Happy 1 year anniversary to me!
A year in which I learned an incredible amount of knowledge from understanding the basics of credit scores to the intricacies of a OneWorld Explorer Award.
Between myself and my wife (and 1 card under my mom's name), I opened 32 cards and collected 1.5 million points. It was mind-boggling adding that number up the other day.
I went on a 6 1/2 week honeymoon through Israel and Europe, visiting 10 countries, taking 12 flights (11 in business) on 19 legs for $1200 a person and stayed at free hotels for 33 nights in a row. Thirty-freakin-three.
We enjoyed 9 free RT tickets NYC-DEN (my in laws) on SW and a couple more short-hauls thanks to Avios. Obviously, getting married to an OOTer this year meant I would start flying more, but I have never flown close to this much in my entire life.
I never imagined I would see the Colosseum or Stonehenge. Never thought I would have the Eiffel Tower in my skyline for 5 nights while staying at a $1000/night hotel. I know I owe you all plenty of TRs still, but for now, I'll just say thanks. Thanks to Dan for putting this place together and keeping it going and thanks to everyone here who has answered my questions and helped along the way. It's coincidental that on my 1 year anniversary, I'm actually starting my job. Not sure I could have done this if I actually had a job this past year. I expect my frequency here to die down a bit (at least during work hours), but I hope to get in many NYC lunch DOs.
To an even more spectacular year ahead!
@Yehuda
Happy 2nd year anniversary to me!
CANNOT BELIEVE another year has gone by. Wow. Re-reading last year's post, and the most ironic part might have been how I thought my involvement here would go down because I started working, hehe...
Year 2 vs. Year 1 in numbers:
27 new CCs vs. 33 new CCs
~1.5M points vs. ~1.5M points - incredible how, without realizing, I earned just about the exact same amount of points as last year.
Got in 3 trips to DEN to the in laws, a 3 day vacation in magical Orlando, and a week in paradisical Kauai at the GORGEOUS Grand Hyatt Kauai - all on miles and points. Off days at work really put a limit to our traveling compared to last year
but we still were able to get away for a nice amount of time b"h.
Finally had the honor to meet Dan as well as countless other DDFers at more DOs than I can remember and even spent Shabbos at a DDFer's home.
Something that really hit home with me this year was - and I hope this doesn't come off in a haughty way - how little I know. While I might seem like a "real expert" to my friends and family, out here on the forums, you don't realize how much people know until you get to know them a little more personally, especially in the world of MS. Some guys here just make my jaw drop. I realized, though, that everyone needs to find the DDF level that works best for them and keeping this going at a simple, steady level seems to be best for me.
If any newbies read this, I'd give one bit of advice for getting started: don't be overwhelmed by the information here. The learning curve is great, but once you're past it, it's pretty easy to keep yourself at a comfortable and consistent level.
To the best hobby ever!
@Yehuda