I am Austindude

It’s been a couple of years since I have traveled outside of the United States, and it’s time to do some international traveling! In 2009, I went to Japan (twice actually!) and I loved it. I am thankful that my grandfather and mother love traveling and that same itch to travel and explore new places rubbed off on me.

I am planning a trip to Paris with my girlfriend Holly, and we are so excited about it. She’s never traveled outside of the States, so this will be a real eye-opener and great experience for her. I keep telling her she’s going to get addicted to the feeling hah, and once that travel bug has bitten you’re infected for life.

Right now we’re in the preliminary stages of planning, and I’m researching hotels, places to see, and places to eat. Of course part of the fun of being in another town or country is roaming and exploring on your own with no set agenda too. I think we’ll have a good balance of sightseeing and roaming/diving into the culture.

I have one lofty goal that I am going to work my hardest at acheiving by mid-April of this year.  That is that I want to have 80,000 American Airline miles accrued by then so that both of our round-trip flights will be free. (Except for the $50 or so taxes). The second trip I made to Japan in 2009 was free due to mileage rewards.

As of today, 02/20/2011 I have 26,807 miles. I’ve signed up for a second CitiAdvantage credit card, and will be getting 40,000 miles after I spent $1000, in the first four months. I should be able to get that done in months. For one, I am pre-ordering the iPad 2 as soon as it comes out, which should be $600 right there. I’ll put every other time I need to eat out or buy anything on the card, and should get the bonus miles by end of March. I also just signed up for a Citibank checking account. I’ll earn 25,000 miles after two consecutive months of using my debit card at least 5 times a month. Piece of cake. I also fill surveys out on Opinionplace.com and earn 75-100 miles per survey, averaging about 300 miles a month.

I know it’s been nearly 3 years so I have posted anything on this site, but I intend to start blogging again. There is so much to say and share.

Here is a picture of my girlfriend and I. She is the prettiest gal in the world and I am one helluva lucky man.

- Kyle