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Seven Questions with I Should Log Off

By on March 8, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

Buckle up, make sure your tray tables are up!  We are going to introduce you to a travel blogging couple that is always on the move!  So, what do you get when you  mix two marathon runners, a beach comber, a run with bulls in Spain, and a lust to wander?  Answer:  Jillian and Danny of www.Ishouldlogoff.com.  Each month we highlight a couple that are living their dreams….and telling everyone about their adventure.  Meet Jillian and Danny:

coupleJillian and Danny Tobias spent 21 months traveling around the world. Together they have explored 50 countries, covering famous overland routes like Capetown to Cairo and the Old Silk Road.   Traveling mostly overland, the couple experienced the eccentricities of the world and lived to tell the tale! From eating grasshoppers in Mexico to exploring underground tombs in Sudan and hand carved grottoes in Western China, they took life by the horns.  They blog about their travels and adventures off the computer at their website: www.IShouldLogOff.com.  You can find them on facebook: www.facebook.com/ishouldlogoff or follow them on twitter: @ishouldlogoff.

We put our infamous 7 questions to this wandering couple.  Here are their responses:

1) Tell us about running with the bulls!!!! 

spainIt was actually much easier than you’d think.  I had had a ‘procedure’ done to my foot the day prior so I played it safe but basically I waited for the gun shot announcing the bulls were off.  Everyone started stampeding and so did I.  Next thing I knew, there were bulls and everyone was standing to the sides of the street.  The bulls ran by and we kept on running after them, now singing triumphantly!

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?.)

She Said: Indiana Jones – you know every day is going to be an adventure!
He Said: Ben Franklin.  Not sure why, it’s just what popped into my head.

1000Fights:  Ben Franklin? Are you into kite flying?

3)What has been your favorite destination in your wanderings?

He said:Africa.  Everyone always asks for a favorite country and it’s just not possible to choose one as they’re all so different.  Africa on the whole though, felt like legitimate travel where something unexpected could and did happen each and every day.  It was difficult and challenging but in hindsight it was also the most rewarding.

She said: Africa without a doubt.  I loved the adventure of traveling somewhere seriously off the beaten path.  It was certainly a challenge, but we were fortunate to meet lots of great people and our overall experience was amazing.  Traveling in Africa really opened my eyes to true hospitality – it is a very humbling experience to be offered food and water by those touched by famine and tragedy.

4)  If you had to eat one last meal, what/ where would you eat?
He said:  I don’t care, so long as I’m with my closest friends and family.

She said: One last meal ever?  I’m depressed even thinking about it! I think I would get fish tacos in Baja, Mexico.  Delicious, fresh, spicy… I don’t think I could ever get enough, those were incredible!

India

5)We see a ton of your pictures of your guys jumping.  How do you time that perfect? He said: I am actually a super-hero and levitate in place while Jill tries to time her jump with the person taking the photo!  (I wish, in truth we probably have 10 bad jump shots for every good one)

She said: HA! Sometimes it takes us a long time to get that right.  At the Taj Mahal we kept having Indian families sneak into our picture.  It became somewhat hilarious; eventually we gave up and walked closer to the Taj where we took the “perfect” picture after six more attempts!  In Beijing we tried lining up the shot before handing it over to a Chinese man who didn’t speak English. He took shots of the sky before handing the camera back to us.  Eventually we found an English speaking tour group and just asked.  By the time we finished the trip we were experts at timing!

6) If you could solve one problem in the world what would it be?
He said: Education.  There are a lot of stupid people all over the world, but mostly it’s that they haven’t been given a real education and base their knowledge on things like MTV and the movies.  This is a problem everywhere, in all countries, and it’s a shame.

She said: Education is a good one, but I think clean water is really the next big step the world needs to make.  Having access to healthy drinking water will save so many lives, and have a trickle down effect giving children the opportunity to go to school and women the opportunity to participate in economic development.

 Jordan

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

She said:  Well we certainly bickered a lot. It is hard to stay mad at someone or have a big blowout when you depend on someone so much.  Most of our fights revolve around the idea of too many captains on the same boat… We both like to control things.  Let’s say we don’t tandem kayak well together…every time we get in a tandem boat we begin fighting, almost instantly!

He said:  I’m not allowed to talk about that….

1000Fights:  that’s a little bit of a cop out!  A huge thanks to Jillian and Danny for sharing!

