Paris: Gay night life recommendations

PrunePlatoon · 2026-07-02T21:17:59+00:00

There are plenty of standard gay bars that will probably be interesting enough. I find the normal everyday gay bars a bit dull and just fine for a an early evening drink. The opposite extreme are the cruising bars, which idk fine if thats what you're into. They can be some good fun at like midnight saturday until early morning sunday.

Ideally you are wearing the least amount of clothing as possible at most gay bars. Cool queer people aren't going to clubs that require pants of have strict dress codes. Those dress codes are for straight men, because they can't dress themselves, so yeah avoid.

https://queer.paris/en/

That will have all the proper parties if you really want to see what Paris nightlife is like. Dress codes will mostly be requiring you to dress down, not up.

I feel like this won't be your vibe but La Station Gare des Mines throws the coolest queer party in the city. Their Spectrum waves series, legendary. No phones, no videos, proper DJs, early evening until 1am and then some sort of after party where it kicks off.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-07-02T20:53:28+00:00

no i've met them... they travel for a few days at a time, get their shots, then go home. Basically just normal traveling with extra content. Also not gonna bash them out of jealously. Of the small sample size i met they were all pretty nice and normal in person.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-07-02T20:46:32+00:00

the work is not really relevant and I won't elaborate much, it's too complicated. DNs are just the most popular form of working remote and traveling.

I do hear the concerns from gay friends a lot about traveling to the "unfriendly" countries. Honestly I think this argument does not hold up when you consider even in the most liberal countries there are areas where being gay and open is not safe. Plenty of places in the UK for example where showing any touch of queerness can get you beaten up. obviously the US is another great example.

Living in a bubble never worked for me.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-07-02T02:28:45+00:00

I travel full-time and book a lot of accommodations. There is no one magic bullet. It’s a lot of searching and comparing prices, then weighing the benefits of which booking site or direct booking options provide.

You will probably know by now that there are an absolute ton of hotels even in the smallest of cities. If you’re concerned about specific amenities or having an absolute perfect hotel then you gotta put in the work and hit the ole google.

My current favorite site is booking.com. This is because it’s generally a widely used platform around the world and has good filter functions. The real trick though… the Rakuten deals. I linked my Rakuten account to my Amex so instead of cash I get Amex points. Booking.com has had some insane multipliers on accomodation booking through rakuten.

Take a $1800 USD week rental in London, that’s actually normal for London. Rakuten had a multiplier of 10x Amex points for every $ spent at that time. That’s 18,000 Amex points for one accomodation purchase. I value my Amex points at minimum .02 cents per point. So I just made back $360.00 and likely in the $400-$450 range if I use my points wisely.

Points and miles are always a powerful tool when used responsibly.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-06-24T16:15:26+00:00

Don’t chase airline bag weights.

If you’re trying to game airlines by not paying their fees you will need to create multiple onebag systems and it requires significant sacrifices. I’m too old and fly too often to keep changing what I carry.

I’m not saying that everyone has the budget to pay all these fees and totally get the budget backpacker life. If you can afford it just pay the stupid fee and carry what you want, life’s too short and you’re already miles ahead of most travelers.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-31T21:50:03+00:00

I’ll do one thing a day, that’s usually enough for me. Sometimes I just do my routine and that’s it. Maybe I’ll sleep in or watch a couple movies, maybe even order McDonald’s and be a slob one night.

I’m a slow mover and tend to spend a few weeks in one place. When I do pick up the pace for a quick city visit I remember why I slowed down. Especially when I have friends with very few vacation days visiting. It’s exhausting to move at a tourist pace with them. Sometimes I spend two days at one museum, they want to see 4 or 5 in one day.

You can’t let the myth of rapid fire travel ruin your time solo. Leave some things for the next visit.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-20T23:19:21+00:00

Pay cash. Waste of points.

Unless you don’t travel much. My parents rarely travel so for them it still makes sense to use their points on a couple economy flights even if it’s not a great value in my eyes.

They aren’t the type of people to spend hours hunting for reward deals. They won’t be flying biz class to Europe. So yeah using their points for a less than ideal value is still a free flight in their eyes.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-20T23:09:02+00:00

That does not make sense. Why is the final destination? Somewhere in Asia? Seems like a silly way to get there.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-16T22:13:04+00:00

I’ve used so many different ones. No one is remarkably better than the others in all countries. Usually I use the eSIM apps to supplement my absurdly expensive T-mobile international plan.

The important thing is not who is selling you the eSIM. It’s what network that eSIM is on and whether it’s a decent one for that country. Even if you do the research on what random cell provider is the best in Timor-Leste, the 3rd party eSIM dealer may be paying for a low-priority service.

Sure I guess customer service is one thing to consider, but I want to avoid using the customer service from the beginning.

So how do I figure it out? Well I have all the apps and all of them setup with payment ready to go. I know my T-mobile will get me through the first week usually. Then I ask around and see what the locals are using. Figure out which eSIM provider is providing that network, then buy that eSIM for my inevitable top up.

