#10xtravel

[tandrew]

Finally it was time to say goodbye to the Galápagos and my new friends. We shared a few last meals and laughs and I ended up using my FHR credit from 2021 to stay in Quito an extra 2 days.

I was able to hang out with Liz and Rob who stayed a little longer as well since they were headed to Peru. It's funny because they're the last ones I hung out with and the first ones I met at the Centurion Lounge in Miami on the way to Quito. I also was able to meet and hang out with my tax accountant's wife's good friend and husband since she happens to be from Ecuador!

My original plan was to continue to explore the city or even the mountains but I was pretty wiped out from Galápagos, altitude sickness was setting in again, and I figured it might be best to quarantine myself to make sure I test negative so I could get back to the US.

First picture was taken by Liz and 5th picture (the group picture) taken by @tcormtravels! Last picture is the view from my hotel!

For more pictures/videos of the end of my trip and journey home, here is a link to an iCloud album I set up with commentary -> https://bit.ly/3NlDXjX

#galapagos #10xtravel #newfriends #quito #telefericoquito #selinaquito (at Teleferico Quito) https://www.instagram.com/p/CekJLZlMHCK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[13marwayhar]

https://sweepwidget.com/c/71779-4hfxqd1n/i1ueul-71779

[cleardeersong]

When will I be able to fly long-haul?

"There are some destinations that travelers can still book a long-haul flight right now if they wanted to," says Bryce Conway, travel rewards expert and founder of 10xTravel. "For example, there are flights open to US passengers to destinations like Albania and many parts of the Caribbean. But I don't expect the volume of long-haul routes to increase to pre-Covid-19 levels until 2022."Alexis Barnekow, founder and CEO of booking app Chatflights, concurs. "Almost everything is still bookable with a few exceptions," he says. "New Zealand/Australia is more difficult to book because airlines such as Qantas have decreased their inventory to a large extent."Two other airlines that have decreased bookable inventory are Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines, (although that's) more due to financial reasons."Basically all other airlines are striving to keep the supply at the same levels as before in order to keep their cash flow going. You can book but the risk of canceled flights and rescheduling is much more prevalent. This way, airlines can keep selling inventory and have cash running through their books, and when the travel dates approach use rescheduling to try to fill some planes and keep others on the ground."The rules for entry, of course, vary from destination to destination and also upon departure country. Dubai, for example, is one of the most open destinations in the world, while New Zealand is among the most locked down.ฟรีสูตรสล็อต

[thetravelhacklife]

How to pick your honeymoon destination ||

(ISTOCKPHOTO/HAVESEEN)

It’s time to talk about where to go with your babe after you tie the knot. There can be a lot of pressure around this decision and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed - so many options! There is a world of possibilities to explore, so here are some helpful tips to get started.

I Say:

Make sure to discuss your budget and vacation style with your partner. You may see yourself on a five-star cruise, while she is thinking of going to a rustic cabin in the country. He may be dreaming of a low-key week at the beach, while you want to hit up the nightlife in a major city. Make sure you are on the same page and pick things you will both enjoy.

Talk to people who have recently been to the places you’re considering. They will have great insight that goes beyond reviews and pictures you can find on your own. Our conversations with friends helped us determine what we wanted, and we learned different ways to explore and enjoy our honeymoon spot (Hawaii’s Big Island!). You an also search specific locations on Instagram and see the most recent and realistic snapshots!

They Say: 

Pick how far you want to travel and how long you want to stay once you get there. This will help narrow down your options, especially when combined with your budget guidelines (10xTravel).

Consider the best places for your travel dates. Think about factors like weather, holidays, and high/low tourism seasons. Check out the best time of year for hot spots like Mexico, Hawaii, the Maldives, and Greece here.

MY favorite tip:

Start early! The earlier your research begins, the more options you will have and the more time you get to consider them. Brides.com recommends planning 6-8 months before your wedding to get the best deals.

[tandrew]

Hello all! I can't believe it's already been 2 years since I began my journey of healing, self-discovery, and self-love.

As I reflect on my personal growth and experiences over the past two years and what lies ahead, I wanted to give an update and some background for those who have started following my journey along the way.

Last week, I started a full-time position as a project manager for a utility in New York helping them implement technology that will help them automate and manage their grid of the future. My plan is that once the project is completed, I want to take some time off to backpack through South America, hopefully in late 2024/early 2025!

Despite having been privileged enough to able to live my life on my own terms and being much happier than I've ever been since I caught the travel bug studying exchange in Singapore in 12 years ago, I still have a lot of healing to go and more therapy and self-therapy to help me get there. But I have come such a long way from the emotional trauma that pushed me to start this journey in the first place, which was a blessing in disguise and am grateful to be alive and healthy on this journey!

Here's a quick recap of my travel adventures:

• I went on an amazing 4 month road trip across the US where I visited 21 national parks, 5 national forests/monuments, hit all 4 corners of the continental US, and drove just a little over 20,000 miles through 36 states (many of them for the first time!).

