The rest of this week will be a little bittersweet for me – I’ll be taking my last trip for this job. I’m going to Peru, so it’s not a “boring” trip by any means – just long flights. I’ve been traveling for this job since 2005, and as a friend commented to me the other day, I have “more stamps in my passport than a post office has”. I’ve flown all over the world – literally – over the last 9 years, and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve been to 6 continents, about 20 countries (and will be adding two this trip!), and according to TripIt, 288,157 miles since April 2008 when I started using it.
When Daughter Person was born, I started collecting dolls from each of the countries I visit – something preferably in the native dress of that area. My father had created a similar collection for my aunt when he was in the Navy that ended up being mine, and I passed it on to a cousin – and it was damaged in a flood 🙁 Hopefully, I can take Daughter Person to see the world when she’s old enough to appreciate it and she can pick out her own dolls.
I’m not going to be making airline status in the future – not via actually flying anyway. I should have Silver status at least for next year, but after that, I’ll be on my own. I’ll have to collect my points the “new” way of churning credit cards – after we’ve gotten our new mortgage!
Nice! I’m sure you will be ready to start earning points and miles! Have you accrued airline miles all this time?
I have – we’re blowing most of them on a two week trip to Europe in business class in October though. Still have 185k miles before this trip (expect about 12k from this trip). The trip cost ~310k miles for two of us. I’ve rarely gotten airline miles from anything other than flying, and I’m pushing almost half a million lifetime flight miles last time I looked.
I’m glad you have such a good attitude about closing this chapter of your life. And you could choose a worse place to have your last trip to. Be sure to have some ceviche down in Peru — it’s awesome there.
I’m not a fish eater, but I really enjoyed the Lomo Saltado and the Pisco sours. I brought back a bottle of Pisco to share with Dad. He made some pretty good Pisco sours last night!
Mmmmm….lomo saltado. There is something about meat and potatoes that crosses cultures.
And good on you for making your own Pisco sour! It’s a fantastic drink…like a better version of the margarita.
I have flown on business before too. At first, it’s a novelty. but it gets old quick. And I still got a sigh of relief after every landing.
I’ve been doing it for almost 10 years, and after Daughter Person was born, the traveling was one way I was able to cope. I could enjoy an adult only night at a hotel, and out at a restaurant. I do like eating out, and being able to do it on business travel (where I could expense it!) probably helped me be able to not eat out at home.