Category Archives: Trip Reports

a heart made of coffee beans

Shelli’s World Coffee Tour – Coffee Houses in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Part 2)

Posted on by . 4 Replies

I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a fantastic holiday in Slovenia. Given the shared border with Italy and all the cafes around Ljubljana advertising Illy brand coffee, I wasn’t sure if I’d find coffee shops worth sharing with my fellow Bean Around The World travelers, so I was thrilled to find two fantastic places owned by some very special people. I’ve got lots to share with you, so let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Slovenian style.

Please read part 1 of my Ljubljana coffee blog post. It will help you understand the general coffee scene and why I chose only two coffee houses to review. They are by far the best two, though! The next coffee house I spent a lot of time in is called Cafe Cokl.  Cokl is the family name of the owner, Tine. From the first moment I stepped into Cafe Cokl, I knew I was in the right place with the right attitude and the right coffee. My flat white was excellent! The interior of the cafe is cozy and there’s plenty of seating outside.

While I had my first flat white, the head barista sat with me and told me all about the cafe and the coffee, then a loyal fan who happened to be at the table next to me joined in the conversation. Then Tine himself came into the cafe, and so the conversation went on and on. I learned a lot, laughed a lot, and sampled some coffee :)

a cup of coffee with a design in the foam

Cokl Flat White

Continue reading →

a close-up of a sign

My 4 Favorite Airfare Deal Websites: The Flight Deal, Fare Deal Alert, Exit Fares & GTFO Flights

Posted on by . 9 Replies

Good afternoon everyone.  When I first meet people who love to travel but are not into travel hacking, they usually ask me what website I use to find the best airfare deals.  I usually recommend subscribing to a few airfare deal websites.  These sites find the best airfare deals and send out daily emails to their subscribers.  The 4 airfare deal websites I use are:

Each airfare deal website tracks different departure cities and no website tracks every city.  To begin, find your nearest city in the table to see which website you should use.  If you live near a large international airport, you will have several options.  Unfortunately, if you live near a regional airport or a smaller international airport, your options are limited or nonexistent.

a table with a number of cities

Continue reading →

a white sink in a bathroom

My Confession: Hooray for the Bidet

Posted on by . 11 Replies

A few months ago, Jason over at Fly&Dine, wrote an article about bidets. He got hooked after a recent trip to Asia. He called his post “In Defense of the Bidet”, but I’m calling mine, “Hooray for the Bidet”. Now, I clearly know that there are three responses, three different groups, if you will, of you reading this. The first group is already clicking away because maybe you have no idea how a bidet works and why I’d say hooray. But I encourage you to keep reading because maybe I’ll get you to change your mind. The second group is intrigued by the idea of using a bidet and has maybe used one and wants to know why in the span of a few months TWO Boarding Area bloggers are writing about bidets! The third group is already thinking of their reply to this post, because, like me, the words Hooray and Bidet are a natural fit. Bidet users are nothing less than overly enthusiastic about their love affair with bidets. We say things like, “bidets changed my life.” After all, we miles and points folks are generally more open to trying new things, are we not?

a bidet in a bathroom

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet

Continue reading →

a green and white rectangle with text

5 Things to Experience in Slovenia: Caves, Parks, Fish Restaurants, Gelaterias & Milk Machines

Posted on by . 7 Replies

If you’re looking for reasons not to love a place you’re visiting, sLOVEnia is not for you! After being there a week, which was not nearly enough, I kept looking for excuses to stay :) My visit came about rather oddly in that I was never planning to visit Slovenia. I had a trip planned to Italy, which I’d visited before, and this idea floated into my head. Since I was going back to Italy, maybe I should use the opportunity to visit a country I hadn’t been to before. But one not too far from Italy. That’s when the planning wheels started turning. Because I was starting my Italy trip in Venice, I looked at the map and noticed that Slovenia shared a border with Italy. Hmmm, interesting.

Then I remembered that Adam, over at Point me to the Plane, talked about his trip to Slovenia. He went there in 2013, so his wonderful impressions of Slovenia must have really stuck in my brain for me to recall it all in 2017! When I emailed Adam, all he could say was, “Just go, you’ll love it!” So I booked my trip! So now I’m paying Adam’s advice forward and telling you, “Just go, you’ll love it!”

When you read about Slovenia it always says its capital, Ljubljana, is a city made to the measure of man. It’s always interesting to me how places describe themselves. Not only is this way of describing Ljubljana totally true, it gives you a window into the energy and feeling of this city and its people. They are warm, friendly, full of life, and certainly living in a beautiful mid-sized city. Ljubljana lies between Venice and Vienna, which makes for an interesting mix of cultures and cuisines, though I found Slovenia to be uniquely its own place.

Without gushing too much about how wonderful this country is, I want to give you 5 ideas for what to do and see that, with the exception of one of them, won’t likely end up on any MUST SEE lists you’ll find online. I wrote a separate post on the coffee scene in Ljubljana – Shelli’s World Coffee Tour – Coffee Houses in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Part 1). Hint: if you drink coffee, you’re in for a real treat! Continue reading →

a close-up of a logo

How to Cancel Airline Tickets Booked with Citi ThankYou Points

Posted on by . 12 Replies

Good morning everyone.  A few weeks ago, I redeemed my Citi Thank You Points for an American Airlines flight that was a code share with Alaska Airlines.  By booking the American Airlines code share flight instead of the Alaska Airlines flight, I was able to get 1.6 cents per point (CPP) for my Citi Thank You Point redemption.  This redemption value is only going to be around until July 27, 2017, then all flights booked with Citi Thank You Points will only get 1.25 CPP in value.  At the time, I was very pleased with the redemption value, but then a few weeks later, my travel plans changed and I no longer needed that flight.

Luckily, a schedule change occurred and I was able to cancel my airline reservation for free and get my Citi Thank You Points redeposited into my account.  In this post, I will explain the process of cancelling an airline reservation and getting your Citi Thank You Points redeposited.

a screenshot of a flight registration form

Continue reading →