Founder Sasha Alyson has a long history in the gay community. In 1980, he started one of the country's earliest gay publishing companies. Alyson Publications quickly became the leading producer of gay and lesbian books, with an emphasis on providing books for gay teenagers (such as Reflections of a Rock Lobster and One Teenager in Ten) and for minorities within the gay community (A Lotus of Another Color: The South Asian Gay and Lesbian Experience and Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men). His most controversial books were the Alyson Wonderland series for children of gay and lesbian parents, which included the controversial Heather Has Two Mommies, The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans, and Daddy's Roommate.

Sasha also founded Boston's gay newspaper, Bay Windows, and in 1987 initiated an industry-wide program to publish the book You Can Do Something About AIDS, which became the most widely distributed AIDS book of the time. His varied activities have won him awards from groups as diverse as the Human Rights Campaign, the New England Booksellers Association, and the Greater Boston Business Council.

As one of the country's leading gay entrepreneurs, he has been published on the editorial pages of the New York Times; appeared on Larry King Live; and was named to Out magazine's "Top 100" list of influential gay men and lesbians.

Sasha sold his publishing company in 1995, and started Alyson Adventures, to bring that same spirit of innovation to the world of gay and lesbian travel. In 2002, Alyson Adventures merged with Hanns Ebensten Travel in Key West, Florida, allowing Sasha to continue his involvement in travel, while also freeing time to pursue other interests, including the re-issue of many Alyson Wonderland books.

(More: Read "Fear of the Rainbow", Sasha's Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, responding to the controversy about the Alyson Wonderland line of children's books that he published in the early 1990's.)

Our trips are active vacations, full of options and opportunities. We want to interact with other people and cultures, not merely use them as a backdrop. In the midst of Bangkok, you'll gradually come to understand — and, we hope, to love — a society based on very different premises than our own. Trekking in the misty mountains of the north, you'll probably feel further removed from modern civilization than ever before in your life.

You'll not only have new experiences, you'll make new friends. The active nature of our trips makes it easy to get to know others in the group — and to meet people in the areas we pass through.

When we visit Thailand, we've scheduled many activities in advance, to make the best possible use of your time there. But we've also left several days open, giving you the opportunity to relax when you need to, or to fit in one more adventure if that's your preference. On the island of Phuket, you'll have a choice one day of hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving — or merely loafing on a long sandy crescent of beach. Find out why Out & About, the widely-respected gay travel newsletter, has repeatedly given us their Editor's Choice award for Gay Adventure Travel.

And speaking of names: Ours is often misspelled. We spell it: Alyson Adventures. Don't sweat the spelling too much: We've also registered the URLs for Allyson Adventures, Alison Adventures, and Allison Adventures. But right now, if you'd like to know more, you're best off going right to the home page for Alyson Adventures.