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We started traveling together
about 10 years ago, right after we
sold a business we grew together
in Sacramento, CA. (That was an
experience - trying to work with someone you
love when you both think you're the
boss! It was so dramatic that we wrote a
book about it!)
Our first real adventure
together as married people was in the
Baja. I guess you could say it was our
honeymoon because we went shortly after we
got married.
Anyway, that trip
was a first for both of us and such a
sensational experience in so many
ways. First of all we
backpacked! At our age... Then
we jumped on a Mexican bus in Tijuana and
stayed on until we felt like getting
off! At our age...
Eventually
we got all the way to Land's End - Cabo San
Lucas. It was so wonderful that we flew back
home, got some clothes, came back and rented a house
on the beach for the rest of the summer in a little
fishing village about an hour and a half north of
Cabo.
The
Baja is exquisite - desert and ocean side by side -
wow! It's unspoiled - sure there are mega
resorts, 5 star dining, etc. etc. But get off
the beaten path and you'll see what I mean.
The
people are warm - and really, people DO make the
difference when you travel. It is through them
that you really experience the essence of a
place. It's unlimited - there are endless ways
to enjoy yourself, in the water and on the
land. Sailing, windsurfing, diving,
snorkeling, dune buggying (is that a word?),
golfing, hiking, deep sea fishing and on and
on.
Well, you might think we've never
traveled before and that's why we loved it so
much. Not so. In fact our travels have
taken us all over the world - although we haven't
even scratched the surface yet. But we're
working on that too.
Half
the fun of travel is sharing your experiences with
others - you know what I mean. So in 1999 we
created FunTripsLIVE.com,
a travel series featuring popular and not-so-well
known highlights and activities of favorite
destinations.
We
did this because traveling to us is not about a tour
group, or merely site seeing. It is not a
spectator sport. For us it's about having an
experience, which means local flavor and the people
that make that happen.
To show you what I mean:
Thanks to our daughter-in-law,
who was a medical student at the time, we went
along on a medical missionary boat down the
Amazon to the villages along the banks. That's
local. In New Orleans, we took a cooking class
with one of the great chef's in the city. He
taught us how to make gumbo, pralines and bread
pudding. That's local.
In the Baja, we stayed in a yurt
in a place called Buena Vista. The yurt had
a outdoor tub that faced the Sea of Cortez and
filled up with underground hot springs.
That's local.
Hidden
in the mountains west of Santa Fe, we discovered
hundreds of natural hot springs and got right in
there with the locals taking a soak. That's
very local.
In St. John, Virgin Islands...
In Scotland...
In Russia...
In Belize...
In real life, we have to be
grounded - to some degree anyway. Dub is an
artist - he creates unique sculptures and dramatic
textures that rich people put in their homes.
You can see more about him and his work at his
website www.dubjames.com.
I'm the 'techie' in the team and
do web design and development, web marketing (which
is my favorite thing to do) and freelance
writing. You can see more about me on my
website
www.sbi-works.com
So here we are, still living on
the edge, traveling when we can, where we can and
loving the people we meet along the way and those
that log on to come along with us. We'd love for you
to join
us too.
It's fun. It's an
adventure. It's living large!
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