Walk of the Inns - A Unique Holiday Experience!

For most people, the holidays can be a hectic time of the year. But no matter how busy it is, there’s one event in Palm Springs that we absolutely enjoy, so when the date is announced, we do everything possible to keep it open. This year’s Walk of the Inns is Thursday December 12 and if you’ve never experienced this event, it’s worth the drive.

Every December, about 12 Bed and Breakfast and small boutique hotels open their doors from 6 PM to 9 PM, allowing visitors a chance to see these unique properties up close and personal. Each locale has its own special charm so it’s visually stunning. And because it’s the holiday season, the properties are decked out and quite festive! At some of the stops, don’t be surprised if they serve you cookies and hot chocolate or some other delicious surprise. Such a nice touch!

This is the event’s 24^th year and it’s become a popular holiday tradition among locals and out-of-towners.  Last year, more than 1700 people attended but over the years, they’ve attracted as high as 2500. 

Dominic L of Casa Cody says it’s a great way for people to get a behind the scenes look at some of the city’s wonderful properties. “Palm Springs has so many lovely B&B’s and quaint small hotels that are like no other,” Dominic says.  Casa Cody was founded in the 1920’s by Hollywood pioneer, Harriet Cody, cousin to the legendary, Buffalo Bill.  It’s the oldest, operating hotel in Palm Springs.

The self-guided tour kicks off at the Palm Springs Art Museum and the Palm Springs Women’s Club. Maps are provided and the route is easy to follow. Most people walk the route so wear comfortable shoes – sneakers are best – and dress warmly as temperatures do drop at night.  Another tip? Come early so you can check out all – or most of the B&B’s.  It may not seem like it, but 3 hours goes by quickly, so you’ll want to arrive as close to 6 PM as possible.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas! 

Safe Travels,

Marc & Darlynne Menkin

Travel Journalists 

619.917.6037

www.wheretours.com

In addition to being Travel writers, Marc and Darlynne run two Team Building companies, headquartered in San Diego. Where You Want To Be specializes in memorable Team Building EXPERIENCES. Out of the Ordinary creates high energy Team Building GAMES. 

Over the years, we've created numerous Team Building programs. Some came to fruition because a client asked about it while others came from our imagination. While it's a lot of work to create original programs, it's also downright fun because it allows us to tap into our creative side, and explore new and exciting possibilities!

                                     
As any artist will tell you, it's very satisfying - and fulfilling whenever you create something new and then get to witness others enjoy it. People often ask us "What's your favorite Team Building program?" That's a tough question because the truth is, we love em all! But one of our newer programs called
"The Good Deeds Bus Experiment" has definitely captured our heart for many reasons.

For one thing, it's an immersive experience that showcases some of San Diego's secret spots. You know, places that are truly "off the beaten path." It could be anything from a little known historical suspension bridge to a unique walking path that overlooks the ocean. At several of the stops, we include surprises so for example, on our last program, we had a professional Hawaiian dancer who performed AND taught our group how to dance the hula. Imagine 50 people learning how to dance the hula right in the middle of a neighborhood! It was quite the scene. As a matter of fact, several of the neighbors came out and even joined us!

For us, seeing a group of strangers have fun together was super sweet. The last stop, also billed as the "highlight" of the adventure, was a mystery "volunteer location." For this particular group, the organizers chose to build trikes and then donate them to the Ronald McDonald House. Such a memorable way to kick off the holidays, and so much better than the usual office Happy Hour Get together.

hashtag#teambuilding hashtag#holidayparties #meetingplanners #sandiego www.wheretours.com
https://wheretours.com/the-good-deeds-experiment/

Explore Maui from above.. on a cool Zipline Adventure!

As travel writers, we have visited so many beautiful destinations. People ask us all the time if we have a favorite place to vacation and while it's true we've seen many amazing places, there's one location that we feel is a perfect fit for us. That location is... drum roll please... Maui!  The plane ride from San Diego is super easy and once you arrive on the island, you can literally feel the stress melt away.

We've been to Maui several times so we definitely have our favorite hangouts. But this year, we decided to try something different so we went Ziplining!  We weren't exactly sure what to expect but boy, are we glad we went for it.

We chose Skyline Eco-Adventures and it was quite the experience! Their team did a great job at giving us an experience that we couldn't do on our own. Plus, we also got to learn a bit about the Hawaiian culture and what makes it so special.  If Ziplining is something you've been curious about, do yourself a favor and... GO FOR IT!   But don't take our word for it. Check out this fun travel video and see for yourself!

Click below:
Let's Go Ziplining in Maui!



Happy Travels!

Marc & Darlynne Menkin
Travel Journalists
619.917.6037
www.wheretours.com

What's the difference between Where You Want To Be & Out of the Ordinary?

