Sexy, Chic, Trendy…Travel Hip.TV Launches!

We have launched TravelHip.TV. Come to our site, get inspired to travel somewhere outside your “travel box” somewhere other than the same old cruise or trip to Cancun! We’ll inspire you with our videos, show you some real photos (not that fake crap) and then we’ll tell you EVERYTHING you need to know to Travel Hip to your destination.

Currently our destinations are:

1. Punta del Este, Uruguay ~ The jewel of South America! Beaches, beauties and plenty of Punta sunshine!

2. Marbella, Spain ~ A Mediterranean hot spot that should be on your list for this summer!

3. Marrakech, Morocco ~ Marrakech is making it’s way into one of the hottest destinations on the planet, it’s different that you think. Marrakech has been reborn!

4. St. Barth’s, Caribbean ~ This tiny, super exclusive French Island is like no Caribbean Island you’ve ever been to. It’s like having St. Tropez with a mellow Caribbean vibe all wrapped up into one sexy island!

Coming Soon… The Greek Islands, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro!

Getting Married in Positano, Italy.

Getting married in Italy is a dream come true, a real fairy tail. However, the legal part of being truly married in Italy is so difficult even Tom & Katie didn’t do it legally. But we did!

My husband and I are both US Citizens who just happen to have a love-affair with Italy. My perfect husband proposed to me in the most perfect way, in the Duomo (pictured above) in Positano, Italy. We decided that we’d go back to Positano almost a year later to have our perfect Italian wedding.

Planning the Wedding

To us, Positano is the most picturesque place in the world. There is no venue that could compete with the mountain of multi-colored houses piled on top of each other in Positano set against the marine blue of the sea. In Positano for your marriage to be legal, you must be actually married at Town Hall. Of course, you can have another spiritual ceremony at another location, however this ancient town hall has a large terrace where you can hold your ceremony. Which is exactly what we did.

Making it Legal: The hardest part of planning my wedding was the paperwork and the “red tape” involved in making my wedding legal. I really didn’t want to have to get married in the US and then just have a spiritual or symbolic ceremony in Italy. I wanted that Italian wedding license! So, I called every government agency that I could find and make a checklist of exactly what I had to do. (I’ve included my checklist and all the contacts & details in my step by step guide!)

THE DRESS

Destination weddings mean you need a dress that can withstand the planes, trains and automobiles of getting there. I found a fantastic designer, Winnie Couture, that offers “destination dresses”. Currently, I am actually featured on their Winnie Brides section.

THE RECEPTION

Our reception was held on the balcony of the most beautiful hotel in the world, Le Sirenuse. Here we had a sunset reception with Bellinis, Hot and Cold Canape (which basically is hot and cold finger foods, it took me months to understand it!) Also, they made our cake which was the most amazing cake I have ever tasted in my life. The staff of this should-be ten-million star hotel is attentive and made every aspect of our reception perfect!

THE DINNER

Following the reception we had a typical Italian dinner at a local restaurant called Chez Black on the Positano beach. You may recognize this restaurant from Under the Tuscan Sun, the scene where she’s sipping limoncello on the beach with the Italian man. Black himself was very gracious and really took care of our party. You’ll notice that the walls are lined with celebrity photos. This is place to eat in Positano!

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Regardless of where you get married in italy, there is only one photographer you should ever consider using, Camera Chiara. They are AMAZING! they will capture every single detail of your wedding no matter how large or how small! They are SOOOOO worth every dime! And they are not as expensive as american photographers and you get a a leather bound hand made traditional italian wedding album, PLUS: a CD of EVERY Digital Image, ALL Negatives, yep, ALL of them and you can make as many reprints as you want!

THE LITTLE ODDS AND ENDS

Invitations and Thank You Cards: The Amalfi Coast is known for making handmade paper. You can find beautiful Invitations and Thank You Cards at (currently searching for the name). You can also order a custom wax stamp with your initials and the wax color that coordinates with your wedding!

Flowers: There are plenty of small flower shops. For just a bouquet and corsages you won’t need more than a few days notice. In fact, I ordered my bouquet of Lily’s just a day before the wedding and it was only about 20 euros!

Beautiful Italian Women vs. Cute American Women

How many times have you heard two girls say “You look cute” when they greet each other. Ummm….how about every time! And it sounds really meaningful doesn’t it? You look cute. Women in the US are afraid to be beautiful, but cute, that’s okay! And even worse, they are afraid of other women being beautiful! It’s alright, you can be honest, you are one of them. Don’t worry, there is hope for you!

