Want to know how to travel in style, just like the pros? We check in with frequent fliers to find out how often they fly, their favorite destinations and what they never leave home without.
Name: Robert Gutierrez & Lindsay Pond
Occupation: Law Firm Accounts Manager & Social Media Director (Snore). And Travel Bloggers.
Hometown: His: Pico Rivera, CA; Hers: Overland Park, KS
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
College: His: UCSB; Hers: USC
College major: His: Poli Sci; Hers: Communication
Website: hisandhertravel.co
Twitter: @hisnhertravel
Instagram: hisnhertravel
YouTube: hisandhertravel
Short bio: We planned our first trip together to Guadalajara just a few days after we started dating. Since that first trip, we’ve always been on the go. For a while, we kept things relatively domestic: New York, Kansas City, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and a few more Sans for good measure…but in 2011, we decided to quit our day jobs and give TESL a chance as auxiliares to conversacion in Spain. After our first year in Segovia, Spain, Robert proposed in Paris, and we got married over the summer in Mijas, Spain. In 2012, we doubled down for a second year of teaching, this time in the frigid city of Burgos. The bad weather was a huge incentive for us to travel as much as possible.
Our travels have taken us from dancing in Cairns in Scotland to pilgrimages in Israel. We’ve cat-sat through the middle of the Swedish winter and we’ve painted fences to stay in a luxury villa in Tuscany. Our travel style is part hedonistic, part budget-conscious…and that leads us to do some pretty unconventional things.
How often do you fly? About once every three months.
How many countries have you been to? Twenty-three.
How many continents have you been to? Three (soon to be four).
Favorite international city: Berlin—because they put sausages with ketchup and curry on a pedestal, and that is the kind of world we want to live in!
Country with the meanest immigration officers: After a two-year sojourn, and a 16-hour flight home, the US border agent at Dulles smiled kindly at us when we told him that all we had were backpacks…no additional baggage. Then he marked our exit cards with the letter C, which we assume was for condemnation. We ended up waiting for two hours in the C Line for another agent to clear us. When we arrived at the front of the line, he flipped through our passports, squinted at us, and finally let us go through. At last.
Favorite airline: We once took a flight to Vegas on Southwest, and our rapping flight attendant sealed the deal to make this our favorite domestic airline.
Aisle or window: We flip a coin for the window.
Favorite tapas bar: When we think about food, we think about La Polvorilla in Burgos, Spain. We were lucky enough to live there when it was the gastronomical capital of Spain—and during our nine months there, this became our favorite. The tapas were unreal: tortilla española with morcilla and caramelized onions; tapa-sized servings of risotto, mango on foie on bread with sugar blow-torched like a crème brûlée on top; and don’t get us started on the goat cheese. No tapa ever topped five euros.
Favorite travel movie(s): His: Casablanca; Hers: Midnight in Paris.
Favorite travel show(s): Call us cliche, but it’s got to be No Reservations.
Favorite travel book(s): His: On the Road; Hers: Lolita.
Right now I am reading: His: “A Year in Provence”; Hers: “Love in the Time of Cholera.”
Top 3 favorite travel newsletters/magazines/blogs: We love Just Travelous, The Planet D, and of course, Johnny Jet!
What do you always seem to forget? Socks, pajamas, and toothbrushes.
What do you like least about travel? Jetlag!
Favorite travel app(s): TripIt.
Worst travel moment: Getting lost in the Medina of Marrakech…for eight hours.