 

One Great lesson we can learn from Jillian and Danny is to get out there and see the world.  What  a great example to couples.

The Fighting Couple Featured on Marriage Radio

By on February 29, 2012 in Slideshowable

If you just can’t get enough of the Fighting Couple online, you can now catch us on the radio!

 

 

Dino and Shannon Watt’s mission is to improve marriages around the globe.  They host a weekly podcast that highlights real world ideas and hints for couples.  They also run a great relationship site called:  The Business of Marriage.  We took some time to chat with them about the benefits of traveling as a couple.

Topics we cover:

What are the 5 things every Woman should know about traveling with a man.

How to travel really, really cheap.

And how to get a man to go see Jane Austen’s house.

 

Click on the link below to hear our recent interview:

Listen to internet radio with dinowatt on Blog Talk Radio

 

Our 7 Super Shots

By on February 25, 2012 in General, Slideshowable
The Fighting Couple was nominated to participate in the HostelBookers 7 Super Shots contest.  Basically it is a chance to highlight 7 of our best pics from our travels.  Fun huh?   Selecting some of our faves was really tough.  We literally have tens of thousands of pics.   I love these kind of “best of” type posts.  They really bring back some great memories.   We hope you enjoy.  With our further adieu, here are our seven.
You can click on a picture for a larger view.

A Photo that takes my breath away

Far and away one of our favorite destinations is the Amazon.  The Peruvian Jungle offers so many adventures and lessons.  We captured this sunset our first night in the jungle.  It was so amazing!

Sunset in the Amazon Jungle

A photo that…makes me laugh or smile

You know those pics where someone is doing something “interesting”  in the background?  Yeah?  Well we had one during our visit to the Louvre in Paris.  We didn’t realize that we captured this “moment” until we got back from our trip!  Like they always say, when in Paris!

the paris grope!

A photo that…makes me dream

We miss Africa!  This shot of an African Lion we took while visiting Kruger Park in South Africa.  It makes us dream of going back to Africa!

Large African Lion

A photo that…makes me think

We spent the morning at Ephesus, Turkey.  One of the most interesting and enlightening attractions is the Celsius Library.  It has been restored and one of the icons of history.  Luci captured this shot when I was deep in thought…Ok..I look a little dumb.

 

Ephesus Turkey

A photo that…makes my mouth water

So I am guessing that half of the food pictured on this category will be from Italy!  We found a little cafe down from our hotel in Venice.   While Luci flirted with the handsome waiter, Mike gorged himself on the amazing food!  We cant tell you how good this was!  It was flat out amazing!

A photo that…tells a story

Bosnia.

Bullet holes in Bosnia

A photo that…I am most proud of (aka my worthy of National Geographic shot)

Anyone who has been to Machu Picchu knows just how hard this pic really is!  There are so many people!  We waited and waited and at the right moment, Snap!  The day was perfect, the sun, the green hills.  What a special place.

The view from Machu Picchu

 

Those are some of our best pics!  Which is your fave?

 

Head on over and see the 7 Super Shots guidelines post which features a number of fantastic photos.  We would like to nominate to following bloggers for the ‘I am taking part in HostelBookers 7 Super Shots‘  Contest!  

Cant wait to see their pics!

 

http://www.fourjandals.com/

http://www.donteverlookback.com/

http://www.passportandatoothbrush.com/

http://www.vowstotravel.com/

http://mrmrsglobetrot.blogspot.com

Get Ready….Get Set….

By on February 20, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

We get asked:  so what do you guys do to get prepared for your trips?

We are going to give you a behind the scenes view of our trip prep.  We take one big trip a year and put a bunch of effort into it.  On average we spend 8-10 months planning our adventures! Crazy huh?  We have divided our planning regimen up to a few areas:  tickets and tomatoes,  the Fons (background in Catalan), keeping the homefires burning, and our favorite:  depth charges.

Tickets and Tomatoes

This is probably the one step that we do the same as everyone else.  Buying your flights and finding the hotels, hostels, and the perfect mom and pop linguini joint in Tuscany.

