Meet Katie and Steph, a captivating story of an adventurous married lesbian couple from Vancouver, Canada. They are the creative force behind the digital platform Lez See the World. Alongside their Maltese poodle, Theo, Katie and Steph traverse the globe on a journey of love and exploration, blending their diverse backgrounds and shared passion for LGBTQ+ travel.
Katie and Steph, decided to leave everything behind and adopt a nomadic lifestyle, they embarked on a life-changing adventure. Their contributions have earned recognition, including being named Creator of the Year at the Atelier 25 Awards and Favorite Influencer at the Gay Travel Awards, solidifying their position within the LGBTQ+ community.
An inspiring tale of limitless possibilities and the power of determination.
Pronouns
Steph Burlton (she/her)
Katie Burlton (she/her)
How did you meet?
We met at a dance studio in Vancouver at the end of 2010. Katie was an instructor and Steph was taking classes. We saw each other around the studio and became friends, then started dating a month later and the rest is history!
What a beautiful and unexpected beginning to their love story! It’s heartwarming to hear how their paths crossed starting from a shared passion for dance. It truly shows that sometimes, the most significant relationships can blossom when we least expect them.
Everyone likes romantic stories, so, we would like to know, how long have you been together and who first expressed their love?
We just celebrated 13 years together! And we’re looking forward to many more. We always joke that Katie was the first one to take things out of “friend” territory, but Steph definitely made the first move. Once we officially started dating, it turned into a serious relationship very quickly. It’s true what they say – when you know, you know!
Absolutely true, when you know, you know!, without any doubt, that inner voice shouts it in silence, it’s her, it’s her…
Are you engaged or married?
We got married on December 28, 2015 and we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary at the end of last year! Steph proposed on a trip to NYC in the Spring of 2014, and we spent about a year and a half planning our winter wedding. We got married in a cocktail bar in our old neighborhood in Vancouver, and we love getting to celebrate our anniversary between Christmas and New Years. On our 5th wedding anniversary Katie proposed back to Steph and asked if she could take her name, so to celebrate 5 years of marriage we became the Burltons! We’ll have to do something extra special for our 10th anniversary in 2025.
Beautiful journey. Your story showcases the depth of your love, from the heartfelt proposal in NYC to the special moment of taking each other’s names.
So, where did you go on your honeymoon?
We celebrated our honeymoon at a resort in St. Lucia called Anse Chastanet. It was absolutely beautiful and it was our first time in the Caribbean together. We have such special memories from that trip and would love to go back there someday!
Oh wow, a little-known destination in the Caribbean, St. Lucia. I hope you get the chance to revisit, maybe for the silver wedding…
DID YOU KNOW?
Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles, located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados, and south of Martinique.
St. Lucia is known for its stunning natural beauty, characterized by lush tropical vegetation, volcanic peaks, and pristine beaches. The iconic Pitons, two volcanic spires rising sharply from the sea, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the island's most recognizable landmarks.
Why did you decide that place? Were you both clear about it from the beginning?
We hadn’t done a lot of international travel together back then, and we were very open to different destinations for our honeymoon. We got married in the winter, so we just wanted to go somewhere warm! We actually chose the resort we did because it was really important to us to stay somewhere vegan friendly, and there weren’t as many plant-based dining options at that time. Anse Chastanet was not only LGBTQ+ friendly, but also very accommodating with their menus and the food was incredible. It ended up being a great choice!
Absolutely, a destination with a warm climate for a honeymoon is always an excellent choice. However, finding a place with a vegan-friendly option can be quite challenging, especially at a resort. And to top it off, discovering that it’s also LGBTQ+ friendly is truly remarkable. Good job!
Talking about trips, have you ever taken a trip alone? How old were you, where did you travel and what was the experience like?
Steph: I was lucky enough to travel a lot with my family when I was young, and I’ve always been interested in exploring the world. Right before we met, I took a solo, 3 month backpacking trip around South America. It was such an incredible experience and really pushed me outside my comfort zone. I was still feeling so brave when I got back that I decided to take some dance classes which I had always wanted to do, and had I not done that, I never would have met Katie!
Katie: I discovered my love for travel when I took my first overseas trip as a student. I went to Italy with a school program, and it was there that I decided I wanted to spend my life adventuring around the world. Steph and I met when I was only 22 and I’ve actually never taken a solo trip, but she’s always encouraged me to do it if that’s something I would want. We’ll see what the future holds!
Steph, your solo backpacking journey through South America sounds like a transformative adventure, pushing your boundaries and leading to unexpected opportunities, like meeting Katie. And Katie, your initial overseas trip to Italy seems to have ignited your passion for travel, setting the stage for the adventures you now share with Steph.
