Traveling and experiencing different parts of the world is the ultimate goal of this blog. In some small way my hope is to inspire others to get outside and see how beautiful this world of ours is. As much fun as traveling and living in that moment is, sometimes returning home and reminiscing over the experiences is just as fulfilling. In my opinion, photography is the spark that will ignite the fire of those memories. I personally use a Nikon d40 with an 18-55mm standard lens along with a 55mm-300mm zoom lens to capture my travels. I love Nikon and their equipment. I have had my d40 for about five years and it still takes great shots in all sorts of conditions. If you don't already have one, I would highly suggest upgrading to a quality DSLR camera to document all your experiences on the road.
Patagonia staff photographer Jeff Johnson is a true dirtbag traveler. I was first introduced to Jeff through the video 180 South which I highly recommend if you have not checked it out yet. Here he is giving some tips on travel photography:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdKv9TCcdAE&feature=related
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Southwest Love and Snowbirding in Jax
Anybody that lives in New England or any other cold weather climate knows the importance of getting away during the winter months. Born and raised in the Boston area, the winter months wore me so thin that after graduating college in Boston I moved out west to San Diego to escape the cold weather. Family, friends, and work drew me back to Boston but I cannot stand the winter months here.
Thankfully, a couple years ago I discovered the wonderful world of frequent flyer mile collecting. In about a year and a half, I have collected about a million points and miles from various airlines and hotel chains. Personally, I prefer airline miles as I can and will stay basically anywhere. From couches to campsites, my number one goal is to travel and experience the world on a budget.
In October of last year I read a blog discussion from Million Mile Secrets about the Chase Southwest credit card promos and the Southwest Companion Pass. Chase was offering 50k Rapid Reward points for their Southwest Premier Personal and Business card in exchange for a $69 annual fee. 100k RR points definitely sparked my interest although like most I prefer cards with no annual fee. Another concern was that I had made what I would later come to find was a rookie mistake: I had applied and been approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card in September. I checked my Experian request history on Annualcreditreport.com and seemed to be in good enough shape to be approved for both, but I was reading reports that Chase was being tough on approving both cards especially for those who had applied for a Chase card in the past month.
My solution was that I would wait until the end of October so that the previous Chase application would be over a month old before I applied in the same day for both the personal and business cards. Much to my delight, I applied and was approved instantly for the personal card but I was told more information was needed for my business application. I called into the Chase decision line and explained that I own a multi-family property and wanted to use the card for home improvements and maintenance. I don't actually own a business of my own with a tax ID but there was some great info on the Million Mile Secrets blog on how to apply for business cards as a sole proprietor. After about a five minute discussion I was approved for the business card and I verified with the agent that I was confirmed to receive the 50k bonus with each.
As I mentioned before the 100k RR points were definitely very appealing, but I now had my eyes set on the Southwest Companion Pass. The Companion Pass allows a friend or companion of the member to fly anywhere with the member for the minimal $10 fee in taxes for the remainder of the calendar year as well as the following year in its entirety. In order to obtain the Companion Pass a member must either fly 100 Southwest flights or earn 110k RR points from flights or credit card promotions. Purchased miles through Southwest do not count towards the Companion Pass.
I received both cards in the mail by the second week in November. Part of me wanted to instantly activate the cards and collect the miles to earn my CP as quickly as possible, but after reading the fine print I decided that it would be more beneficial to wait for January before activating so that I could have my CP for all of 2012 and 2013 instead of the remainder of 2011 and 2012. That month and a half of waiting was a test in and of itself as I kept reading that Southwest was going to change their policy at the beginning of 2012 and I may be out of luck to receive the CP at all. Ultimately, I decided the risk was worth the reward of having a friend fly with me anywhere I go with my 110k RR points basically for free.
So I waited for the new year and activated both cards and completed my first spend by 1/3/12. The 100k points posted to my account by 1/10/12. I was thrilled that the points posted by more importantly counted towards the CP qualification. My job was not done yet as I still had 10k more points to earn. Since I travel like a dirtbag I don't exactly have 10 grand to spend on a card right away to get the rest of the 10k points I needed for the pass. After doing some more research, I discovered that I could transfer some of my Ultimate Rewards points that I had earned through the my initial Chase Sapphire Preferred card that I had applied for in September. It took a little finagling as UR points transferred directly as RR do not count towards the pass. I decided that my best rate of return would be to transfer UR to Hyatt Gold miles and from Hyatt GP miles to RR for the final 10k. I completed the complex transfer by 1/11/12 and now could only wait patiently for the HGP miles to show up as RR to complete the CP.
