Americans sometimes get a bad rap as travelers because of their inability to speak other languages. But there are many exciting places to visit that are incredibly accessible to those of us who only speak English.

According to Forbes magazine, Europe offers many options. Amsterdam is one of their first recommendations. It’s easy to fly into and small enough to traverse quickly with plenty of beautiful sights along the way. About 90% of Amsterdam’s population can carry on a conversation in English.

If flight time is not an issue, New Zealand also ranks highly. According to Travel and Leisure this unique country offers breathtaking views, untouched wilderness, and a rich history to explore.

Although the accents and local dialect might seem strange, everyone there speaks English and the community is welcoming of foreigners interested in their country. When making plans to visit the island, don’t forget that the seasons are the opposite from North America – winter starts in June!

Connecting with your spouse on a financial level is critical. Planning ahead can build a strong financial foundation for your relationship. Here are some steps to help create a plan:

Step 1: Define success. Talk to your partner to determine exactly what you both want for your financial future. Once you know your goals, it’s easier to budget and prioritize based on your shared vision.

Step 2: Align your priorities. If one person is concerned with living in-the-now, it might not match with a partner that thinks more long-term and desires to plan for the future. You likely share some ideals like saving for education or retirement. Find those values you both share and work together.

Step 3: Agree on how to accomplish your goals. Be flexible and be committed. You might try a separate bank account to accommodate your savings.

Step 4: Make it fun. Plan some milestones into your financial relationship and when you reach them, have a celebration. Remember to enjoy the process. Success is a journey.

Chocolate is good for you, but not a lot of it at once. It’s hard to believe that what was once considered to be a guilty indulgence has now proved to be good for your heart, your lungs, and your brain.

There’s even more good news. The flavonoids liberally found in dark chocolate appear to produce the greatest health benefits, but researchers now say milk chocolate is also a rich source. It contains about 75 milligrams per 100 grams, or more than found in red wine.

If you love chocolate, remember that it also contains calories. So choose chocolate instead of indulgences like donuts and other treats. It’s still best to choose dark chocolate that’s higher in flavonoids, say researchers at Tufts University.

To maximize flavonoids, Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, of Tufts, recommends dark, bittersweet or baking chocolate. Milk chocolate is processed to make it smoother and less bitter, which also decreases natural flavonoid levels, adds fat and increases sugar.

On the surface, carpet cleaning seems pretty simple. Rent a machine. Fill the tank. Pour in some detergent. Flip a switch and start cleaning. Before long, your carpet is clean and fresh. However, as anyone who has actually cleaned carpet knows, there’s more to it than that. Here are some interesting facts about carpet that affect cleaning results.

Some of the most common questions asked about carpet cleaning are, “Will the spots come back?”, “Will the dents from the furniture come out?”, “Will the traffic areas look better after it’s done?”, and “Will these stains come out?”

The answers depend on several factors that we consider when we clean your carpet.

Carpet can be made with a variety of fibers, each having its own cleaning characteristics. Every fiber responds to traffic differently. Spills that are easy to remove from one fiber may permanently stain another.

Various styles such as loop pile, friezé, shag, Saxony and velvet plush all respond to traffic in different ways. The quality and density of the cushion is another factor that determines how well a carpet performs in traffic areas.

Even the way the pile yarns are twisted and how tightly packed they are in the carpet backing makes a difference in durability and cleanability.

An experienced cleaner will assess the condition of your carpet, asking questions such as, “How old is the carpet?”, “How was it cleaned in the past, and how often?”, “Was protector applied during the last cleaning?”, “How old are the spots, spills and stains, and have you tried anything to clean them?”

With all of these variables, it’s not an exact science. BUT there are some things we know about carpet, fibers, soil and stains that give us a clue as to what we can anticipate from the cleaning process. The most important consideration is the type of fiber.

Wool carpet has excellent resilience, so those crushed traffic areas and furniture indentations have a good chance of coming out. Wool is more easily stained by proteins than other fibers, so some foods, pet urine and other protein sources like blood will be difficult to remove.

Olefin carpets don’t have the resiliency of wool, so high traffic areas tend to pack down and lose that fluffy texture over time. Olefin has excellent stain-resistance and color-fastness.

Stain-resist nylon has excellent resilience and good stain and soil repellency, so carpets made with nylon tend to be the best overall performers. However, depending on how the fiber was dyed, Nylon may be bleached by some household chemicals or sunlight.

Polyester fibers have an affinity for oily soils, so food or petroleum grease spots will be more difficult to remove. But Polyester, like Olefin, is very resistant to stains and bleaching.

The bottom line is that how the carpet looks after cleaning will depend on some factors that are out of our control. But with an experienced cleaner you can be assured of the best results possible for your carpet.

Call Hansen Steam Way to learn more or schedule your next cleaning.