In order to start at the beginning, I will assume you are currently in the same place I was a few years ago. For the first 30 + years of my life I had not done much traveling. Most of my vacations had consisted of short, weekend trips that were within driving distance of my home. Luckily some of those trips included heading over to Cape Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami to board cruise ships, which by the way are a blast and highly recommended (I will comment on those trips and the advantages of cruising in a future post). But there was not much venturing too far away from home. In fact, I had only been on a plane once in my life, when I was 12, when my Dad and I flew to Arizona to visit my uncle and his family. But I always remembered that first flight. I was so nervous before the plane took off, not knowing what to expect. I was almost sick to my stomach with worry and excitement until the plane taxied down the runway and lifted off the ground. Instantly my nerves and uncomfortable feeling went away and from that moment on I LOVED being in the air. In fact, when the plane landed in Atlanta and we had to change planes for the next portion of the flight I could not wait to get back off the ground.
Fast forward to about nine years ago. I went through a divorce, which for me, was a personally tough thing to go through. In fact, one of things I was planning just prior to our divorce was a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We both loved going over to the casinos in Biloxi, Mississippi as out little weekend getaway. We made several trips to Biloxi during our time together. We could both sit at the slot machines for hours, playing the penny slots (we weren't big spenders) and loving it. So as I was thinking about where we could go for our milestone anniversary, it was obvious Las Vegas would be a perfect destination. I mean, Las Vegas IS the casino capital of the world.
Now neither of us were rich...we both had moderate level incomes, she had two teenage kids, and we had just built a fairly nice house roughly three years earlier that consumed a good portion of our paychecks. But still, I wanted to make this anniversary extra special, because for me, it was. I wanted it to be a surprise and I had several elabote things I was thinking of doing to keep it a surprise up until the day we left. She was not going to be told any of this...but she would have loved the spontinaiety of it. I was going to have a limo pick her up at work unexpecedly, already with her bags packed with the essentials through some help from her female cousin, prearranged time off from work with her boss, wisked off to the airport where I would have kept her guessing on the location of her trip up until the final boarding call on the last leg of the flight. I had not worked out all of the details yet, but that was the general plan.
Once in Vegas, I thought about arranging a special candlelit dinner on the rooftop of some casino (just the two of us) where I would propose to her all over again and renew our vows. I don't if I could have actually pulled the whole thing off, but I was going to try.
Unfortunately, things in our marriage took an unexpected turn and we wound up seperating just before our 10 year anniversary. Two months later, we were divorced and I never got the opportunity to carry out the Las Vegas plan.
MORE IN PART II
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Are You Talking To Me?
So I realize by starting yet ANOTHER blog, many of you will be asking the question, "What's the real focus of your blog and why should I follow it?"
Good question. Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have recently started venturing into ways to accumulate miles and points (primarily through credit card turnover...or "churning") as a means of being able to travel more frequently and little or no cost.
Now admittedly, there are plently of blogs and articles on this subject already. Stumbling upon some of the more popular of these blogs a few months ago is what actually got me started. But I also have realized that many of these blogs are written by extreme travel enthusiasts who have been doing this for awhile now and sometimes seem to take it for granted that many of their readers are also experienced at this to some degree. They also tend to take more exotic vacations and write about their experiences to far-off, obscure places that I personally wouldn't really have much interest in.
This can sometimes make it difficult for a newbie (like myself) to sort through all the information out there in order to zero in on the basics. Also, since my travel intentions still remain more on the "non-exotic" side (typically for now I still prefer domestic travel in North America., unless you consider my desire to go to Australia and New Zealand "exotic"), I wanted to write about the places I visit that are close to home. There are a LOT of great places to visit right here in the good, old U.S.A. and I thought I would share my experiences with those who who have similar desires.
I hope sharing my successes (and failures) as I go through this process will be enlightening, informing, and provide you with the tools and information you need to dive into this yourself. As we all know, the older you get time just seems to move faster and faster. I don't want to wait until I am too old or physically not able to do the things and visit the places I have always dreamed about. Now is the time before it's too late.
Good question. Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have recently started venturing into ways to accumulate miles and points (primarily through credit card turnover...or "churning") as a means of being able to travel more frequently and little or no cost.
Now admittedly, there are plently of blogs and articles on this subject already. Stumbling upon some of the more popular of these blogs a few months ago is what actually got me started. But I also have realized that many of these blogs are written by extreme travel enthusiasts who have been doing this for awhile now and sometimes seem to take it for granted that many of their readers are also experienced at this to some degree. They also tend to take more exotic vacations and write about their experiences to far-off, obscure places that I personally wouldn't really have much interest in.
This can sometimes make it difficult for a newbie (like myself) to sort through all the information out there in order to zero in on the basics. Also, since my travel intentions still remain more on the "non-exotic" side (typically for now I still prefer domestic travel in North America., unless you consider my desire to go to Australia and New Zealand "exotic"), I wanted to write about the places I visit that are close to home. There are a LOT of great places to visit right here in the good, old U.S.A. and I thought I would share my experiences with those who who have similar desires.