For some unknown reason to me, it seems like beautiful women aren’t credible or maybe they are just intimidating. And if you’re non-intimidating in your appearance, then maybe you are more credible. Let’s compare our typical female US reporters like Katie Couric to French reporter Melissa Theuriau. Now, no knock to Katie and I’m not saying all reporters should be hot, I’m just saying that beauty is appreciated in other cultures and frowned upon in the US. If anything, being beautiful can be a curse. (I know, I know, it’s important to be beautiful on the inside…but folks, we’re only talking on the outside here!)

This is not the case in countries that I’ve traveled to like Italy, France, Argentina and Brazil. The women in these countries use the word beautiful to describe other women. It’s a breath of fresh air to me. For Italian women for example everything is “bella, bella, bella”. They have no “charge” with another women’s beauty, if anything it inspires them.

Remember the last time you where at a party, night club, restaurant, and a truly beautiful feminine woman walked in, I mean a real knock out, what happened to the room. It got all F&@%-up didn’t it! My guess? Well, the men felt a “pull” from the feminine energy, it’s okay girls, men can appreciate a womans beauty without wanting to always get her in the sack! And the women most likely started sizing her up and made some judgment about her, maybe it was her shoes, outfit, hairstyle or even lip gloss…something has to be wrong with this beautiful woman and it’s every other woman’s job to find that something…or so they think.

Now, here’s what would happen in Italy. A beautiful feminine woman walks into the restaurant. The men feel it and check her out, and the women are likely to say something either to themselves or out load about how beautiful she is….not she’s cute…not I hate her shoes (unless of course the beautiful woman is from southern Italy and the girl judging is from Milan, in that case she would definitely hate her shoes!)…in any other case she’d probably just say , bella.

We, the US women, need to learn from the Italians, French and all other cultures that appreciate and expect beauty. I love traveling to places where beauty is appreciated, respected and sometimes expected. It’s nice to get out of the sweats and t-shirt philosophy of the US and put on a nice pair of 4 inch heels for dinner.

Think about it…would you rather be called beautiful or cute? Beautiful! And guess what, so would every other girl on the planet. It’s more meaningful. So, next time you see a beautiful woman walk into a room, acknowledge her beauty and maybe smile at her kindly instead of prejudging. And the next time you see your friend, tell her she looks beautiful…don’t be afraid.

Who said the only learning you do while traveling is about the Roman ruins? I love to learn from the other cultures, ya know the ones that have been around hundreds of years longer than our young little USA. Think of us as a preteen and Europe as the cool older cousin that taught us “the facts of life”. Learn from them, and don’t be afraid to kiss on both cheeks from now on!

Thanks for listening…

Kimberly Murgatroyd

The Hip Traveler

{Def} Hip Traveler: Someone who understands that a hotel is more than a bed, a restaurant is more than food and being a “tourist” is not part of their identity. This person is an “insider” in any destination, and is part of the scene, all over the globe.

We don’t really care where George Washington slept. But where Gisele Bündchen slept, that’s a different story. Hip travel is our passion. We travel twelve times a year to the world’s hottest locations. But, we realized while planning these trips that there was no “source” for our type of travel. Sure there are tons of websites that promote the Hip Hotels, but because they make money on booking these hotels, it became hard to determine how objective these sites really were. And finding new and exciting destinations that also had a scene, was nearly impossible. There are plenty of forums, but how do you know who is behind the screen name SexyTraveler and if they are really like you.

There was a market for the luxury traveler, the eco traveler and even the budget travel; but nothing for the Hip Traveler. That’s when we thought, “There’s got to be a better way!”

TravelHip.TV is your objective Hip Travel resource. This is what you can expect from us:

• TRAVEL MOVIES ~ Get to know us and how we travel. In just ten-minutes you can watch one of our Travel Movies and see what a destination is really like, and decide if it’s somewhere you’d like to visit. We’re not going to tell you about the 18th century tiling of your hotel ceiling, so if that’s what you are looking for, you’re at the wrong place! We’re going to give you a real feel for the destination, you’ll almost think you’ve been there too! Most are in HD and all of them are fun to watch. Don’t miss the Blooper Reel at the end!
• HIP LISTS ~ Imagine a short condensed guidebook that only told you exactly what you want to know. Where to stay, eat and play. That’s it. It’s completely down loadable, even to your iPhone!
• IMAGES ~ Candid photos of each destination, photos we took personally, not some doctored up images from hotels or other websites. Really see what the hotels, beaches, restaurants and people are like in each destination.
• EXTRAS ~ Do I need a Visa? Where is this destination? How long is the flight? What season is best? Everything you need to know before you go!

Go ahead and subscribe to this this blog and we’ll keep you informed on upcoming trips, hot travel tips and anything we feel can benefit the Hip Traveler!