Who doesn’t know Prue and Becks, the brains behind the former travel blog “Straight on Detour” ?! These two ladies were full-time globetrotters for 7 years, and their articles have been published in the Huffington Post, the Curve Magazine, and the Wanderlust Travel Magazine among others.

We’ve been following their adventures ever since they created their blog in 2013, and… we totally LOVE them ! Last August, this duo decided to settle down in Australia permanently. But as their loyal readers and followers, we know through their Instagram stories that they actually keep exploring in the Land Down Under!

Since we really miss reading Prue and Beck’s authentic articles, we’ve decided to interview them. And to share the girls insights with all the travelers and adventurers out there.

Let’s start with a short introduction…

A big hello from sunny Melbourne, we’re Prue and Becks the ladies behind the computer screens of Straight on Detour.

Prue is Australian born, while I (Becks) am from England. But we were fortunate to meet one another halfway, namely in Thailand while working as scuba diving instructors. We’d both been travelling for some time before beginning our relationship and had gravitated towards diving as a fun way to fund our travels. With the close of the season we took on an adventurous overland through China and Kazakhstan for four months before resettling and collecting some coin. This work hard-travel hard lifestyle is how we lived for five years and which took us all around the globe.

You both traveled solo before you met. How was it in the beginning to travel together as a couple?

We’ve had a lot of laughs looking back at our transition from solo adventuresses to being a loved up couple dealing with each others diarrhoea in a 3rd world country. Before we left our homes in Thailand as a 1 month old couple, we had become really close. We lived together, worked together, partied together and went surfing on our days off together. I would love to say this ‘intimacy’ gave us a head start at becoming the perfect travel couple. But it sooooo didn’t. Looking back, we were embracing the honeymoon period all while trying to blend two totally different travel styles, budgets, personalities and attention spans!

Have you ever found it challenging to travel as a lesbian couple?

I think our initial challenge was to remain culturally sensitive. Be you gay or straight, many nationalities do not respond positively to public displays of affection and when you’re in a new relationship it can be difficult to be discreet. Miraculously, some of the worst experiences we’ve had from the public has been here in Australia when we were ripped apart on the dance floor by a drunk guy screaming “LESBIANS!!!”

Which was the funniest myth or stereotype about lesbians that you’ve ever heard of ?

It’s not the funniest, in fact it’s our biggest pet hate and most constant irritant is being asked  “so who’s the man out of you two?” Obviously one of us must be the cook and the other the mechanic… and having to explain that neither of us fit wholly into traditional male and female stereotypes (just like a lot of modern heterosexual relationships) is draining. For the record, Prue cooks and I take the bins out – how very LESBIAN of us 😛

Which top destinations would you recommend to other lesbian travelers?

Thailand has to be the most open minded place on the planet. And therefore is a great destination to be yourself in public, and order double rooms without any awkwardness. Norway is also really open and inviting, plus it has some of the worlds most incredible hiking scenery. Canada was the first countries to legalise gay marriage. And it’s another warm and welcoming country with an enormous range of diverse landscapes and wildlife. Polar bears, glaciers, moose, grasslands and northern lights… yes please!

After house sitting in the United Kingdom we also found that no one cared if we were gay. Even the christmas cards and birthday cards sections have ‘to my daughter and her girlfriend’.

But I have to enforce that being a couple of lesbians doesn’t stop us from travelling anywhere (other than Iran and Saudi Arabia, we won’t go there out of principle). We are really happy to suppress our PDA and play along when people ask if we are sisters in cultures than don’t quite understand the social progression that our home countries exhibit. We’ve even blamed ordering a double bed in remote Indonesia on only having one mosquito net.

You recently settled down in Australia. What do you think of the gay scene there?

To be honest we are still trying to find our feet after travelling for so many years. All the things we were looking forward to [settling down] are slipping into place. The feelings of actually having a weekend, a fitness plan, avocado babies, having a local rock climbing place and a fresh and consistent diet – it feels good. The next big goal is to make some friends *cringe. Urghh It sounds super lame but it’s true. Mei and Kerstin, get back in touch in a few more months. And we might be a little more useful on the gay scene here.

What’s your advice for someone embarking on his/her first trip?

To be happy on the road you need to figure out something very simple… what do you LOVE? Seeking out what you love will ensure you’re in awe of the destinations you visit and everything else will fall into place.

The best example of this is when we went to Canada. I LOVE animals and I’ve always wanted to find a polar bear in the wild. From that initial thought a 5 month road trip developed, a trip that will remain one of the most significant times in our life when we were surrounded by landscapes and animals.

Also Mei and Kerstin, you once said “monuments don’t make memories”. You made us laugh with that and actually, that advice is spot on too!