A queer friendly roadtrip built for creative travelers and anyone craving something deeper. This trip is about moving through Florida with care, visibility, and intention – creating freely, exploring boldly, and feeling safe while doing it.

As a photographer, I travel often for work. It also happens to be a dream of mine to travel the world and document it. One of my biggest goals is to live the van life with my partner. So getting the opportunity to work with roadsurfer, an incredible van rental company, to go on a roadtrip and document it, was quite literally a dream come true.

I planned a 7-day road trip around Florida with my partner, starting and ending in Miami, Florida. Now, Florida is a place where queer and trans rights are actively being restricted. As a trans creator, I felt a responsibility to use this trip to document what it truly means to move through a place where my existence is being politicized

In recent years, Florida has passed a number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws…

In 2023, the Florida legislature passed an anti-trans bathroom law that—in certain settings—makes it criminal trespass to refuse to leave a restroom or changing facility that does not align with an individual’s sex assigned at birth after being told to do so by a government employee. (https://www.aclufl.org/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-floridas-public-restroom-changing-facility-ban/)
In 2023 there was a sweeping restriction on gender-affirming medical care, prohibiting government entities including the state Medicaid program from providing insurance coverage for any gender-affirming care and altogether banning gender affirming care for children under 18. It also allows certain gender-affirming procedures to be entered as evidence of child abuse in custody proceedings and grants the state emergency jurisdiction over children who receive such care. (https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/sites/default/files/2024-12/Lawful%20Extremism%20Florida%20Anti-Trans%20Laws%20Dec%202024%201.pdf?fv=Nva8nLo5)
In 2023 there was a bill that established penalties for businesses that admit children to “adult live performances,” a measure meant to target drag shows without specifically naming them.
HB 1521 targets individuals who use a public restroom assigned to a gender that does not correspond to their sex as assigned at birth. It defines “female” as “a person belonging, at birth, to the biological sex which has the specific reproductive role of producing eggs,” while defining “male” as “a person belonging, at birth, to the biological sex which has the specific reproductive role of producing sperm.”
In 2024, Republican members passed HB 1233/1639, a sweeping statute requiring trans people to list their sex assigned at birth on government documents or risk revocation of the document. HB 1233/1639 also revives the attempt to require insurance coverage for reversing the effects of gender-affirming care. It further requires coverage of treatments generally known as “conversion therapy”.

So this roadtrip wasn’t just about travel. It was about visibility, intention, and care. It was about refusing to shrink ourselves in spaces that don’t always feel safe for us. And instead, choosing to create, to be seen, and to experience the beauty of the world.

It was about documenting the tension between beautiful landscapes and the laws written to control who is allowed to exist within them. We wanted to show that queer people are still here. That we are still moving through the world, still creating art, still loving each other loudly, and still deserving of access to it all.

Because beyond legislation and politics, we deserve to experience as much of this world as we can without fear for our safety.

And for us… van life isn’t just a dream of travel. It’s a dream of freedom, visibility, and the right to exist anywhere we choose to go and experience it as the people we choose to be.

We also chose to work with some really great businesses and made specific stops on our roadtrip so that you can feel safe experiencing and exploring the state of Florida as freely as we did.

Feel free to check out our full itinerary below and look through all the photos and videos we got along our trip! More content will be added soon!

We had the opportunity of working with roadsurfer, an RV rental service that provides you with a fully equipped RV or van with unlimited mileage, a free second driver, and 24/7 roadside assistance. We really connected with the company and wanted to document our trip as authentically as we could to further support their mission statement.

“Travel should feel effortless—an open road with no limits. At roadsurfer, we make that possible by removing the stress from planning, so you can focus on the journey. No rigid schedules, no hidden costs—just pure adventure at your own pace. Whether you’re chasing coastal sunsets or mountain trails, every mile is yours to define.”

See more photos of our time driving our roadsurfer van on my portfolio!

DAY 1

PICK UP ROADSURFER VAN IN MIAMI, FL

Sawgrass Recreation Park Everglades Airboat Tour

Out first stop on our roadtrip was to visit the Everglades by airboat! We found this really great company to work with that has a variety of tours that you can book including their Everglades Airboat Adventure, which is what we did, as well as a Gator Night Airboat Ride and a few other package options that you can check out on their website!

See more photos or purchase prints from the Everglades Airboat Tour on my portfolio!

Overnight stop: Cracker Barrel

Fun fact: Many Cracker Barrel locations are known for being RV friendly and often allow overnight parking for travelers! The specific one we stayed at for the night was at 2550 Peters Road in Fort Pierce, FL

DAY 2

Disney World

We went to visit a friend in Orlando that works at Disney so we were able to all go to Animal Kingdom and Epcot for our next stops!

Lake Louisa State Park Campground

After Disney we headed to our campground for the night! We booked ahead online through Florida State Parks to reserve a spot, it wasn’t too bad for one night! ($40 total with taxes)

DAY 3

Chase Animal Rescue Sanctuary

We started day 3 off by heading to Chase Animal Rescue Sanctuary in Webster, FL for a Keeper for a Day experience! “If you love animals, are considering a career in zookeeping, or just want to get up close and personal with animal care, this is the perfect opportunity.” We shadowed one of their zookeepers for the day, Asante (who was amazing btw), as he showed us his daily routines. We got to take a tour of the sanctuary, meet the animals, feed them, clean their enclosures, and other general animal care!

This was such a surreal experience, I had never been that up close and personal with these types of animals before so it really was so cool to be able to see how well taken care of they are. There are plenty of other experiences through Chase that you are able to book as well! This includes Painting With Primates, Sunrise at the Sanctuary, and other private tours!

"A sanctuary is a place where the lives of the animals who reside there are given priority over every other part of the operation." — Chase Sanctuary's Core Philosophy

See more photos or purchase prints from our Keeper for the Day experience on my portfolio!

Santos Trailhead and Campground

After our day at the sanctuary we headed to our campground for the night! We booked ahead online through Florida State Parks to reserve a spot, this campsite also wasn’t too bad for one night! (price was about the same as the other site so $40 total with taxes)

We cooked Cajun Chicken Pasta for dinner in the van and sat outside at the picnic tables in our spot to eat and watch the sun go down!

DAY 4

Silver Springs Get Up and Go Kayaking

See more photos or purchase prints from our “Get Up and Go” kayaking experience on my portfolio!

Clearwater Causeway

DAY 5

St. Petersburg, Florida

Vinoy Park

Tampa Bay Fun Boat (Use code “SAMUELAVERY” for a discount when booking!)