7 Questions with Beers and Beans

In our continued series of featuring some of the best couple bloggers we want to introduce you to Beth and Randy of  Beers and Beans.   They offer some great couple travel ideas and some amazing photography.

Meet Beers and Beans:

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Beth & Randy in Iceland

Beth and Randy are a freewheelin’, 30-something couple with a 7lb hound named Chachy. Beth is a professional photographer and Randy is a professional journalist, and they blog about their adventures on their eclectic travel website Beers and Beans.  Their travel stories have also appeared in USA Today Travel Tips, the San Diego Reader, San Diego Uptown News, BootsnAll Travel Network and other travel websites. You can also find them on FacebookTwitterGoogle+ Pinterest.

We asked the traveling duo our 7 questions:
1)    We love your ebook on how to get off auto!  What would be one thing you would recommend to budding photogs that want to take better travel pics?

He Said: Listen to Beth.
She Said:  Read the book or any other book that helps you learn the basics of creating your own exposures. If you have the time & money – take a class. Understanding exposure (and how to create good exposure) is the most important thing anyone can learn if they are trying to take better photos. Also, shoot all the time – keep pushing yourself.

2) If you had to travel with someone else besides your travel partner, who would it be?  (this person can be living, historical or
mythical?.)

He Said: Henry Miller
She Said: Hmm… Anyone in my family. My family is really fun to travel with.

Beth3)What has been your favorite destination in your wanderings?  Why?

He said: Paris. I simply love exploring that city.
She said: It’s really a toss up between Paris & Venice. I guess I would have to say Paris because the light is the best I have seen anywhere. I always feel really creative and inspired when I am there and I never want to leave.

4)  If you had to eat one last meal, what/ where would you eat?

He said: I would love to eat at the WWOOF farm we volunteered at Cerreto Libri in Tuscany.  I would eat anything there – the food was unbelievable!
She said: Definitely Paris – something vegetarian. Believe it or not I have only eaten out twice in Paris and both times my mind was blown at how amazing the food was. I’ve been ruined – now I need to stockpile money just for eating in Paris!

5)This question is for Randy…What exactly are “man-nessities”?  (By the way…you look great in a towel!)

He said: Oh the video….I didn’t think anyone even watched that! Thank you for the compliment as well. Man-nessities include…..prophylactics and dress socks.

6) If you could solve one problem in the world what would it be?

He said: I would end all the wars because it would free up large amounts of money and resources to help treat and solve a lot of other world problems.
She said: Greed. If greed was abolished and replaced with generosity then the world would much a better place. Greed is the root of all evil.

7)You knew it was coming….What has been your greatest travel fight/disagreement?

She said: We’ve had 2 really bad fights on the road. One in Sorrento, Italy and one in San Felipe, Mexico. The San Felipe one was the worst by far. We were bar hopping with two friends and everyone had a WAY too much to drink. My friend’s husband decided he wanted to see what a wet t-shirt contest would look like – on his wife and no one else. So completely out of the blue he took a beer and poured it all over the front of her shirt while they were sitting at the bar having a conversation – in front of everyone. You can imagine how well that went over. The night really went downhill after that.

In her anger, my friend took off and we couldn’t find her. We searched all over for her and the thought of leaving her alone and drunk in Mexico was making me more anxious and nervous with each minute. After an hour of looking around town we decided to go back to the ratty RV we had rented for the night to see if she was there. Thankfully she was. At this point it was really late – around 3am and we all needed to sleep it off. Just as everyone crawled into bed drunken Randy decided the night had not yet ended for him and announced he was going back out by himself. It was a very bad idea and I told him not to go because he shouldn’t be wandering around Mexico at night, drunk and alone. Only bad things would happen.  He kept fighting with me, determined to go. We ended up having a huge screaming match and I threw my shoes at him as he walked out the door. I was so mad at him because I knew I would be worried about him the rest of the night.

Of course I was right and nothing good happened – he got robbed by two guys on the beach. Given the fact that he was obviously wasted and stumbling around I think he got off pretty lucky.

He said: Yup, that about sums it up. But at least I wasn’t the guy who tried to create his own, personal wet t-shirt contest – although do I applaud the ingenuity.

1000Fights: Now thats a couple that knows how to fight!  Impressive.

I know that was seven..but you guys are too cool for just 7.

8)  We loved your series:  Blood, drugs, and Sangria: How to vacation in a war zone.  It is clear that you guys really love Mexico, so tell us…what was the scariest moment for you guys?