On 1/20/12, I received an email from Southwest that I had achieved CP status and asking who I wanted to administer as my companion. I was stoked and instantly set my girlfriend Allie as my companion and booked a trip for the next weekend to escape the cold. After a couple hours of online searching on Southwest.com, we booked a flight down to Jacksonville, FL and a campsite at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park right on the beach.
It was a great trip with great weather. We got some much needed flip flop time and were able to explore the cool beach towns of Neptune and Jacksonville Beach. I even lucked into a fun little waist to chest high swell at Jacksonville Beach pier. We had some great coffee and acai bowls at the Delicomb in Jacksonville Beach and some great craft beer and pizza at the Mellow Mushroom. Jacksonville Beach is a great young town with clean beaches and fun nightlife. The Abbey-Hanna campground was also fantastic as it was right on the beach a little north of town but also offered bike trails and a little fishing pond. Allie and I also decided to make a day trip down to the old town of St. Augustine. It was about a 45 minute drive down scenic A1A. Personally, I loved St Auggie as it was my kind of town. The combination of pirate outpost and classic architecture instantly drew me in. We found ourselves exploring every alley and nook that we came across. Each building and street was bursting with cultural flavor that rivaled New Orleans, Charleston SC, or even Boston. A day trip definitely did not do that town justice and I can't wait to go back and explore for a longer period of time. I've attached a few of the many pics we took over the weekend to give you a feel of what Jacksonville and all of North Florida has to offer. Thanks for reading!
Until next time
Dirtbag Traveler
Thankfully, a couple years ago I discovered the wonderful world of frequent flyer mile collecting. In about a year and a half, I have collected about a million points and miles from various airlines and hotel chains. Personally, I prefer airline miles as I can and will stay basically anywhere. From couches to campsites, my number one goal is to travel and experience the world on a budget.
In October of last year I read a blog discussion from Million Mile Secrets about the Chase Southwest credit card promos and the Southwest Companion Pass. Chase was offering 50k Rapid Reward points for their Southwest Premier Personal and Business card in exchange for a $69 annual fee. 100k RR points definitely sparked my interest although like most I prefer cards with no annual fee. Another concern was that I had made what I would later come to find was a rookie mistake: I had applied and been approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card in September. I checked my Experian request history on Annualcreditreport.com and seemed to be in good enough shape to be approved for both, but I was reading reports that Chase was being tough on approving both cards especially for those who had applied for a Chase card in the past month.
My solution was that I would wait until the end of October so that the previous Chase application would be over a month old before I applied in the same day for both the personal and business cards. Much to my delight, I applied and was approved instantly for the personal card but I was told more information was needed for my business application. I called into the Chase decision line and explained that I own a multi-family property and wanted to use the card for home improvements and maintenance. I don't actually own a business of my own with a tax ID but there was some great info on the Million Mile Secrets blog on how to apply for business cards as a sole proprietor. After about a five minute discussion I was approved for the business card and I verified with the agent that I was confirmed to receive the 50k bonus with each.
As I mentioned before the 100k RR points were definitely very appealing, but I now had my eyes set on the Southwest Companion Pass. The Companion Pass allows a friend or companion of the member to fly anywhere with the member for the minimal $10 fee in taxes for the remainder of the calendar year as well as the following year in its entirety. In order to obtain the Companion Pass a member must either fly 100 Southwest flights or earn 110k RR points from flights or credit card promotions. Purchased miles through Southwest do not count towards the Companion Pass.
I received both cards in the mail by the second week in November. Part of me wanted to instantly activate the cards and collect the miles to earn my CP as quickly as possible, but after reading the fine print I decided that it would be more beneficial to wait for January before activating so that I could have my CP for all of 2012 and 2013 instead of the remainder of 2011 and 2012. That month and a half of waiting was a test in and of itself as I kept reading that Southwest was going to change their policy at the beginning of 2012 and I may be out of luck to receive the CP at all. Ultimately, I decided the risk was worth the reward of having a friend fly with me anywhere I go with my 110k RR points basically for free.
So I waited for the new year and activated both cards and completed my first spend by 1/3/12. The 100k points posted to my account by 1/10/12. I was thrilled that the points posted by more importantly counted towards the CP qualification. My job was not done yet as I still had 10k more points to earn. Since I travel like a dirtbag I don't exactly have 10 grand to spend on a card right away to get the rest of the 10k points I needed for the pass. After doing some more research, I discovered that I could transfer some of my Ultimate Rewards points that I had earned through the my initial Chase Sapphire Preferred card that I had applied for in September. It took a little finagling as UR points transferred directly as RR do not count towards the pass. I decided that my best rate of return would be to transfer UR to Hyatt Gold miles and from Hyatt GP miles to RR for the final 10k. I completed the complex transfer by 1/11/12 and now could only wait patiently for the HGP miles to show up as RR to complete the CP.
