Meet Roxanne Weijer & Maartje Hensen | Queer Bloggers, Influencers, Photographers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Roxanne Weijer & Maartje Hensen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Roxanne Weijer & Maartje Hensen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
In March 2017, we sold everything we had, left home (The Netherlands) behind, and started traveling full time. On the road, we started Once Upon A Journey.

Initially we wanted to tell folk- and fairy tales from all around the world. But we noticed many people wanted to hear our stories, not the folk- and fairy tales. People had questions about ‘how is it to travel the world as a lesbian couple?, ‘how can you travel safely as a lesbian traveler’, ‘what are destinations to go to’, etc.

There were, and still aren’t, many online travel resources for lesbians. So that’s when we decided to share our own stories online, and it was the best decision ever.

Once Upon A Journey grew and grew, and what started as a hobby turned into a business.

And we are still happy with the name Once Upon A Journey, which we created to share the folk- and fairy tales. The ‘once upon a’ part suggests a fairytale or magic. Traveling is a ‘magical’ thing, like a fairy tale. And the name as a whole suggests something is about to happen; a story is to start. And that is what traveling is like; it is magical and always the start of a great story.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Getting where we are today was a whole process and a huge learning curve. When we started Once Upon A Journey back in 2017 we started it as a hobby to share folk- and fairy tales from all around the world and to keep our families and friends up to date about our travels.

We had no clue how to start a website or how to run an Instagram account. So we literally learned everything on the way.

Back then, and still today, there aren’t many others that do what we do. Once Upon A Journey has the unique position of being one of only few female LGBT travel blogs. So there weren’t others to learn from, that’s why we figured most of the things out ourselves.

And that has been such a fun and interesting journey. We are so happy where it brought us today. We turned a hobby into our business, and we love every second of it. Or well, not every second because with every journey there are some ups and downs, but we are happy to be in it together.

Once Upon A Journey is now the biggest female LGBTQ+ travel blog in the world! And we are looking forward to continuing sharing our (travel) stories.

Our biggest belief is that making dreams come true is for everyone, and we’re determined to find & showcase beauty
everywhere. We don’t shy away from non-LGBT friendly countries but also celebrate places where we can truly be ourselves.

We create our own story, our own fairy tale and inspire LGBT-people & -couples to do the same!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We live in Amsterdam, one of the most beautiful cities in the world! Okay, yes we are a little biased as this is where our love story began and where we currently live, but Amsterdam is a city to visit at least once.

The Netherlands and Amsterdam, are also one of the most welcoming places in the world. We have some of the most progressive LGBTQ+ rights in the world! In 2001, the Netherlands became world’s first country to legalize marriage for all couples, how amazing is that! But there’s always more to work on, everywhere in the world.

Here are some of our favorite (LGBTQ+) spots and things to do in the city:

– Bar Buka is the only lesbian bar in the city, and we love it here!
– Saarein is fun to go to for drinks too.
– Amsterdam‘s gay street the Reguliersdwarstraat is a must-visit!
– The Homomonument is a gay memorial with the official LGBTQ+ information kiosk of Amsterdam, Pink Point, next to it
– Come during Amsterdam Pride during the summer, it’s a unique Pride to attend
– Enjoy vegan dinner at the Vegan Junk Food Bar, Mr & Mrs Watson, and/or Mastino Vegan Pizza
– Hop on a canal cruise (The Amsterdam canals have a UNESCO World Heritage status)
– Explore the neighborhood the Jordaan, not to miss are the ‘Negen Straatjes’
– Bike around the city like a local (only if you know how to bike, because it can get crazy in Amsterdam with bicycles)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We want to give a shoutout to IGLTA, which is the international LGBTQ+ travel association. It’s amazing to be a member of IGLTA, and we love what they do, including the yearly convention. That’s the perfect moment to connect with others from the LGBTQ+ travel world and to learn so much more about the industry, LGBTQ+ travel, and different destinations around the world.

Website: https://onceuponajrny.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onceuponajourney/

Image Credits
@onceuponajourney @maartjehensen