Amazon Jungle Trip PeruFlights

We are credit card points addicts.  We admit it.  Typically we don’t have the same “points card” at the same time.  This forces us to fly on different carriers.  We love the reaction we get from people when we tell them that we rarely fly together.  Trust us…it is much better that we don’t fly together.  The fights would fill up 20 blogs!  We are both window seat people.  Luci is a talker…Mike is a reader.  Two very different approaches to long haul flying.   Each year we take turns picking the location of our “big” trip.  Once a location is identified and vetted with the other, we start the arduous process of getting points to fit the destination.  This can be extremely difficult.  At times we have taken short hops via Southwest to get to a departure city that fits within our points budget.  Then we attempt to get the flights to land around the same time.  So far we have been successful.  We have had some harried convos with airline’s customer service.

Hotels

Once the destination is decided we come up with a draft list of things/areas that we want to visit.  From there our first step is to look for Hiltons.  Luci and I are Hilton disciples.  We both travel a ton for work and rack up some nice point totals.  They also treat us really good as we are members of their “Diamond” class.  It’s not unlike us to spend half of our vakay in Hiltons.

Wanna learn more about some great hotel deals?  Just like our Fighting Facebook page and we will give your some great ideas!

Finding hotels

One of the best tools we have found for finding research on hotels is Tripadvisor.  Love the TripAdvisor!  If your are not familiar with the site, basically is a free forum of travelers to post their reviews on hotels.   Basically what you are looking for is a hotel with reviews in the top 10(small city) or top 100 (large city).  Don’t get too caught up if you see one or two bad/terrible reviews.  This is likely the competition being a bad citizen or a person that is really grumpy.  Hone in on the tone of the entire collection of reviews.

Rental Cars

Just a quick word about rental cars.  When traveling into another country, always buy the insurance.  Trust me.  If you are lucky enough to need a car hire in Ibiza, look no further.

Finding Food

We are planning nerds.  We know.  Go ahead say it!  We typically find two or three interesting places we want to try in areas we are staying 3-4 days.  If it is just a day, we don’t bother.  Find something when we are “on the ground.”  By far our best dining experiences has come from advice of the locals.  We do use tripadvisor and urbanspoon.  We typically eat breakfast in the hotels we stay in or grab some bread ect.  We have had some awesome experiences with hotel food.  At a little family run hotel we stayed at in Selchuk, Turkey, we hung out with the owners and had some great conversation watching soccer.   We don’t get too hung up on having an amazing meal at every sitting.

Picture of me in the shower

Actual picture of our shower!

The Fons (background in Catalan)

Warning: this section contains obsessive compulsive confessions.  (if you actually have a “life” skip this section.)

This is the part where we are a little different than most travelers.  We do a ton, and I do mean a ton of background work on the places we are going.  We learn the language.  What works for me is a list of vocab words in the shower, and then listening to how the words are said in the car on CD.  We learn the religion.  We learn the history.  We took a college course on Turkish Culture before our trip there.  We read not just the Fodors, but novels and histories of the places.  I am reading Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia” in prep for our upcoming trip to Barcelona.  When we set foot in a country, we really want to have a context for what we are seeing.  We want to drink deep.  Never rely on a tour guide.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

We have kids.  They don’t travel with us on our annual big trip.  We do involve them in our prep.  They learn the language with us.  They learn about the places we are going to see.  On our return, we share with them our experiences, make presentations to their classes at school, and engage them on global issues.  When we leave, typically for two weeks, we leave them with games that trace our travels day by day.  They have to figure out trivia questions to get points and of course they get points for good behavior for grandma or the nanny.  We generally travel when they are in school, limiting the disruption to their routine.

 

 

Depth Charges

We saved our best preparation technique for last.  I really hate the term “off the beaten path”.  But I have not been able to come up with a better description.  We look for sites that  go below the surface and are truly explosive.  Our recent post about our visit to the Marquis de La Fayette’s grave was a great example.  We spent hours researching the site and the history.  We want to know what happened at given place, how did it impact the world.  If we don’t know more than the average tour guide, we have failed.  The beauty of the internet is the access to information and people.  We engage other bloggers that specialize in an area.  What is so cool about these depth charges is that you walk away from traveling a more “deeper” human being.  You did more than visit the cell where Mandella was jailed, you understand the why.

That’s it in a nutshell.  We really do our homework on the places we visit.  There are many out there that specialize in “slow” travel.  Our focus is on “Smart” or “prepared” travel which can be slow or fast.  Its not for everyone.  So tell us, how do your travel?  What kind of preparation do you put into your trips?  What has worked for you?  Leave us a comment below.