On 1/20/12, I received an email from Southwest that I had achieved CP status and asking who I wanted to administer as my companion. I was stoked and instantly set my girlfriend Allie as my companion and booked a trip for the next weekend to escape the cold. After a couple hours of online searching on Southwest.com, we booked a flight down to Jacksonville, FL and a campsite at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park right on the beach.
It was a great trip with great weather. We got some much needed flip flop time and were able to explore the cool beach towns of Neptune and Jacksonville Beach. I even lucked into a fun little waist to chest high swell at Jacksonville Beach pier. We had some great coffee and acai bowls at the Delicomb in Jacksonville Beach and some great craft beer and pizza at the Mellow Mushroom. Jacksonville Beach is a great young town with clean beaches and fun nightlife. The Abbey-Hanna campground was also fantastic as it was right on the beach a little north of town but also offered bike trails and a little fishing pond. Allie and I also decided to make a day trip down to the old town of St. Augustine. It was about a 45 minute drive down scenic A1A. Personally, I loved St Auggie as it was my kind of town. The combination of pirate outpost and classic architecture instantly drew me in. We found ourselves exploring every alley and nook that we came across. Each building and street was bursting with cultural flavor that rivaled New Orleans, Charleston SC, or even Boston. A day trip definitely did not do that town justice and I can't wait to go back and explore for a longer period of time. I've attached a few of the many pics we took over the weekend to give you a feel of what Jacksonville and all of North Florida has to offer. Thanks for reading!
Until next time
Dirtbag Traveler
Some local Jacksonville wildlife
My papa razzi pic of my gf Allie on the beach in Jacksonville
Pelicans at sunrise
The high rises of Jacksonville Beach
Another beautiful day away from the cold
Dirtbag sliding at Jax Beach Pier
Dirtbag on another fun, small wave
The lake at Abbey Hanna Campground
The timeless streets of St Augustine
Lots of traveling Lots of posts to come!
Sorry for the prolonged absense. I have been busy lately with work and have been on the road three times already this year. My plan is to update the blog accordingly in the next couple days. I also will talk about my 1st quarter churning schedule and results and future 2012 dirty travel plans.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Review Time!: Cinnamon Bay Camground, St John USVI
For my second post I wanted to go into some detail about a trip I took down to St John in US Virgin Islands last March. As a teacher at a private school, my girlfriend Allie had two weeks of vaca in the middle of March. Around the holidays we were chatting about where we wanted to go after a long, cold, snowy winter in Boston. We happened to find roundtrip flights from Boston down to St. Thomas on Spirit Airlines for about $210 each. We both had heard great things about USVI and booked our flights right away. The next step was not as easy. We now had to find a place to stay. As you could probably tell from my first post, like many of you I do not like to spend a great deal of $ on traveling.
St John USVI
Allie and I had discussed staying in a hotel for the week or renting a villa, but unfortunately that was out of our budget and definitely not our style. A quick google search pointed us to two eco-friendly campgrounds: Maho Bay and Cinnamon Bay. After some more research we decided to book a bare site at Cinnamon Bay for 5 days at the rate of $32 a day.
Our campsite at Cinnamon Bay
We checked two bags filled with clothing and camp gear and boarded the plane out of Boston for the Caribbean. After landing in St. Thomas, we grabbed a taxi and our gear and headed for the ferry to St. John. The ferry takes all of about ten minutes to depart Red Hook on the east end of St. Thomas to arrive at Cruz Bay on St John. Cruz Bay is a fun and lively town full of crusty ex-pats, sun burned tourists, and smiling locals. Lugging two big bags and painfully pale from the cold New England winter, we definitely had a tourist sign on our backs. Luckily getting a taxi from Cruz Bay is very easy and we were on our way out to Cinnamon Bay.
Sunset at Cinnamon Bay
We pulled off the main mountain road of the island onto a dirt cul de sac where the entrance to Cinnamon Bay Campground was. A small country store, an outdoor deck/restaurant, and a set of ticket booth style check-in counters greeted us as we exited the cab. After an easy check-in we made our way down the dirt road towards our campsite. A large canopy of trees blanket the entire campground blocking out the hot rays of the sun during the height of the day. We could make out the azure color of the Caribbean Sea at the end of the dirt road, but decided to unload and unpack before we made it out to the beach. Our site was clean and basic with a laundry line, picnic table and flat ground for setting up camp. The canopy of trees overhead were hugely beneficial both in keeping the sun out in the morning and keeping the site cool throughout the day and more importantly at night.
