Insane Random Ramblings

I need to earn more rewards points for my travel accounts. I have several hotel accounts and 2 airline accounts. I have been fortunate enough to find ways to add points to my accounts without actually flying or staying at a hotel.

Most of the points come from playing various games and promotions that the company offers. But I also get points from buying HDMI cables or shoes and clothes online. They also have deal with banks, brokerage houses and the electric company. As long as it’s something that I was going to do anyway, I’ll go for it.

Right now I need a gang load of points to be able to go somewhere really nice. But it I’m going to use points, I should go somewhere totally out of the ordinary and totally take advantage of the situation.

I need a plan of action to accrue points fast and furiously.

I  have a couple of friends that I think would make good travel partners, but they both have kids so it makes it more difficult to travel. My normal travel buddies are acting up and I haven’t gone anywhere with them for a couple of years. I don’t see myself going anywhere with them either, even if we’re going to the same place.

Unfortunately it’s way too expensive right now for me to consider going solo. I can’t even find a trip for under $1k. The same trip with 2 people is less than $800 in some cases around $750. I do know there is the single supplement but right now it’s not a good time for me to kick out that extra money.

Hopefully something comes up within the few months. I really need a vacation.

I’m starting to miss going to the Bahamas. I never thought I would say that since I’ve been there so many times. I had even said in the past that I wouldn’t go there for a long time. Now I’m missing the good food, the people playing stainless steel drums during Junkanoo, and laying on the beach with a good book and a even better drink. I haven’t even started talking about the various people that I met over the years.

I may have to start looking to book a quick getaway.

And not a moment too soon I may add. I have a ton of people to buy for this year. I have4 nieces and great-nieces and nephews. Plus I have my brother and a couple of my younger cousins.

Most of them want toys or video games which are easy enough to pick up. My youngest niece wants jewelry though. I looked online and found some really cute jewelry beads that I think she might like. I really like the fact that it’s a theme type of gift so every year I can buy her something similar to add to her collection. Then every 3rd or 4th year I can switch it up and buy her a regular gift then go right back to the collection.

I love when gift giving is easy.

And I am not looking forward to it. I’m not going to NYC, I’m going to the Salamanca area, which is closer to Erie PA. It’s only about 4 hours away from me but it’s not a fun drive at all. One way is not bad, but if I have to do the whole round trip in one day, it’s going to be bad.

I already printed out directions but I hope I win one of the trucking gps that they’re giving away this week at work. It’s employee appreciation week and we can win lots of different prizes all week including the gps.

I may just try to entice one of my friends to go along for the ride with me, but secretly I’m enlisting another driver. Then I won’t care how long the drive is.

I was looking at one of my favorite travel sites looking for a cheap vacation for next year. Some sites don’t have prices after April 2012. Since I want to go in either May or August I still have a few months to go.

A friend sent me a update about a really cheap airfare that’s good through the end of the year. I can also get the fare on the weekend. I thought it was a good deal until I noticed that the city is smack dab in the middle of the city. Not bad but it’s not a touristy town, it’s mostly a residential area. If you want to go to the beach, you have to rent a car and drive almost an hour. I am not trying to drive an hour each way in a foreign country. I don’t even wanna drive that long here at home.

I guess I’ll just keep saving my money and just wait until the time period that I’m interested in opens up for purchases. No sense in paying money to go somewhere I’m not really interested in just because it’s cheap.

I wouldn’t mind traveling during the holidays this year, especially since I’m not traveling anywhere this summer. I have a few dollars for travel expenses tucked away and I’m trying to decide when the right time to use them is. I could go somewhere and celebrate Boxing Day over the holidays. Or I could wait until next year and go to an island in late spring.

My birthday is in late summer (next week actually ;>) ) and I wanted to go away during this time of the year. It doesn’t matter if it was this year or next, it’s just the time I really want to go. Unfortunately this is smack dab in the middle of hurricane season and if I’m not on a cruise which I’m sure will divert, I’m not traveling.

As long as I don’t spend the money on something silly, I can always just save it and go away next year.

I recently tried to book a solo travel trip. The destination wasn’t really important to me. I did have my top three choices which were the Dominican Republic, Jamaica or Aruba. There were some sporadic places also in play but there were some definite no go places including the Bahamas or any of the USVI islands. I’ve been to those places before and I’m looking for something new.

I’m actually looking forward most to going to the Dominican. Almost every resort is all inclusive with private beaches which is what I’m looking for most. I can also shop to my hearts content and most of the places are duty free. I wouldn’t mind bringing back some cohiba cigars dominican for my friends or coworkers. I’d probably bring some back for myself as well just as a souvenir.

The costs were ridiculous. The taxes alone were almost $250 on the trip which made the cost go over $1000 and this is for a 4 day deal not a long 8 day vacation. This is supposed to be a short little recharge the batteries type of thing. Instead I would probably be too stressed about the cost to enjoy myself.

I’ll keep saving and try to take a really nice vacay next year.

I was really hoping for a hotel somewhere near where I wanted to visit. They’re dirt cheap since I would be paying with points and not cash but there are no hotels anywhere near where I want to go.

They just seem to be in really random places. There are some European hotels on the list, but I won’t be able to go to Europe before this sale expires. There was a really cool hotel in Brazil on the last list as well as one in Madrid. Neither appears on this list.

I don’t want to use the points to just go to some random hotel in a random city. I’m hoping some better spots pop up and soon.

My fingers are totally crossed. I won’t know until the middle of next week but I’m super excited about it. It’s somewhere cool that I’ve never been. The real reason I’m contemplating it is because the price is insanely cheap right now. I have to do some maneuvering to get all of the pieces to fall into place. If that happens, I am so outta here.

This would be my coolest vacation ever so my fingers, toes and everything else is crossed.