 

7 Questions with Beers and Beans

By on February 13, 2012 in General, Slideshowable
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:

beer

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 Facebook, Twitter, Google+ & 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!

Why Do We Do This?

By on February 6, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

“Life throws so much at you: bills, pressure, work, stress, kids, “real” life, drama, mother-in-laws, mortgage payments.  The day in and day out battle of life slowly drains the love out of our relationships.”

 

An enlightening question from a friend this week….”So, why do you blog?”  My first automatic response was something like, “To share our travel ideas, to be a part of the travel blogging community, give encouragement to others, to get out and see the world.” Yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah.

But the real reason we travel blog, is YOU.  Boil it all down, we want others to find happiness in their relationships.  Luci and I have our struggles that’s for sure and as our “catchy” blog name reflects…our relationship is far from perfect.  We fight.  A lot.  But it’s ok.

cote adzurWe count ourselves blessed to have visited some incredible places together during our 15 years of marriage.  But when it comes down to it, these places don’t really matter.  (We are totally serious!)  What matters most to us was that we did it together as a couple.   The number of stamps in our passport doesn’t matter.  What matters is what is stamped on our souls.

We set out our blogging journey with a simple mission:  Encourage other couples to leave the kids with the grandparents for a week and go somewhere together.  If you don’t have the $$$ to do it today, set a goal.  Don’t be stupid and put it all on a  credit card.  BAD MISTAKE!  You will make things worse.  Trust us, a vacation that you saved and scrimped for will be sweeter.  Work together.  Save.  Sacrifice.  Then do it.  Most importantly don’t let the time together be wasted.   Savor every second.   Talk to each other.  Renew.

Life throws so much at you: bills, pressure, work, stress, kids, “real” life, drama, mother-in-laws, mortgage payments.  The day in and day out battle of life slowly drains the love out of our relationships.   It happens to us.  It continues to happen.  A loveless relationship loses hope.  You become roommates.  Then bad things happen.

So why do we blog?  What keeps us going?  It is you.  You on the other end of this Internet.  We hope that there is something that we write that inspires you to make a change.  If you could find one thing to work together on.  Just one thing…maybe something as simple as planning a trip together.

Change is hard.  Life is hard.  You need a friend by your side to face it.  We hope you have/find/love that special someone.

Bon voyage!

Mike and Luci

5 Great Cities for Couples

By on January 20, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

As you know, 1000 Fights is all about encouraging couples to get out and see the world together.   We have put together our 5 favorite couple travel cities.  These are not the “most” romantic cities for couples…look for that post next month!  What we have put together is five great cities to travel as a couple with something for both of you.  Its no secret that we strongly recommend that when couples travel, you spend some “alone” time seeing things that interest you “sans” your mate.  While some folks frown on this, it really works for us.

How did we select these cities?  First of all, it is a bit limited, we only picked cities that we have been to and are very familiar with.  Have you been to a great couple city?  Zing us a comment below.  Besides that, we picked cities that appealed to us individually and collectively.  Cities that could do it both, entertain us on our own and together and do it with panache!

fountain rome italyRome for Couples

For the Gals:

Let us help you plan your “girls” day in Rome.  Start off in the morning at the Villa Borghese.  The Villa is surrounded by a huge central park right smack dab in the middle of Rome.  The villa houses the newly renovated Borghese Gallery.  The Gallery itself is a work of art, not to mention the works of art displayed inside.  Don’t miss Bernini’s famed Apollow and Dahne.  In a word: stunning. (galleriaborghese.it).

After you have taken in the majesty of Borghese, why not hit a famed roman bath/day spa?

For the Guys:

What is more manly than standing in the colosseum and shouting to the world, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?”  Channel your inner Russell Crowe.  Besides Pamela Anderson’s chest….the colosseum is likely one of the most photographed structures that man has ever made.  With that said, both of them are much more impressive in person.  Throw down the extra euros and take a real tour.  The little details on the colosseum are so impressive.  The stadium could seat 50,000 people!

To mark the grand opening of the sporting complex, a hundred-day games were held by Emperor Titus in AD 80. In the process, some 9,000 wild animals were slaughtered!  The entire floor was flooded on occasions and great sea battles were staged!  How cool is that?

