travel

We travel more than your average family with small kids. And many times people have asked us how we do it. We have a secret weapon: REWARD POINTS. Definitely one of the major perks of having a husband who travels tons for his job! We've taken our kids to cities for long weekends, visited family, even used them to do Disney.  And this year, we have been cashing in for some amazing trips!

My husband and I recently snuck away to Vegas for a long weekend and stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Flamingo in a gorgeous one-bedroom suite. The room was absolutely fantastic and the service was impressive. It was a terrific location – it was so quiet, being just a bit away from the strip, but its only a 2 minute walk back to the middle of the strip, so its close to everything. It was my first trip to Vegas and I had a blast checking out all the hotels. Next time I want to stay at the Venetian – that was one of my favorite casino/hotels we visited. Knocking some off the hotel bill left a lot more of our travel budget free for Vegas fun! (Oh, the restaurants!!)

Over Labor Day, we took our kids down to Baltimore for the weekend, visiting the Inner Harbor, seeing the National Aquarium and hitting an Orioles game.Their favorite part of the trip? The hotel, of course. Our kids love staying in hotels and we get such a kick out of their excitement. When we travel with the kids, we always try to snag a suite so that we don't have to go to bed at 9 when they do!

Next up… Hawaii!! My husband and I are going to Hawaii for a whole week to celebrate our tenth anniversary.  Despite our being well-traveled, neither of us has ever been to Hawaii. When we were deciding where in the world to go (Ireland? Spain? Aruba?), we asked around and people spoke so highly of Hawaii that we couldn't resist. What could be more romantic that laying on a beach in Hawaii?

We only have a week, so we decided to stick to just one island. And we had several amazing hotels to choose from – even when limited to reward points. We wanted somewhere very close to the beach, with a great pool and close to lots of restaurants and attractions (so we don't need a car). That didn't limit it much either.

The two that rose to the top were the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu and the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk. The Hilton Hawaiian Village looked super amazing, but we ended up choosing the Embassy Suites. The Embassy Suites offers free hot breakfast, free happy hour and is in an amazing location. Its just a block from Waikiki beach, on the quiet side of the main drag, and sits among the shops and restaurants of Waikiki Beach Walk, a double-decker outdoor shopping strip. (FUN!) Using our hotel points has freed up money for activities like snorkeling trips, going to a luau and dining in some fantastic restaurants.

I know it seems like just one more membership or password to remember to sign up for travel reward programs, but it is so worth it!! Even if you don't travel at ton with work, you would be amazed how quickly the points add up (especially if you add in a credit card that gives you points as well).

Knocking a night or two off your hotel bill by cashing in points is a great way to travel well for less!! You can upgrade to a much nicer hotel when you're only paying 3 nights instead of 6, stay longer or just free up more of your budget for activities. Its too good to pass up!

This is a Traveling Mom dedicated post.

***note to passionate philly readers: yes, we went to an orioles game, not a phillies game. our hotel in baltimore was across the street from camden yards. forgive our indiscretion. we still fluffy pink heart the phillies.***

Next year is our tenth (TENTH!) anniversary and Husband and I are looking into where we want to go away for a week!!! Hee hee hee!!!

He has a gazillion hotel and airplane points so we can pretty much fly and stay anywhere in the world. Fo' FREE. (There is a plus side to having a husband who travels all the time!!!)

Here are some of our ideas. Notice how they start to get crazier as we go down the list. That's how we roll.
Hawaii
Ireland or maybe Scotland
Costa Rica
Portugal
Malta
Italy
Tahiti
South Africa
Egypt

We're leaning towards Hawaii. (Not very imaginative, I know) But
1. We only have a week. Tahiti, for example, we would spend 3 days just traveling.
2. Some places, like Egypt or South Africa, are places that we might want to take the kids someday. So maybe we should wait on those?
3. Is a week enough to do Italy?

So you have two questions to answer here: Where do YOU think we should go? And what about you? If you could go anywhere for a romantic getaway, where would you go??