She said: Hmm… basically anything involving Randy and alcohol in Mexico is scary to me! He has so many stories it’s a wonder he’s still alive. One time that was particularly scary for me was on the same night as the above story in San Felipe. We were all leaving a bar and we were walking across the street when a cop car pulled up next to us. Two Policia jumped out and grabbed Randy for no reason. They tried to throw him in the back of the car but I grabbed onto his hoodie and wouldn’t let go.

We had not done anything wrong and there was no reason for the cops to grab him so I put up a fight. I spoke a lot more Spanish then and I ended up in a large & loud verbal disagreement with the cops. This was all while playing tug of war with Randy in the middle. I was pulling with all my might to keep him out of the car. It was scary. I didn’t know what was going to happen but I knew there was no way I was going to let them just throw him in the back of that cop car. Fortunately after a few minutes the cops realized it wasn’t going to be an easy grab so they gave up and let him go. They got back into their car and drove off. We still have no idea why that happened but I think they were planning on making us pay a bribe to get him out of the car. In any case, it was so random and happened so quickly that it was pretty frightening.

He said: This was a while ago and I was drinking in Tijuana with a friend and we got separated. While looking for my friend I ended up befriending two deported gang members in the red light district. To make a long story short, I drank with them on their stoop for a while until they decided to shake me down and rob me. That was pretty scary. I thought for sure I was going to get stabbed as well but luckily they left and I took off in the opposite direction.

1000Fights:  A huge thanks to Beth and Randy.  What an amazing couple.    One of their mottos is, “Lets go Travel”.   So….Lets go!

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17 Responses to 7 Questions with Beers and Beans

  1. Bridgette Salvon-Berndt February 15, 2012 at 11:31 am #

    Super fun read!! Crazy kids! :)

  2. RyukyuMike February 15, 2012 at 6:20 pm #

    Nothing like a good fight story to get me going along with my morning iced coffee. Bravo !

  3. Andrea and John February 16, 2012 at 2:59 am #

    Great interview, guys – I love Paris too! We know a thing or two about drunken fighting too, haha – why do the men always want to go out into the ether when they’ve had too much to drink? That’s the time I want to be curled up on the couch with a blanket

  4. Randy Kalp February 17, 2012 at 10:07 am #

    Yes, who needs reality TV when you have great travel blogs like this. :)

  5. Randy Kalp February 17, 2012 at 10:07 am #

    Thanks Bridgette!

  6. Randy Kalp February 17, 2012 at 10:11 am #

    Yeah, we can’t get enough of Paris. Now that I’m a little older, I actually prefer being curled up on the couch with Beth after a night out, but in my younger days the midnight streets just called to me.

  7. twoOregonians February 17, 2012 at 10:38 am #

    Ouch! What a fight. Fun to read through your guys’ answers. Bravo, Beth, for staving off disaster with the Mexican cops. So far, I’ve only had to drag Ted off by the elbow to rescue him from begging drunks… Oh, life on the road… :) xx

  8. Aussie on the Road February 17, 2012 at 6:38 pm #

    I love series like this. Beers & Beans are one of the newer blogs on my RSS too. Good to read some more about them.

    I’d love to answer some questions sometime if you’re looking for some extra material :-)

  9. 1000 Fights February 17, 2012 at 7:18 pm #

    We will take you up on that!

  10. 1000 Fights February 17, 2012 at 7:18 pm #

    How come men are so dumb when they travel? Dont answer that.

  11. Randy Kalp February 20, 2012 at 12:18 pm #

    Glad you enjoyed the interview. We had a lot of fun doing it. Beth is definitely my savior and hero. Without her I’d probably be rotting away in some Mexican jail. :)

  12. Randy Kalp February 20, 2012 at 12:31 pm #

    Thanks for reading and following along! I look forward to reading your interview in the near future.

  13. 1000 Fights February 20, 2012 at 1:47 pm #

    If there was an Olympic fighting team, I would want to be on their team!

  14. Planeters February 25, 2012 at 1:05 pm #

    Very informarive. Its a good way to get to know interesting travel bloggers

  15. Nate Robert March 10, 2012 at 2:47 am #

    Beers and Beans are awesome. But, I only discovered 100fights today, what a freakin awesome name/concept for a site! I normally travel with my “other half”, we have had a few pearlers on the road ;)

  16. 1000 Fights March 10, 2012 at 8:43 am #

    Thanks Nate. Beth and Randy are really rock stars. Welcome aboard 1000 Fights.

  17. Bigindianwedding May 5, 2012 at 5:43 am #

    nice post ! thanks for sharing with us