When Montse and Aimee, owners of Lesmõn Experience, join me for a video call from two different places, their faces light up instantly upon seeing each other on their screens. When I notice, they laugh as they explain that they’re planning to be married, but that they don’t live in the same house or even in the same country.
Together the duo runs Lesmõn, a travel company focused on queer women, including trans women and nonbinary people, that launched in 2000. “Les” is short for lesbian and “món” is the Catalan word for world.
Montse, who lives in Barcelona, tells me that English isn’t her first or best language, and that she would prefer that Aimee, who lives in Ohio, United States, takes the reins when it comes to answering my questions. Although the couple refer to Lesmõn as Montse’s baby—she launched the company with a friend before bringing Aimee on board—it’s definitely a labour of love for both of them. Asking them about the travels and the agency, it’s clear how close the two are, despite how far away from each other they may be.
Tell me the story of how you and Montse met.
Aimee: This is my favourite story to tell, so I’ll definitely be the one to talk about it. From my perspective, it was December 2021. I was having a moment where I was just thinking, “I’m going to be alone forever—this is terrible.” I was having this pity party, so I was like “Let’s make it worse and go on a dating app.”
So I’m on this dating app, and I’m like, “No, no, no, no, no, no,” and then, like, “Oooh!” I saw this woman who was just so beautiful; she literally took my breath away. I started looking through her pictures and thinking, “Oh my God, she’s gorgeous.” I read her description and thought, she can’t even be real, she’s so perfect.
I hit the match button, set my phone down and ran away. I felt like I was back in junior high. I didn’t look at my phone for over an hour, and my kitchen was the cleanest that it had ever been. When I went back and looked at my phone, I was so excited to see that she had matched with me.
She is from Barcelona. But at the time Montse was in Ohio, visiting with a friend for a few months. That’s where I’m from, so we saw each other online. She was also under the impression that she was going to be alone forever and had signed up for Facebook dating on a whim. For someone who’s never on their phone, she matched with me pretty fast.
What got the two of you interested in travel, and what inspired you to start your own company together?
Aimee: So right now, Montse is in Barcelona. I’m in Ohio. Montse can’t legally enter the U.S. at this point. We’re currently working on her visa, but that’s a whole other story. When she does finally come back to Ohio, she’ll be my 90-day fiance, and we’ll get married. We have all of those plans set, but I guess that’s what got me so intrigued with Lesmõn. It was just about being able to see her.
After Montse left the U.S., she went to live in Costa Rica for nine months or so. I travelled a lot before then, but I hadn’t travelled for the purpose of seeing my love. So as we talked about Lesmõn, we realized that we could travel all over.
We took a trip to the Dominican Republic in September, somewhere in the world where we could meet. In that sense, Lesmõn is an outgrowth of our own love for travel and for each other. There are eight billion people in the world, and every person is unique, interesting and has things to offer.
Montse actually started Lesmõn during the first year of the pandemic, with another friend named Montse. They started doing small day trips in Barcelona, but when the lockdowns hit again, they just sort of shut it down.
Then around March, while we were in Costa Rica together, Montse started to tell me about this business idea. She had all of this passion for it, and I thought that it sounded really cool. I said, “Let’s run with this and see what happens.” But Montse was always the driving force behind it. Lesmõn is her baby, and I support her.
What is your vision for Lesmõn?
Aimee: The vision was a couple different things. In the lesbian travel space there’s Olivia, which is kind of a behemoth and has been around for forever. Then there’s lots of little companies, one- or two-person companies like ours. Most of these smaller companies are pretty geographically bound.
We know that lesbians like to travel. It’s not just the gay guys—the girls want to travel, too. So we noticed this space and demand in the market. We both love to visit new places, and we love to introduce people to new things.
We offer curated trips because we know that not everyone wants to go on a cruise and be drunk for a week. We did a trip in Barcelona last April, and a lot of the people on that trip are still friends today. We love to see relationships formed and to provide experiences that no one else can. It’s about creating this thing that’s bigger than the rest of us, and in our own way, making the world a little more LGBTQ2S+ friendly.
What makes Lesmõn different from those other travel companies?
Aimee: Well for one, it’s us. We go on all of our trips and we invite guests to have video calls with us before they book. We want clients to have the opportunity to get to know us a little bit and meet who they are going to be travelling with before making a major investment. It’s very personal and hands-on.
We do customized trips. If someone says there’s a concert or something specific or special that they want to do, we try to make that happen. Monte’s the queen. She can do literally anything. Once, we were on a rooftop bar having drinks when one of our guests cut their finger. Thirty seconds later, Monte had gotten a waiter to grab some adhesive bandages. She loves to take care of people, and no one wants for anything when Montse is leading the trip.
In Catalonia, Spain, they have these castellers, where groups of people will form human towers. Our travel group actually got to participate in rehearsals for one. We get to do things that even locals are excited about.
We try to avoid typical touristy stuff. We like to do cooking classes with locals, always making sure to find ones off the beaten path. We’ve been to biodynamic vineyards. Of course we like to see Michelangelo’s David when we go to Italy, but we think it’s really fun to also find the secret places that only locals know about.
Montse: I love to take care of people. For me, it is very important that the first time people visit Barcelona, they don’t eat the typical paella in places that are for tourists. This is not real paella. It’s something that is taught for tourists. So it’s important for me to organize something where we make paella with one of the best chefs here in Barcelona. We learn to cook a meal, and after that we enjoy eating the meal together. The same with sangria. We try to find the typical things, but not for tourists.
What are some big ups and downs that come with running your own travel company?
Aimee: Our biggest up would be last April when we had our first full-on Barcelona trip. Everything went perfectly. We were waiting for problems and issues to pop up, but nothing ever did. It just went really well, and everyone had a fantastic time. It turned out to be a really great experience for our travellers, and that’s always our end goal.
Some of the downs have just been the fact that we are a new company, and as a startup you have to put so much energy into getting out there and making sure that people know about you. So that part is an ongoing challenge.
Who is your biggest client base?
Aimee: If any of your pronouns are she or her, then you’re welcome on our trips. We are all encompassing for queer women. I have a trans daughter, so I’m pro trans and super inclusive on that front.
We get young people and older people, and sometimes we’ll plan a trip specifically for older women. That means the trip is a little less adventurous and the activities are a little more moderate. We haven’t done a singles trip yet, but we’re talking about it.
Montse: We keep our trips at 12 people and under to create a better sense of community. It’s better for everyone to be able to get to know each other.
What are some joys you’ve experienced while working with these travellers?
Montse: With intimate groups, we can organize different things. If someone wants to take this opportunity to propose in Italy or Paris, we can organize everything. We can work with a person specifically and organize a special experience.
Aimee: Montse loves surprises. The idea of being able to plan a surprise proposal in Italy or on a boat in Thailand gives her so much pleasure just thinking about it. People are always welcome to contact us and reach out with questions. We love to have video chats and get to know people. At the end of the day, it’s all about relationships.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The next scheduled Lesmõn trip is Barcelona, Ibiza, Formentera from May 24 to June 5, then Iceland in October.
