SAN DIEGO -- In April of 2010, following the launch of its new website, gaytravel.com announced the search for its first Gay Travel Guru -- a travel enthusiast to city-hop, mingle, and report on the hottest gay destinations in North America.

This Tuesday, after months of talent testing, gaytravel.com will announce their choice for the inaugural Gay Travel Guru of North America.

The appointed Gay Travel Guru will spend six months traveling North America, sharing his/her adventures through social networks about how to “travel queer anywhere.” He/she will receive a salary of $30,000 for the six-month period, a stipend for each trip to cover meals, incidentals, company paid airfare, hotel stay, and transportation.

Hundreds of applicants were winnowed down through three rounds of assessment. Of the remaining Elite Eight, two hail from America's Finest City. San Diego's Mary Buckheit and Tenille Taggart will compete against hopefuls from Portland, Ore., New York, Seattle, Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The Final Challenge will take place in Las Vegas, Nev., where finalists will prove their worth by planning, photographing and vlogging the "Perfect Gay Day" in Sin City. The winner will be chosen based on their one-on-one interview and their report on the city. The decision will be made wholly but three designated judges: Doria Biddle (Sirius Radio OutQ Radio host), Bryan Terzi (Field Marketing Manager for W Hotels), and Mya Lake-Reyes (Director of Diversity Marketing LVCVA and Board Member for IGLTA).

Their selection will be announced live in Las Vegas Tuesday night at Ghostbar (The Palms). The official announcement will be made on “The Frank DeCaro Show” on Sirius/XM OutQ Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., PDT.

You can follow your finalists' Vegas adventures at www.gaytravel.com/guru.

The Search for North America's Gay Travel Guru is sponsored by OO, Inc., which calls Del Mar, Calif., home.

The Top 8 Guru Finalists

Mary Buckheit (San Diego, CA)
Usually when people tell us they're "big on the internet," we tell them we're not that kind of website. But, as it turns out, Mary Buckheit is our kind of people. After years as a columnist for one of the most trafficked websites in existence (ESPN), and a YouTube following that amasses some 10,000 weekly viewers around the globe, Mary has proven she is one of the most trusted names in the gay vlogosphere. The baby of six eclectic children, this seasoned pro claims that all she ever really needed to know she learned from her big gay brother ... and her big gay sister.

Chad Bush (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
If you're looking for a social media pro who knows how to market to the LGBT community, Chad Bush is your guy. He's used his talents to help improve the Trump Network's social media and search engine optimization strategy. Today, as the head of Cubcuda Consulting and Cubcuda Direct Marketing, Chad teaches businesses all over the world how to use social networking to market products and services to the gay community using the web.

Kristin Flickinger (Portland, OR)
Ever want to quit your job, sell your house and travel? Yeah, who hasn’t? After a life-changing, 12-day trip to Italy, that’s exactly what Kristin did. A year later, you can find her playing softball with the Bears, being whipped by a derby girl, or eating her way through Portland’s food carts. Now she wants to be your Guru! She created and continues to write a popular blog, MidLeap.com and has a site devoted to answering questions only from members of the LGBT community, AskTheGay.com.

J.Son Dinant (Las Vegas, NV)
J.Son hosts the popular web series NakedBoyNews.com where he tells the Naked Truth about today's hottest headlines and travel destinations. He recently hosted a segment on CNN called "My City, My Secret: Las Vegas" where he showed viewers some of Vegas' best kept travel secrets. His several video sharing profiles online include: YouTube, CNN iReport, CBS EyeMobile and several others, which have over 4 million video views combined.

Janelle Eagle (West Hollywood, CA)
France, India and Indonesia are just a few of the destinations Janelle has explored. She's not only an avid world traveler, she's also an accomplished filmmaker. She's worked on several films, some featured at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Outfest). In fact, Janelle is the youngest-ever Co-Chair of the Outfest Legacy Awards.

Sean Flanigan (New York, NY)
Known as "the Gothamologist," Sean Flanigan is the go-to guy for anyone looking to take a bite out of "the Big Apple." He's an expert on NYC, but he's also traveled extensively outside of the United States. Sean has visited a number of exotic locales, inlcuding Burma, Chile, Bhutan and Thailand.

Tenille Taggert (San Diego, CA)
Tenille is a true California girl! Through her videos and blogs, she's shown gaytravel.com site users how to have the ultimate West Coast experience. From frolicking on the beach, to checking out what's happening in Hillcrest, Tenille's unique take on her hometown (and other top LGBT hotspots) is always a thrill to read or watch.

Nick Vivion (Seattle, WA)
Nick is a seasoned travel filmmaker, having traveled around the world a couple of times shooting shortform content for Current TV, Lonely Planet TV, NBC, TripFilms and YouTube. His YouTube Partner channel has over one million views, and he has received the People's Choice award from TripFilms.com. Nick also runs Unicorn Booty, a website that connects LGBT folks to gay-friendly businesses through fun content and social media. In his spare time, he sleeps.

About gaytravel.com: Gaytravel.com has provided the GLBT community with expert recommendations on gay-friendly destinations for ten years. In addition to providing invaluable information regarding gay-friendly cities, cruises, accommodations, and round-ups of community events, it also provides a social forum within its “Meet” section where the GLBT community can meet, interact and travel with like-minded individuals across the world. For more information, please visit www.gaytravel.com.

Editor's Note: Mary Buckheit is an SDGLN staff writer and FlawLes TV creator.