26 / New Orleans, LA

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Jenna / 31 / Newfoundland

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Emma / 36 / Wisconsin

“The theme of my vacation photos is beer and bluegrass!

I always like to start off my summer with a music festival, so the first two are me at Blue Ox Festival in Eau Claire, WI. Listening to bluegrass and drinking beer in a hammock.

The second two pics were taken just this week during my staycation. I’ve spent the week going to every brewery in Madison and surrounds.  New Glarus Brewing is my favorite for the atmosphere and the grounds, also damn delicious beer.”

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The next Queer IRL gallery theme will be announced Friday, August 4!

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