Finally, after camp was set we walked out to take in the sights of Cinnamon Bay. We were both blown away by how beautiful a beach it was. St. John is preserved by the Virgin Islands National Park and is an incredibly lush and undeveloped island. At the entrance to the beach, there is a eco classroom/dive shop as well as a water sports rental shack. We noticed several people snorkeling along the coral reef island that juts out in the middle of the bay. The beach itself was not only gorgeous but never got overly crowded throughout the week. We were always able to find a private spot without having to walk too far from our site. I was also very impressed with the selection they had at the water sports shop. They rented everything from boogie boards and beach chairs to hobie cats and stand up paddleboards. Allie and I rented paddle boards and surfboards which we used all over the bay and off the reefs adjacent to the island.
Surfing at Cinnamon Bay
After the beach, we headed back up the road to grab dinner at the campground's restaurant. Although the prices were a bit high, the food was solid. We also were happy with the post-dinner entertainment they offered. A local reggae band played some great originals and cover songs. Allie and I were spent at about 8PM and called it a night.
The rest of the week we were on the pretty much the same schedule. We would wake up, walk out to the beach, grab breakfast, head into Cruz Bay or hike around the island, grab and early dinner and be in bed most nights by 8 or 9. Although food and taxis are the most expensive aspect of life on St. John, we quickly learned after a couple days that hitching rides from locals and bringing food to the campsite are part of life at Cinnamon Bay.
The author hitching a ride in the back of a pick up out to Coral Bay USVI
Overall, our trip to St. John and Cinnamon Bay Campground was awesome. We couldn't have been happier with our winter escape as we spent very little money and had a great time. I would highly recommend St John as winter destination for the budget conscious travelers out there. Thanks for reading.
- Zach
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The Starting Line
First off, I am not an expert. I am just a regular guy who loves to get outside and see the world. In a word, I'm low maintenance and enjoy sleeping on the ground or a buddy's couch as much as I do in a hotel. I have always dreamed of traveling the far corners of the globe, but always imagined that it was out of reach financially.
One day while searching the internet, I found a link for some visa credit card offering 75k American Airlines miles for signing up. It caught my eye and I clicked. This was the starting line. Prior to that day, I had always used cash or my debit card to pay for ALL of my expenses. My mortgage, cable, heat, water, electric, car, food, student loans, and everything else imaginable was being paid with cash. I had no idea the boat that I was missing.
I signed up for the AA visa and American Express cards, completed the spending requirements, and one day noticed that my minimal AAdvantage account had gone from practically zero to over 150,000 miles. Even then, miles didn't make any sense to me. I had no idea the value they had. Then came the first trip.
My brother, a buddy, and I booked flights one night over beers flying from Boston to Northern California. We flew out a couple days before Halloween with a bag of clothes and two bags filled with our camping and surf gear. This was a homecoming of sorts for me and an opportunity to catch up with a couple buddies I had from when I lived out west. We spent the week driving all over California camping, hiking, and surfing. When all was said and done, we had spent about $300 each for the seven day trip.
Before I even landed back in Boston, I began dreaming of my next dirtbag adventure. The purpose of this blog is to offer my insights to earning miles for plane tickets, review and give my thoughts on travel destinations, outdoor equipment, share my travel goals, and to ultimately chronicle my travels around the globe.
Thanks for reading!
One day while searching the internet, I found a link for some visa credit card offering 75k American Airlines miles for signing up. It caught my eye and I clicked. This was the starting line. Prior to that day, I had always used cash or my debit card to pay for ALL of my expenses. My mortgage, cable, heat, water, electric, car, food, student loans, and everything else imaginable was being paid with cash. I had no idea the boat that I was missing.
I signed up for the AA visa and American Express cards, completed the spending requirements, and one day noticed that my minimal AAdvantage account had gone from practically zero to over 150,000 miles. Even then, miles didn't make any sense to me. I had no idea the value they had. Then came the first trip.
My brother, a buddy, and I booked flights one night over beers flying from Boston to Northern California. We flew out a couple days before Halloween with a bag of clothes and two bags filled with our camping and surf gear. This was a homecoming of sorts for me and an opportunity to catch up with a couple buddies I had from when I lived out west. We spent the week driving all over California camping, hiking, and surfing. When all was said and done, we had spent about $300 each for the seven day trip.
Before I even landed back in Boston, I began dreaming of my next dirtbag adventure. The purpose of this blog is to offer my insights to earning miles for plane tickets, review and give my thoughts on travel destinations, outdoor equipment, share my travel goals, and to ultimately chronicle my travels around the globe.
Thanks for reading!
Valley View Big Sur
The author at the top of Cloud's Rest Yosemite National Park
Me halfway through the Yosemite Falls hike with Upper Yosemite Falls and Half Dome in the background
Big northwest swell rolling in at Big Sur
My brother and I camping in Yosemite Valley
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