Together time:

Rome is a great walking town.  We recommend the Trevi Fountain.  Toss a coin into the fountain and you will return to Rome.  Two coins and a new romance will blossom. (hopefully with the one you are with?)  Three coins a happy marriage.  Four coins?  That just means you don’t have enough for gelato.  Don’t make this mistake.

 

London for Couples

Jane austin London EnglandFor the Gals:

Simple!  Leave the guy behind and rent a car and head to Jane Austen’s house!

For the Guys:

We highly, highly recommend the Imperial War Museum:  http://www.iwm.org.uk/.  For starters the entire museum is free!!!  Save the cash, we won’t tell!

Together time:

We have two really good ideas for you.  The first is to catch a play in the West End.  Dress up to the nines and have a great dinner right on the West End and see some incredible theatre.

For those on  a budget, grab some curry at one of the many little street shops and ride the London Eye together.  The views are to die for!

 

New York for Couples

For the Gals:

New York, New York

Shopping! On you marks… get set… GO!  New York is also a great place to take and do some personal pampering.  There are an endless supply of amazing spas, and salons.

For the Guys:

New York is all about the food and the sports!  There is nothing in the world better than a fat slice of Brooklyn pizza, just dripping with cheese and pepperoni!  BoooYa!  Then take in a game-pick your pleasure:  Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Giants or Jets!  So much to choose from!

Together time:

The Big Apple is a very special place for couples.  Our fave couple experience is take the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building.   We picked the perfect evening recently, the building was in the clouds and lit up blue!  It was so beautiful.  The view from the top is not to be missed.

 

Vancouver, CanadaVancouver BC for Couples

For the Gals:

Ditch the guy and take a ferry over to Victoria Island for the day!  It is well worth the trip.  Candidly if you pull maps up on google, Victoria is a hop, skip and a jump away from Vancouver.  In reality it is a bit further.  It will take all of a day to get there and back and see a few of the better sites.  The ferry terminal from the mainland is a bit out of Vancouver.  The ferry across the drink will take 90 mins or so.  Bring a girlfriend and chat it up while taking in some truly amazing scenery.  Arriving in Victoria you can take high tea at The Fairmont Empress, then you can hit Butchart Gardens or do some antique shopping in the antique district.

For the Guys:

Vancouver BC is loaded with outdoor adventures.  Take out a kayak, rent a bike or just head for the hills.

We also hear they have a pretty good hockey team.  Watching hockey with a bunch of Canadians is an experience every man should have.

Together time:

Vancouver is a great couples town.  For the best in couple time we suggest a few ideas:  First you must dive into the food scene.  We did a post on some of our faves to give you a head start.  Then we highly recommend taking a stroll down by the waterfront or in one of the many parks in town.

paris franceParis for Couples

For the Gals:

Just go here and thank us later:  http://www.girlsguidetoparis.com/

For the Guys:

France does have something to offer the Hommes.  We recommend taking in the Military Museum aka Les Invalids.  I know what you are thinking…France has one of those?  Yep, and its pretty cool.  See Napoleons tomb as well as tributes to French generals when they knew how to fight wars.

Together time:

If we have to give you ideas for this, you have bigger problems!  For those romantically challenged here is our sure fire recipe for a perfect evening in the City of Love.  In the early evening, hop on hte metro to the Basilique du Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.  Watch the sun set over Paris holding the hands of your lover.  Then experience the delicious cuisine of Montmartre.  Then ????

So that is our humble list of great couple cities.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Did we miss a city?  Just click below, we would love to hear from you.

My Glen Ivy Escape

By on January 15, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

The words Glen Ivy SpaLos Angeles Spa makes me go weak in the knees. Located only 60 miles southeast from Los Angeles in Corona, Glen Ivy is an oasis of spa heaven. I first discovered Glen Ivy 10 years ago when I escaped to Los Angeles for the weekend to get away from my husband and children. My friend took one look at me and said, “You need Glen Ivy.” Boy did I ever. I was a working mom in my mid-20s with two kids, a heady job, and dirty house. (Now that I think about it nothing has changed in 10 years, except my age.) I needed a break or mid-life crisis. I opted for the break.

When my friend told me we were going to a spa, I figured it would be in a strip mall with mediocre massages, shag carpet, and maybe a free glass of water if I was lucky. Not even close. As we drove up the entrance it was clear to me Glen Ivy wasn’t just a spa; it was a complex, so vast it would make a Vanderbilt or Kennedy blush.

