“I ask myself what am I doing here?” – Alessia Cara

I’m just here for the credit card points. 

Just kidding. No but really…. 

As I creep into my last year of my “wild 20s”, I’ve realized it’s time to travel. My life is practically perfect. I have the dream house, well not the forever home but the affordable- I- have- so -much -extra- money home. No dog, which makes traveling even better. The perfect kids, (no, seriously they are perfect. At our passport appointment, the worker made a statement “they’re so quiet and calm, if my kids were like that, I would’ve had a bunch.” To which I responded, “we thought about it, but then I’d have to pay for another plane ticket and passport”). I also have the best spouse whose response to “Hey we’re going to Peru” is “*shrugs* Okay”. 

I grew up as a military brat who spent 4 years stationed in Germany. And if anyone else knows anything about living in Europe it’s that you’ve probably been to all the little, tiny countries on that continent. I spent prime childhood years exposed to culture, languages, food (although I eat like a 4-year-old American). So naturally growing up, I realized I got bored if I stayed in one place too long. I needed to be somewhere where there was always something to do.  

#1 on my list was New York. But I’m cheap. So, I settled in Texas. 

And honestly, I love it here. I did spend 6 years of my adolescent years in San Antonio, so you’d think I’d be sick of this state. But really, I just avoid that city. The rest of Texas is like a European country. Not so much the different languages and cultures but there is plenty to within all these major cities that I live within 3 hours of. And while I plan to expose my family to all of Texas, I also want them to experience the entire country. The entire world. And living here gives us more flexibility in the budget to do just that. The one phrase I tell my husband all the time “As much as I love New York, we can live here in Texas forever and just fly to New York every weekend”. Now while we won’t ever do that (NY Hotels aren’t cheap), I still love the flexibility we have to travel.  

Now you’re probably wondering, ooh another travel blog. What do you have to offer that’s different? Why should I read what you have to say? And my response to that is, you don’t. I’m just here for the credit card points. Business credit cards make up a good chunk of travel hacking and I needed a business. You can google countless blogs that say, “how to get a business to apply for business credit cards” and one option was blog writer. So, I took it. I’d always wanted to be one anyway. I paid for a domain, made an Instagram, and then proceeded to never write one blog. And for 3 years, I paid for that domain. $300 I will never get back. But this time is different.  

This time, I also need a travel scrapbook. You know, the kind your aunt made with pictures and cute handwriting and $200 of supplies from Michaels. I don’t have cute handwriting or $200 to spend on supplies (I mean I spent $200 on this blog but at least I can make multiple scrapbooks and not need more supplies), or the time to cut and glue. Plus, scrapbooks get lost, or in my case with my children’s baby books… never done. But the internet is forever. That’s what we are always told. I like the option that I can write it down now, and if I lose my mind 20 years from now, hopefully my words are still here. Or if you’re reading this and you’re not me, well maybe I can inspire you to take your own trips on a budget or very-clever-but-took-too-much-time-and-I-don’t-have-that-kind-of-patience.  

I have Unlimited PTO. He has 5 weeks not including 2.5 weeks of Holidays. We have 2 young children, one of which just started “the dreaded full time school schedule.” All we need now is endless money. Or points.