Fiji | The Fighting Couple

The Best Mistletoe Moment of 2011

By The Fighting Couple on December 23, 2011 in General, Slideshowable

We have a winner!

A heartfelt thanks to each of you that submitted entries. We were totally blown away by the number and more impressivley the quality of responses! Incredible. This just goes to show that love is alive and well.

Luci and I want to thank you our readers for making this an amazing year. You have shared your travel fights, crazy adventures, and tender love stories with us. We are so grateful for each of you! We wish you all many happy miles this coming year.

While we don’t have a “prize” for them, our judges thought these two were incredible! The two runners up:

Chris Walker-Bush from Aussie on the Road

“It was seconds after the ball dropped on New Year’s and my soon to be ex girlfriend and I had fled the beach party on Robinson Crusoe in Fiji to find some privacy. With our two year relationship set to end in 24 hours when she flew back to the States, tears stood in her eyes as we listened to the distant growl of the beach and felt the warm summer air on our skin. Underneath the gaze of coconut palms and the starry skies, I kissed away her tears and thanked her for the best two years of my life.”

Mike Howard from Honey Trek

“It wasn’t in an amazing location, or under a starry night sky, and it wasn’t at the perfect time. It was in our kitchen, when we realized we wanted to quit our jobs and travel the world together. After an amazing evening with friends (two of whom told us of their recent journey and inspired us), we sat in our kitchen, staring each others eyes, realizing we were in fact going to make this a reality. That kiss, is the kiss that sealed our RTW fate, and we can not wait for more Mistletoe moments in every country we visit over the next 16 months.”

Without further ado….our 2011 Mistletoe Moment is:

The Kahle’s from Wanderlivin

“A wedding can mean many different things to different people. To the bride it’s the most important day of her life. That’s why when I was told my hairdresser canceled on me the day before the wedding I tried to shake it off. When half of my family couldn’t come because of Hurricane Irene I tried to shake it off. When my photographer didn’t show up – I couldn’t shake it off. Walking down the isle in distress I saw my husband and the way he looked at me as I walked down the isle. When I reached him I pulled his face down for a kiss before the minister could even start as the waves of Monterrey Bay crashed around us and bridesmaids giggled at the ministers disapproval.”

1000Fights: Isn’t that a tender story! Congrats on your marriage! We love it. There will be time for fighting later! Luci says that they are going to have “cute” kids…not sure what that means. We wish the Kahle’s congrats and happy travels!

Thanks again to our “Celebrity” judges!

@travelcanucks @sarahjstorer @VagabondQuest @confusedjulia

Ok…2012 is just on the horizon. Get out there and make some Mistletoe Moments!

I know what you did this summer!

By The Fighting Couple on September 27, 2011 in General, Slideshowable

We asked a few of our couple travel blogging friends: “so what did you do this summer?” We were stunned by what we got back! Everything from warm beaches of the Blue Lagoon Resort in Fiji to a scenic 12 mile “stroll” that ended in a couple fight! Yay! Granted, fall is quickly approaching for us on the top of the ball, its not too early to start your plans for next year. If you cant wait that long, at the bottom of the rock summer is just getting started!

Peter and Dalene

www.hecktictravels.com/

When boarding our flight to Brussels, Belgium, we waited in line behind a guy wearing a dog-collar with spikes, metal plates on his shoes and horns coming out of his nose. We started chatting to him about his city, and he immediately warned to be careful when going out at night – that Brussels was becoming increasingly dangerous.

A scary first impression, we thought. And after our first few days, we realized he spoke the truth – sort of. Brussels is definitely dangerous, but only for your waistline.

Apart from the beautiful architecture, Brussels is known for its gastronomy. We feasted on beer, their national dish of frites with mayonnaise, mussels, a wide variety of international cuisine, and of course, their heavenly chocolate. Never mind that when strolling through it’s streets, the aroma of fresh waffles is constantly in the air. It’s a foodie and beer connoisseur’s paradise!

1000Fights: Ok, we are hungry now! Those waffles look to die for!

Emanuele and Romana

www.thesiracusas.com/

When the summer kicked in in the northern hemisphere we were in Fiji. Technically it was winter time there, but as you can imagine you couldn’t tell, tropical weather is tropical weather, after all. The fijian trip was the final part of our 8 months round-the-world trip, so we were going there to take it easy, enjoy the tropical paradise experience, prepare psychologically for our homecoming and also celebrate our second wedding anniversary.

The quest for our dream island was over when we landed in Nacula, at the Blue Lagoon resort. Because of the amazing white sand, the beautiful crystal-clear waters and the friendly resort staff, we decided to stay at Blue Lagoon more than initially planned. The management also gave us a deluxe seafront villa (with no extra cost!) as a present for our second wedding anniversary. We were also given the opportunity to visit the local village and the school, getting an insight into the locals’ life. I can assure you, the day we left Nacula, and the Blue Lagoon resort, was a sad day!

1000Fights: Congrats on your second anniversary. We wish you many happy years and fights as well! The closest we have gotten to Fiji is drinking their water from the gas station. Someday!

Erica and Shaun

www.OverYonderlust.com

Our favorite place that we visited this summer was Tulum, Mexico. We were blown away by some of the most spectacular beaches we have ever seen. This was also offset by the Tulum ruins which are placed on the sides of cliffs looking over the sea. The city is so incredibly laid back that we felt right at home. We even ended up hanging out there two separate times on our trip!

This location also rocks because we were also able to make day trips to to the neighboring Akumal, Mexico for our fix of the best fried fish tacos with fresh mango salsa we had ever had the pleasure of inserting into our mouths at Lucy’s Kitchen. About 50 feet away you can snorkel with sea turtles munching on sea grass right off of the beach. Bring your own gear and you can swim out to them yourself. Huzzah for free activities!

1000Fights: Sounds amazing. Lucy’s kitchen? I think that is the only way we can get Luci of 1000Fights into a kitchen!

Betsy and Warren

www.marriedwithluggage.com

This summer we spent 5 weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland. We fell in love with the place, the people, and the real ale. Scots really do have more fun than everyone else, and we were lucky to make some good friends and have some fun adventures during our time there. We climbed munros, learned how to retell ancient stories to entertain a crowd in the dark upper room of an old pub, ate local specialties like shortbread and haggis and tasted the abundant varieties of whisky. We also had an epic fight during a 12-mile walk along a scenic canal – at the start, of course – and made some pretty good breakthroughs in our relationship during the remaining 11.5 miles. We’ll definitely return to Scotland to explore the Highlands and enjoy some real ale and whisky with good friends, but we will probably skip the haggis (and hopefully another epic fight).

1000Fights: DARN!! Dont give up the fights!

Doesn’t all of these sound like fun! Thanks you guys for sharing some great ideas for summer fun. Couples take note, pick one of these or a place of your choice, put aside a little cash over the next few months. Dont let another summer get by without going to place of your dreams.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.

“You can steer yourself any
direction you choose.”

You’re on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll
decide where to go.

Dr. Suess