I began travelling in 2014 and it became my passion. While I wasn’t a budget traveler by choice, I became very efficient at stretching the dollar and earning those ever-devaluing airline miles. I’ve learned a few things along the way and I started this blog to share my experiences and insights with others.

Travel had never been a priority for me after my college years. It wasn’t until after I started working my first 9-5 office job in Vancouver, Canada when I began travelling during long weekends and vacations, and I realized it was something I truly enjoyed. I had always been fond of United, as my very first flight was a 14-hour flight on a United 747 from HKG (Kai Tak) to SFO; also, United generally has good fares out of YVR. So naturally, United was my carrier of choice. That was until their MileagePlus program became revenue-based in March 2015. Miles had been an afterthought as I thought would never fly enough to earn meaningful amount of miles or status. United miles were all I held, and accruing them made no longer made sense to someone who flew sporadically on economy. So after the United devaluation, I began frequenting travel blogs and websites looking for alternatives. It is during that process I gained a whole new perspective of flying and the value of money and miles.

However, being YVR-based means I got my work cut out for me as majority of airfare deals are for those who live near major hubs like LAX and SFO. Also, airfare is generally much higher in Canada due to extra taxes and fees. Lastly, Canadian credit cards’ signup bonuses and benefits lag their US counterparts by a mile. Nonetheless, I was determined to spend as much time travelling as possible. And I did it! All the while working a 9-5 office job. Best part is I never really spent a lot of money on my trips, which is nice because at the end of the day I can still pay my bills. I also book exclusively in economy: I simply cannot justify spending twice or more the amount of my hard-earned dollar on business or first class. I have since gotten statuses with multiple airlines and have been upgraded numerous times, which I will write about my experiences at some point.

When I began telling my friends about my travels, majority of responses I got were how do you get to travel so much and what my secrets are, and after a while I finally decided to start this blog as a place to share a few insights. I will be sharing some airfare deals as I find them, a few credit card deals with decent awards miles as signup bonuses, and the tips and tricks of air travel, hotel stays, car rentals, keeping yourself on budget while on the road, and everything in between. I plan to do as much traveling while I can, and if I can help a few people along the way, that’s even better. One of my favorite movies is Up in the Air (yes, I understood the ending), and while I may not be able to “Clooney It” – in terms of the amount flying his character did – a dream of mine is to one day be able to do what he did at the end:

Just show up at the airport, look up at one of those big destination boards, pick a place and go.