We know that you really like to travel and that you have a blog called: Lez See the World aimed at LGBTQ+ women. Tell us about what we are going to find in this blog when we see it?
After we got married we decided to leave our work contracts, rent out our house, and start traveling full-time. A couple years later we started our travel blog because we saw a real lack of information online for queer women and lesbian couples. So much LGBTQ+ travel content at that time was geared toward gay men. Our content focuses on queer friendly destinations, romantic couples trips, and luxury pet-friendly travel, and we love sharing our adventures with our readers!
Your dedication to sharing your adventures and experiences with readers, including luxury pet-friendly travel, adds a unique and inclusive touch to your blog. Girls, keep up the fantastic work!
Given the significant lifestyle change, it seems you've embraced a digital nomad lifestyle, traveling the world to create travel content for LGBTQ women. How do you navigate the challenges of being away from home and maintaining social connections beyond social media?
Yes! We have definitely embraced digital nomad life, trying to balance time at home with being on the road most of the year. It’s not always easy to navigate being away so much, but we’ve definitely put systems in place over time to help us achieve more balance. We try to feel a sense of “home” wherever we are, and we also make sure to physically be home sporadically throughout the year to take care of our condo, spend time with family and friends, and recharge in between adventures.
It can sometimes be difficult to maintain our social lives, but we do our best to keep in touch with our support system as often as we can. Technology makes it quite easy! We’re also very grateful that our business can be fairly social, and whether it’s online with our community, or in person at events and activities, we do get to spend a lot of our time connecting with others.
It’s inspiring to see how you’ve established routines and systems to maintain connections with loved ones and recharge during your travels.
DID YOU KNOW?
According to a Harvard Business Review survey, more than 17 million American workers identified themselves as digital nomads, an increase of 131% from 2019, and included workers from a wide range of professions. This increase has also been driven by the ease of obtaining digital nomad visas in many countries, after the pandemic.
Source: Harvard Business Review
What destinations are most interesting to you? And what do you prioritize when traveling?
We love big cities and we also love outdoorsy, adventure destinations. We love doing road trips, immersing ourselves in new cultures, and doing “slow travel” where we spend more time in each destination. We definitely prioritize balance when we’re traveling because we work while we’re on the road. We want to see all the sights and do all the things on our list, but we also make sure to plan time to rest and catch up on everything that needs to be done behind the scenes. It’s not always easy but the more we travel, the easier it gets!
Your dedication to achieving balance while traveling is admirable.
What destinations are on your wish list for this year and/or next year?
There are so many destinations on our wish list! For this year we prioritized a lot of adventure trips during the winter. We’ve done several ski trips and have really been enjoying all the snow! This spring we’re headed to Europe and the UK, and will be doing a month-long road trip around Ireland, which has always been a dream of ours. Next year we’re hoping to go back to Japan to spend more time in Tokyo, and maybe a stop in South Korea? Other places on our bucket list include New Zealand, South Africa, Greece, Newfoundland, Alaska, and Slovenia!
You’re on fire with exciting journeys and adventures in mind. Girls, stay updated on their travels by following them on their social networks, here are all the links to their profiles so you don’t miss any details of their incredible adventures.
Have you ever traveled with a travel agency specialized for LGBTQ women like Lesmon Experience in small groups with other women? Why?
We haven’t done any group travel! We love traveling as a couple and we really enjoy creating our own itineraries and doing all the research needed before a trip. But we do think LGBTQ+ specific travel agencies are such a wonderful option! Not everyone has the time (or wants to) plan all of their travel themselves, and it would be a great way to meet other queer travelers and connect with others while on a trip.
If at any time you want to be surprised by a small group trip with other LGBTQ lesbian women, it will be a pleasure to welcome you and Theo, of course!
Can you tell us an adventure or (positive) experience that you will never forget from a trip?
We’ve had so many amazing adventures and positive experiences over the years. We’re very grateful to be able to do this and don’t take any of it for granted. It’s too difficult to choose just one memory, but this past fall we spent 2 months in Europe with our dog Theo and had such an incredible time. He’s been to 24 countries with us and is about to turn 9 years old. We’re so lucky to be able to include him on our adventures and we want to show him as much of the world as we can!
I think I’m not wrong in thinking that right now many female readers are jealous of Theo, lol…
Last question, what is the trip of your life?, and why?
We’ve had so many bucket list experiences that we know we will look back on so fondly one day, and we also know that some of the best trips of our lives are still ahead of us!
Surely, if Steph and Katie agree, I would even go so far as to say that the best trip of our lives is life itself. What do our readers think?