Our family just wrapped up another year of bucket list travel empowered by points and miles, a regularly funded savings account, and inspiration from our beautiful world. We took our first trip with points in 2021, and our travels have increased a lot since then. Translation: we were hooked after those five days in Florida, and we couldn't wait to start taking our kiddos on trips of a lifetime often!
This is the dollar-equivalent of what we have earned and redeemed in the world of points and miles for travel since the beginning:
2021: $3,923.69
2022: $14,972.30
2023: $45,123.57
And our grand total in 2025 was...
$31,755.59!
We traveled less frequently in 2025 than we had in 2023 and 2024, but the trips we took this year required more logistical planning and moving around. The longer we earn and redeem points and miles, the less we feel like we have to do it like others, and we are increasingly getting into our own rhythm and booking according to our values and interests more and more. While we all love a good luxury hotel stay and flight experience, what we really love is seeing the world together. A basic hotel is just fine by us as long as it helps us visit where we have been dreaming of visiting.
*insert happy tears emoji here*
I guess it really comes back to this: the more you travel, the more you feel confident to travel according to your values. I feel so grateful to be regularly making plans that give us wonderful trips to look forward to based on our own preferences, style, and dreams.
We spent a total of 37 nights in hotels throughout the year, and our travel rewards helped us stay and explore the following places in 2025:
Staycations
St. Augustine, FL
Orlando, FL
St, George, UT
Las Vegas, NV
London, England
Paris, France
Switzerland
Asheville, NC
Newport, RI
Orlando, FL
St, George, UT
Las Vegas, NV
London, England
Paris, France
Switzerland
Asheville, NC
Newport, RI
And here is a breakdown of how we many nights & flights we redeemed for each of these trips:
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S T A Y C A T I O N S
We love playing tourist in our city!We spent seven nights at various hotels in Greenville, SC
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V I L A N O B E A C H , F L O R I D A
A one-night stopover to visit to ocean on our way to Orlando
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O R L A N D O , F L O R I D A
Two nights here for our first visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios!
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S A I N T G E O R G E , U T A H
A spring break adventure that took us to Zion National Park, downtown Springdale, and downtown St. George
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L A S V E G A S , N E V A D A
A continued spring break adventure that enabled us to see Valley of Fire State Park, downtown Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon (!!), and Seven Magic MountainsMemories from Nevada:
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L O N D O N , E N G L A N D
4 one-way flights and 3 nights in this enduring and unforgettable city to kick off our 2-week adventure in the UK & Europe
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P A R I S , F R A N C E
4 tickets on a high-speed train from London and 4 nights in this charming and lively city to continue our adventure (one of my top bucket list places!!)
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S W I T Z E R L A N D
4 one-way tickets from Paris and 5 nights throughout the most beautiful country we've ever been to complete our first European adventure
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A S H E V I L L E , N O R T H C A R O L I N A
This trip was inspired by a baseball tournament but it was fun to explore this unique city in the process, especially at such a gorgeous time of year, and we stayed two nights in downtown Asheville, NC
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N E W P O R T , R H O D E I S L A N D
4 roundtrip flights and 3 days spent exploring Rhode Island and nearby Connecticut during our second fall break in New EnglandMemories from Rhode Island:
Memories from Connecticut:
In September, my husband and I went on a date to celebrate 22 years since he asked me to be his girlfriend. We had 22 years of memories to talk about, and we spent most of the time talking about the places we’ve been able to visit together in recent years. We had no idea all those years ago how full our life as a family would be.
We got married at 22, which didn’t feel young at the time (even though everyone says it is), and we had big hopes of being able to afford to do all the things we wanted to do…one day. It took us nearly a decade of growing and learning to get to a point where we could afford many “extras” in life, and it feels so good to be able to bring our dreams to life one at a time all in due time. I journaled this morning that this is a kind of generational wealth not talked about as much that I want to pass on to my children and beyond…
The desire for good dreams and the ability to realize them.
I didn’t even know that Switzerland was a place until high school, and TJ doesn’t remember when he first learned of it. But our kids were only 10 and 7 when they saw it with their own eyes and experienced it with all their senses.
Generational wealth isn’t only about money.
It’s about quality of life, too.
We didn't have to go to all these incredible places this year to make so many core memories together, no. But isn’t it amazing that we got to anyway? TJ and I hope to bless our family financially in the future, but we’ll gladly spend it now to experience incredible things with them in the meantime, too.
This is our beautiful, one-chance rich life.
And I am so very grateful.
“When you appreciate something, you don’t abuse it. Learn to appreciate all that’s life.”
- Daniel Chidiac -