I hope sharing my successes (and failures) as I go through this process will be enlightening, informing, and provide you with the tools and information you need to dive into this yourself. As we all know, the older you get time just seems to move faster and faster. I don't want to wait until I am too old or physically not able to do the things and visit the places I have always dreamed about. Now is the time before it's too late.
And So It Begins...
Hello All! My name is Mike, otherwise known as The Traveling Novice. I decided to begin this blog to discuss my ventures as I begin to dive head first into the world of miles and points collecting in order to travel more frequently at little to no cost.
Now, I'm not exactly a novice to traveling. I mean I HAVE traveled before. But it has been fairly infrequent and at considerable cost. I always wanted to travel more, but time and money have always been the biggest obstacles. Most all of my travel to date has been domestic (United States), with one trip to Canada, and a few cruises to the Carribean and Mexico. I'll give more details as to exactly where I've been in a future post.
Until my mid-30s, I had hardly traveled at all. I was still married at the time, helping raise two girls (step-daughters) and working constantly to build my career. Traveling was infrequent...just too costly for the four of us. Then I got divorced and found myself with more opportunities to start traveling. Not that it's been a lot...but certainly more in the last six or seven years than in all my previous 30+ years combined.
Now that I'm in my 40s, I have realized there is a LOT more I would like to do and places to see. One of my primary desires has been to visit Australia and New Zealand. No particular reason...just thought it would be a fun place to go. Also, their accents are really cool. But the cost of a first-class flight to Australia from where I live (which would almost be a necessity given the length of the flight) is outrageous.
A couple of years ago, I obtained my first credit card that would actually help me accumulate "miles" in order to offset the cost of traveling. I was tired of paying for things and getting nothing in return. This new card now allowed me to still pay the same amounts I was paying before, but instead get something back in return. This could go a long way to helping me board that plane some day with a destination of Sydney.
For three years I was putting every bill and expense I could on this one card, trying to rack up the "miles" that could get me to desired vacation destination. I was certainly racking up some free travel, to the tune of about $700 per year. Not bad and certainly better than nothing...which is where I was before this card. But in essence, $700 per year in "miles" may cover a nice, domestic weekend trip somewhere (one round-trip flight and a few nights at a moderately-priced hotel) but it won't be getting me to Australia in first class anytime soon. There had to be other options.
Then, about two months ago, I stumbled upon a few blogs on the internet devoted to miles and points accumulation and realized there were many more options with credit cards that may get me to my goal much faster. This totally caused me to re-focus my approach to obtaining awards travel.
So here I sit...just a few months into this new venture to obtain miles and points in order to pack my bags more frequently and see more of what this wonderful world has to offer. Since I am still relatively new to this, I thought it might be helpful and useful to document my journey for others who are also novices. Who knows...maybe even those more expereinced in this may learn a thing or two also.
It should be an interesting ride and I hope you will follow my exploits. Welcome to The Traveling Novice!
Now, I'm not exactly a novice to traveling. I mean I HAVE traveled before. But it has been fairly infrequent and at considerable cost. I always wanted to travel more, but time and money have always been the biggest obstacles. Most all of my travel to date has been domestic (United States), with one trip to Canada, and a few cruises to the Carribean and Mexico. I'll give more details as to exactly where I've been in a future post.
Until my mid-30s, I had hardly traveled at all. I was still married at the time, helping raise two girls (step-daughters) and working constantly to build my career. Traveling was infrequent...just too costly for the four of us. Then I got divorced and found myself with more opportunities to start traveling. Not that it's been a lot...but certainly more in the last six or seven years than in all my previous 30+ years combined.
Now that I'm in my 40s, I have realized there is a LOT more I would like to do and places to see. One of my primary desires has been to visit Australia and New Zealand. No particular reason...just thought it would be a fun place to go. Also, their accents are really cool. But the cost of a first-class flight to Australia from where I live (which would almost be a necessity given the length of the flight) is outrageous.
A couple of years ago, I obtained my first credit card that would actually help me accumulate "miles" in order to offset the cost of traveling. I was tired of paying for things and getting nothing in return. This new card now allowed me to still pay the same amounts I was paying before, but instead get something back in return. This could go a long way to helping me board that plane some day with a destination of Sydney.
For three years I was putting every bill and expense I could on this one card, trying to rack up the "miles" that could get me to desired vacation destination. I was certainly racking up some free travel, to the tune of about $700 per year. Not bad and certainly better than nothing...which is where I was before this card. But in essence, $700 per year in "miles" may cover a nice, domestic weekend trip somewhere (one round-trip flight and a few nights at a moderately-priced hotel) but it won't be getting me to Australia in first class anytime soon. There had to be other options.
Then, about two months ago, I stumbled upon a few blogs on the internet devoted to miles and points accumulation and realized there were many more options with credit cards that may get me to my goal much faster. This totally caused me to re-focus my approach to obtaining awards travel.
So here I sit...just a few months into this new venture to obtain miles and points in order to pack my bags more frequently and see more of what this wonderful world has to offer. Since I am still relatively new to this, I thought it might be helpful and useful to document my journey for others who are also novices. Who knows...maybe even those more expereinced in this may learn a thing or two also.
It should be an interesting ride and I hope you will follow my exploits. Welcome to The Traveling Novice!
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