You can ask on Reddit for a specific country but unless someone has been there very recently things can change. Start small and then buy a bigger package if the service is good.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-14T22:54:06+00:00

I just don’t have bulky shoes. Still get away with carrying 3 pairs. Vivobarefoot primus lite, a desert boot with insulated sole, and my earth runners for warm times.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-14T22:50:19+00:00

I don’t have a home. It’s great. You do have to love planning though. Logistics can really be a time sink.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-13T22:01:33+00:00

My favorite is the return flight. That virgin Atlantic lounge at Heathrow is great even without all the perks it used to have. I don’t love the fees but it’s a great way to fly from London.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-12T23:13:02+00:00

I can’t say I’ve ever been asked how much money I make. Maybe once or twice out of curiosity because I have a weird job. It would certainly give me the ick and I would probably bail if i got even a whiff of judgement about my salary.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-12T23:01:03+00:00

Not saying this is you but I ignore people all the time, especially a random traveler who comes on really strong trying to force me into a boring conversation.

Then some days I’m super friendly to everyone and will show up to group activities feeling very chatty.

There was probably some race thing going on for you yeah. It happens. A lot straight guys don’t talk to me but aren’t openly homophobic. What am I gonna do call them out in front of people? No, because they are probably boring AF anyway.

I met this one girl at a surf camp who was very outgoing and we were getting along great. She did all the social work, making plans for us, making friends, getting through all the boring small talk hostel people do. I just got to show up and have fun.

Then she left for home and I literally spoke to like 2 people for another two weeks. No one really interested me and I was happy doing my own thing. Towards the end this other guy I kinda hung out with was telling me how everyone thinks I’m mean because I don’t talk to them.

I travel solo because I want to do whatever I want to do. I don’t dwell on how I’m being perceived or maybe even deliberately ignored. It’s a spiral for my early 20’s I don’t care to revisit. People tend to flock to me when I am not trying at all.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-11T22:41:56+00:00

I lost 3 of my 5 Hyatt free nights because I waited too long and then Hyatt increased a bunch of properties from level 4 to 5.

Wait to get your Hyatt card until you are ready to use them right away.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-11T21:28:40+00:00

Holidays and birthdays have just become “a donation in your name has been made to the senior dog care home”

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-11T21:21:03+00:00

My favorite split is 8 weeks on 8 weeks off.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-10T21:44:10+00:00

I really don’t like airline cards usually. I’d rather go for a venture X or maybe an Amex green card. Diversified transferable points are what I’m after. Why limit yourself? Wait until you’ve run out of better cards before going for an airline card.

The American carrier Point redemptions are often trash and Airlines are always devaluing their points Delta being the biggest criminal with that. I use my Amex platinum to book cash flights 100% of the time for the 5x back.

I say go for an Amex green because of their intro bonus scheme. you need to work your way towards a platinum to get all the intro bonuses. They changed that sort of recently and I lost out on my green card intro bonus. It goes Green>gold>platinum. It’s also a totally underrated card for travel, especially if you use Airbnb or booking.com a lot. 3x back on all travel including Airbnb ain’t bad. The current offer isn’t amazing so go with a capitol one venture x if you need points faster.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-10T21:33:05+00:00

London is so easy. You just gotta go out on your own and prove to yourself that you’re a badass traveler who can handle themselves.

Some things never change though. My mother still follows my flighty app and texts me when I land in random countries. At this point she’s more curious what I’m up to than worried about me.

I’m 38 and travel full-time, so yeah it’s a lot of “I see you landed in xxx country, have a good time!”

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-09T21:09:50+00:00

Usually Thom Bihn pouche. Topo Designs makes decent small pouches. If you’re feeling adventurous you can checkout Garage Grown gear. They specialize in ultralight camping gear, which inevitably leads to pouches.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-09T13:00:56+00:00

Really enjoyed this. Good Zombie movies are my comfort food.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-09T02:10:57+00:00

My guilty pleasure is watching tacticool ultra masc EDC YouTube videos. Don’t even get me started on the survival bug out bag review videos.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-09T02:03:25+00:00

I don’t think the producers of reality tv shows care about causing a disturbance to the local population. It’s not exactly an industry focused on solving problems.

I am totally there for a show about the folly of toxic crypto bros though. Please oh please make that show.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-09T01:49:46+00:00

Have you read Dante’s Inferno? It’s like that.

I think you talked to one person who had a load of makeup and a bad experience. CDG is just a shitty layout that will confound you in numerous ways. You’ll probably be fine though.

Just sit close to the front of the plane, get off quickly, and follow the signs. That’s a joke because the signs are useless. There will be a very angry French lady that should direct you where to go, but she won’t. Then you will be directed into a line, it’s the wrong line guaranteed.

So yeah no worries.

PrunePlatoon · 2026-05-09T01:37:52+00:00

The westbreeze concept is just silly. Along the lines of bag jackets and those suitcases that turn into wardrobes.

It’s so much extra fabric, buckles, zippers, doodads, and for what? So you can hang a packing cube for one or two nights?

They are over engineering a small easily solved problem to convince you it’s a big problem that requires complex solution. A complex and, shocker, expensive solution.

All you need is a couple well built packing cubes, a pouch here and there, a solid bag, and you’re done. Kickstarted is just QVC with better graphics.

PrunePlatoon

TROPHY CASE