We walked up to the admittance office and then I beheld what I was to experience. The attendant handed me a map. A spa that needs a map? Yep. It’s that big. We walked into the area and I was as doe-eyed as a five-year old’s first trip to Disneyland. There were signs to the mineral baths, Roman baths, lap pool, the hot pool followed by the cold plunge pool. Fourteen pools total. We hit the mud first.

Mud? Yes. Your admission gets you access to every pool plus Club Mud. There’s an entire area dedicated to mud. Not just any mud, but Glen Ivy mud, a red clay mixed with the natural hot springs that will tighten your skin. Plopped on giant wheels, you grab a handful and  slather the special mud on your body. Let it dry in the California sun and then wash it off. Your skin will feel soft and revitalized.

I liked the Club Med, but I really liked the Grotto. For an extra fee, you can experience absolute soft skin. You walk into the Grotto area and then go down an elevator and enter a cave aka grotto. Your attendant will take a paint brush and paint you with a light green cream. It smells divine because it’s made of aloe vera, shea butter and coconut oil. Go deeper in to the grotto and sit in the “hydrating chamber.” You’ll feel like you are breathing butter, but the longer you sit the better your skin will feel. Then go rinse off. My hands felt soft and subtle days after I returned to the desert of home.

Los Angeles SpaA visitor to Glen Ivy could spend all day just drifting from mud to grotto to roman bath to mineral bath to sauna, but Glen Ivy also has traditional spa treatments. On my first visit, I was treated to scrub, wrap and massage.  Heavenly. Since, I have tried other Glen Ivy’s treatments including the clarifying facial.  Check out their pedicures and manicures as well. A massage or facial will cost roughly $100 per treatment.  On my last visit, I discovered the Glen Ivy Getaway package that included your choice of one 50 minute Swedish massage, 50 minute Glen Ivy facial, or a 50 minute body treatment, as well as grotto admission, and lunch for only $139. Admission is extra and will cost you $46 or $59 depending on whether you are there on the weekdays or weekends. If you buy a service that’s 50 minutes or longer, your admission is discounted.

Plan your day wisely. I like to get my treatments early in the visit, then eat lunch and spend the rest of the day vegging by the pools and ending the day with grotto. You’ll be wasted by the time you leave so expect to be in a fog.  Don’t forget to go to the gift shop. I like to pick up a container of mud and the grotto paint. That way when I’m back home, looking at my dirty house, exhausted from my job, frustrated by my mediocre mothering, I can open up the container, breathe deeply and let Calgon, I mean, Glen Ivy take me away.

Los Angeles has so much to offer!  If you are looking for a great Los Angeles accommodation to go with your spa visit.   Look no further!

The Magic Carpet Fight

By on January 4, 2012 in General, Slideshowable

One of the greatest pastimes in Istanbul is shopping.  Pastime is not the right word.  Experiencing the grand Bazaar it is one part contact sport, one part human psychology 101 and one part exhilaration. Shopping in Istanbul is truly a timeless art form.  Yes there are the chinsy tourist items, the fake Rolexes, carpets made in China.  But it also has some of the best handcrafts and jewelry we have ever seen.  The Grand Bazaar has it all.

English: Lanterns in a shop in the Kapalıçarşı...

Glass of the Grand Bazaar.

How to do the Bazaar

We don’t have an answer for this.  It is funny to watch other couples enter and say to one another…”I will meet you over by the one carpet dealer.  See you in an hour.”  Good luck with that!  LOST!  The size of the bazaar is so difficult to describe.  Where does the Bazaar end and the city begin?  Is the Bazaar just one story?  Is there better shops in one are over another?  We don’t have an answer.  The Bazaar is best enjoyed with a lot of time and money.

 

The Art of the Deal

I have seen some incredible salesman in our travels.  None rival the talent on display in the Grand Bazaar.  Some of the hawkers in the bazaar are three, four and we even found one five generation salesman!  These men, we didn’t come across a saleswoman, so yes they are almost all men, are tuned and trained to evaluate you and devise a plan to separate you from your cash.  It is almost a science for them.  Language barrier?  Not in the bazaar.  Everyone speaks the language  of sales.  I was able to chat up a young salesman that let his guard down a little.  Our conversation went something like this:

Me: “When did you start selling?”