When we first launched Where You Want To Be in 2003, we were like 2 kids in a candy store.
Sure, it was hard work but for us, it was so much fun creating all those cool adventures. Then when Out of the Ordinary came along in 2015, that was a game changer when the two companies merged.

All of a sudden, people were asking "What's the difference between the two companies?" While it may seem like a simple question on the surface, it actually caused us to stop and really ask ourselves What's so special about each company and more importantly, why should people care?  To this day, people still ask us what's the difference so because of that, here's how we see it. 

Out of the Ordinary creates high energy Team Building GAMES like Team Olympics, Survivor and Charity Bike Builds.  Think wildly competitive and ridiculously FUN team challenges. OOO offers 40 + Team Building programs, so there's lots of cool options!  In case you're thinking "but I'm not athletic," don't worry. We practice "Challenge by Choice" and our goal is to NEVER make anyone feel uncomfortable, so we take extra care in creating activities for all fitness levels.

Where You Want To Be specializes in unique Team Building EXPERIENCES. In fact, our goal is to give you a life experience so memorable, that you'll say "I'm exactly where I want to be!"  Because we're all about showcasing "secret San Diego spots," all of our experiences take place in areas that are "off the beaten path."  You know, places where the locals hang out!

While our signature product (and most requested!) is still our Urban Challenge Scavenger Hunt,  some of our other innovative experiences include our Good Deeds Bus Experiment, Wellness Walks and Arts Alive. All of these experiences not only feature hidden areas, they focus on "building up" teams, so expect lots of good facilitation and takeaways.

For more information on ALL our unique Team Building Experiences, log onto our website at www.wheretours.com   For those of you who are more visual, check out our FAQ video by clicking HERE. 

Thanks for spending time with us.  Until we meet again...

Marc & Darlynne Menkin
Where You Want To Be
619.917.6037
www.wheretours.com


Marc & Darlynne Menkin are the co-owners of Where You Want To Be, a San Diego based company that specializes in fun team building EXPERIENCES and unique tours to hidden spots. Our adventures are all about lifting others up and bringing people to a better place. It's our hope that when you're with us, you'll experience the true meaning of ALOHA. 

A: Abundance - Living life to the fullest
L:  Laughter - The true meaning of JOY
O: Open Minded - Enjoying new experiences
H: Having Fun -  Embracing a child like spirit
A: Amazing Adventures - Creating memories

Life is an adventure!

It's hard to believe that it's already August. How did that happen? It seems like it was just yesterday we all were sharing our New Year's resolutions. But here it is, late August and before you know it, the kids will be back in school and summer will be over. We can almost hear some of you groaning at this very thought!

But let's be honest. When you live in San Diego, summer is never really over. After all, we live in paradise and the weather is beautiful, year round.  For us, we especially love our balmy 72-degree weather because it's a perfect fit for what we do: creating unique Team Building Experiences.

We launched Where You Want To Be back in 2003 and since then, our programs have evolved. But this year, we've taken it to a whole new level as we've expanded our offerings and we're super excited! Our goal? To give you a life experience so memorable, you can't WAIT to come back for more. 

While our ever popular Urban Challenge Scavenger Hunts continue to be our signature product, we've added some very cool and innovative experiences like our Wellness Walks and  

Outdoor Meetings. The idea behind these new offerings allows us to show off 

"hidden San Diego spots" (which is what we're known for) while incorporating takeaways that will help strengthen your team.  

For example, Bridging the Gap is a unique experiential team bonding activity that gets your people talking and brainstorming together.  And to make it even more unique, our experienced guides/facilitators will walk you across 5 beautiful bridges, that serve as metaphors to the importance of "bridge building." 

If you want to engage your team but your time is limited (say you only have about 1 hour?), there's our fun Creative Ice Breakers  which can be used to either kick off your meeting OR at the end of the day, to energize your team after a long day of meetings.  For those who prefer to explore the city while getting in a little bit of exercise, you may want to check out our Rise & Shine Running Tour.

While we happily could go on & on about all our newly created experiences, the best way to get the low down is by checking out our new website!  We can be found at www.wheretours.com 

Thanks for spending time with us.  

Until we meet again...   

Happy Travels!

Marc & Darlynne Menkin

Where You Want To Be 

619.917.6037

www.wheretours.com


Marc & Darlynne Menkin are the co-owners of Where You Want To Be, a San Diego based company that specializes in fun team building EXPERIENCES and unique tours to hidden spots. Our sister company, Out of the Ordinary has been creating high energy, competitive Team Building GAMES since 1996. Both companies have received numerous awards including Best Team Building by Southern California Meetings & Events and Best Tour for Locals by San Diego Magazine.