Him: “Sold my first thing when I was only 5”

Me: “Impressive.”

Me: “Whats your secret to making sales?”

Him:  “Reading customers.  And keep them talking to you.”

Me: “How do read a person?”

Him:  “Shoes and eyes.”  (Enter big smile aka end of sales training)

Him:  “Would you like to see some of my best stuff?  I keep it back here…come my friend” (Enter sales pitch)

Put this to the test.  Walk past the best salesmen in the bazaar.  They will check your shoes in as you approach and then they will focus on your eyes.  Eyes tell everything.  They point to the things you find most precious.  They reveal your love for an object.  Very telling.

Heart of Darkness

Go get lost in the Bazaar.  Go deep.  The bazaar cannot be “done” in an hour.  We are not sure that it can be “done” in a day.  Enjoy the experience for what it is, you are a part of history.  Breathe in the experience.  Take in the mosaics at every turn.  Drink some tea with some salesmen.  Play with the shop owners kids.  Most importantly, buy stuff in the Bazaar!  Don’t let the salesmen intimidate you.  You will never forgive yourself if you don’t buy that silver bracelet you found.  First off, you will never find it again in the melee of the bazaar.  Candidly, we found our best deals when we were completely lost in dark alleys deep in the beast of the bazaar.  Find your own path.

 

Check our our Facebook page for more pics of the Grand Bazaar.  While you are there…give us a “Like”.

 

The Carpet Fight

Add the Grand Bazaar to the list of 1000 places to fight before you die.  Mike wanted to buy a rug.  Of course we agreed to a price ceiling before we even set foot in the market.   Of course Mike paid no heed to that agreement.  He boldly walked into carpet shops and looked at stuff we couldn’t afford.  (Don’t do this.)  We ended up meeting the George Clooney of carpet sales.  Mike the great white salesman himself had met his match.  We went round and round on the price.  In the end, we paid way too much.  With that said it was a great experience.  Today, the rug welcomes everyone that comes into our home.

The Grand Bazaar is not to be missed.  Turkey and Istanbul especially is a wonderful couple travel destination.  It offer so much.  Experience the bazaar.  Spend some money!

Have you been to the Grand Bazaar?   What did you find?  We would love to hear from you.oo much for our little rug.  But it was great fun!  Our little piece of Istanbul greets everyone that walks into our door.

The Best and Worst of the Fighting Couple 2011

By on December 31, 2011 in General, Slideshowable

This year was a great one for the Fighting Couple!  We traveled to some amazing places and some duds!  As we bid 2011 adieu, we wanted to offer you our best and worst of the year:

Lets start with the numbers:

Nights on the road: 65

Countries visited: 7 (Italy, France, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Canada, Austria)

Pastries eaten in Paris:  15 or so!

Most expensive water:  15 euros per bottle! (Italy)

Ugly American travel moment:  Mike-Ironing his Brooks Brother shirt with Evian water while staying at a hotel on the Versailles property.

Best Fight:  So many to choose from!  One of the best was our “Sticker” fight.  As Mike drove us across the border into Slovenia, to our surprise the toll booths were unmanned.  Mike took this as there was no need to pay tolls.  (Don’t make this assumption.)  Mike drove on throwing caution to the wind despite strongly worded objections.  This decision would end up costing us big time!  We had to pay a huge fine at the border leaving the country.  You must buy a “sticker” when entering Slovenia.  In the end, “lively” discussion followed.

Bloggers that we were able to get to know in 2011:  Traveling Cannucks (Cam and Nicole), Jouneywoman (Evelyn), Bohemian Trails (Megan), Couple of Sports (Jakie and Mark), Our Tasty Travels (Erin and Brett).

Fave Location Mike:  Easy.  Bihac, Bosnia, hands down.  Did we stay in a four star hotel? Nope.  How many thought provoking tours did we take? Nada.   Luci and the other couple traveling with us really humored me on going to this border town.   Bihac was the nucleus of the war.  The first and last shots fired were in the area.  Our adventure to Bosnia began at the border.  The border agent was a little surprised to see American passports.  It took a little convincing to explain that we were tourists coming to his country.  Bosnia, what little of what we saw of it, was lush and green.  As we drove along, we saw the bullet ridden homes along the way.   We stayed at charming little hotel called the Hotel Opal.  We ate at the little riverside restaurant in the hotel.   Food was surprising good!  What made this my fave is the blatant tourist nature of Bosnia, pristine beauty, storied history, and its rough complexity.

Fave Location Luci:  Lake Bled, Slovenia!  Lake Bled is girls’ fantasy camp. It looks like a fairy tale and the Lake’s famous dessert is worth every calorie. Lake Bled is a mountain lake nestled in the heart of the Julian Alps. Slovenia is the cheap man’s Austria. While it’s on the Euro, prices are at least a third cheaper. What else could a fairy tale want? Goregous lake. Yummy cake. Cheap. For a perfect fairy tale moment, spend the day at the lake.  In the middle of the Lake Bled, is an island topped by a church.

Lake Bled

The Church on Lake Bled Island, Slovenia

Rent a row boat for less than 10E and make your spouse row you across the lake. Once you reach the island, make him carry you up the steps to the church. If your spouse makes the 99 steps, you’ll have a happy marriage. If you don’t, well, you’ll be like 1000 Fights. Ring the bell the church bell and a wish will come true. Guys, if you don’t want row, you can get in an oversized gondola called a plenta and someone will row you along with 10-12 other lazy tourists. After visiting the church, visit one of the many lakeside restaurants and dive into famous kremšnit. The cake has a layer of whipped cream followed by vanilla custard and topped with filo dough. As someone who loves, anything creamy, the cake is heaven in every bite. To see pictures and more see:

Rab Island, Croatia

Leaving Rab, Isand.

Worst Location Mike:  This is another easy one for me.  I really dislike Rab, Croatia.  Dislike perhaps is not a strong enough word.  I just want to give them a benefit of a doubt…Being the crazy planner that I am, I had everything planned out.   The first thing you need to know about Rab is that it is a desert island.  It is not attractive.   Three months prior to our arrival, we had reserved a boat to rent for the day.  It was going to be a blast.  We were going to hit a couple secluded remote beaches.  Sounds like fun huh?  Well it took an hour to find the boat dock.  We approached the proprietor, made small talk and once we asked about our boat reservation, the “gentleman” forgot English, and there was no longer a reservation, regardless of the 3 emails I had in hand to the contrary.  The day only got worse!  We decided to drive to one of the public beaches…in route we were following three cars following a tractor.  The tractor driver waved us all around.  So I passed on a flat and straight patch.  All of the sudden: Lights and Siren!  We were pulled over and ticket for passing in no passing zone!  No sign!  Following other cars!  I really dislike Rab!

Worst Location Luci: I hate Las Vegas. The food is expensive. The shows are pricey. The museums are over rated. There are ads of naked women everywhere. The free things to see in casinos are so buried deep inside you need a map to get out. I don’t drink or gamble so what is there for me to do? Nothing. I could never go back and be happy.

Big Winners!:  This year we ran two contests.  The first was our famed Hottest Travel Blogging Divas and Hunks.  We highlighted 3 gals and 3 guys that are travel bloggers.  It was a little tongue in cheek but it gave us a chance to highlight some incredible travel bloggers.  Just in case you missed it, Keith from www.traveling-savage.com was crowned King and the lovely and talented Lillie of  http://www.aroundtheworldl.com/ was crowned queen.

The Kahle's Winner of our Mistletoe Moment

Our other contest was our Mistletoe Moments during the month of December.  We asked couples to submit their best magical moment together during the year.  We were stunned by the response!  There were so many touching stories of couples finding love at home and abroad.   The response really has inspired us.  The winning moment came to us from the Kahle’s at http://www.wanderlivin.com/.  Congrats again!

TBEX-This year we decided to attend the annual travel blogger revival called TBEX.  We are so glad we did!  TBEX this year was hosted in scenic Vancouver, BC, Canada.  For those of you that have not attended, it is a two-three day affair, with travel bloggers from across the globe.  Luci was skeptical about attending at first, but it really turned into a funfest.  Presentations were given on different travel and technical topics.  It was wonderful meeting the faces behind the Facebook pages.

Waterfalls i Croatia

Waterfalls in Croatia

We want to thank each and every one of you our readers.  Thanks for your comments, thanks for your interest in our crazy fights.  Stay tuned we have some exciting stuff planned for you in 2012!  Buckle up!

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