• I went on several domestic and international trips, mainly solo trips to visit friends and family and a few spontaneous solo adventures using my Frontier Airlines all you can fly pass, but I also went on my first group trip to Galapagos with 10xTravel Insiders (where I learned how to pay for travel using credit card points and miles by being strategic with which credit cards I use to pay for my expenses without changing my spending habits).

• I logged close to 100,000 flight miles over 48 flights, spending almost 9 days in the air, visiting 30 airports in 11 countries, and taking 15 different airlines.

• I hiked to the top of Mount Washington with a new group of friends I met and chased the New England foliage from the White Mountains in New Hampshire down to Bear Mountain in CT.

And in terms of work:

• I worked as a staff accountant part-time for a small CPA firm and worked two tax seasons helping many minority and low income individuals and families with their taxes as well as non-profits and churches with financial statements.

• I also picked up another part-time job as a principal electrical engineer with a large infrastructure and defense engineering company (Parsons Corporation) helping them grow their utility business.

[tandrew]

For the first half of our journey in the Galápagos Islands, we spent some time in Santa Cruz, the most developed of the Galápagos Islands. We got to see lots of tortoises in the wild right when we first arrived! They're huge! Even spotted one doing pushups 😂!

We also went to Isla Seymour Norte (North Seymour Island) and saw plenty of birds including frigatebirds puffing their chests and lots of boobies (blue-footed) as well as other wildlife like iguanas!

For more pictures/videos of the first half of my journey to the Galápagos Islands, here is a link to an iCloud album I set up with commentary -> https://bit.ly/3GlWN7M

#10xtravel #galapagos #andrewsadventures #frigatebird #bluefootedboobies #somanyboobies #galapagosiguana #iguana #galapagoscactus #cactus #tortoise #galapagostortoise #tortoisepushups #thestruggleisreal (at Galápagos) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeBmIGQrjdH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tandrew]

In addition to the wildlife, the scenery and landscape in the Galápagos was so beautiful! I especially loved the Volcan Sierra Negra in Isabela, which was my first volcano hike. I felt like I was on a different planet!

First photo was taken by Valerie. I'm the one with the bright yellow waterproof backpack! The hike was about 10 miles in total so the crew was pretty exhausted afterwards as you can see from the last photo lol

For more pictures/videos of my journey to and exploring Isabela, here is a link to an iCloud album I set up with commentary -> https://bit.ly/3azcAUX

#galapagos #10xtravel #volcanohike #sierranegravolcano #volcansierranegra (at Volcan Sierra Negra-Isabela Island Galapagos) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeToDG6rruS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tandrew]

Most of my prior travel experience has been in Southeast Asia (since a majority of my family is in Malaysia and Australia and I also studied exchange in 2011 in Singapore and lived there/traveled around Southeast Asia for 5 months). As much as I'd love to go back, there's so much more of the world to see!

South America has been appealing to me for a while because similar to Southeast Asia, you can really stretch the dollar and I can sort of blend in and pass as a local haha. But unlike Southeast Asia, I only have to learn one (ish) language!

You can't fly directly to the Galapagos Islands so the first part of the trip was exploring the beautiful mountain city of Quito, Ecuador. Touching down in the Andes Mountains in Quito, I was able to take my very first steps in South America and also was immediately out of breath as I carried my bags out of the plane due to altitude sickness. But I immediately fell in love with the mountainous terrain!

Some highlights from Quito before we headed to the Galapagos:

- We went to the equator and learned about the history and significance of the equator and had fun with some interesting demonstrations with phenomena that only happen right on the equator!

- We went on a walking tour of the city where we took in views in, around, and at the top of the Basilica del Voto Nacional (Basilica of the National Vow - the largest neo-Gothic basilica in South America).

- We cooked some traditional Ecuadorian dishes at a local restaurant (Masaya) which we were able to eat afterwards!

- On our way to the Virgin del Panecillo (Virgin Mary sculpture), our van broke down just as our tour guide was explaining how even he would not walk around in that area. We survived and were able to make it there eventually and enjoyed a panoramic view of the city!

- We managed to fit 8 people into a tiny hotel hot tub!

For more pictures/videos of my journey to and exploring Quito, here is a link to an iCloud album I set up with commentary -> https://bit.ly/3Nxh10B

#quito #10xtravel #galapagos #andrewsadventures #museodesitiointiñan #basilicadelvotonacional #masayaquito #virgindelpanecillo #hottubparty (at Quito, Ecuador) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd8nnVPr8u0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tandrew]

About 6 years ago I opened my first travel points earning credit card and around the same time I joined a small travel facebook group that has since grown to 125k. Since then, I learned a lot from the 10xTravel community and enjoyed seeing posts of people like me who love to travel and nerd out on points and miles so when I saw that 10xTravel was organizing a few group trips I jumped at the opportunity! I had no real expectations about the people I’d be traveling with or how the trip would go since I tend to travel solo and didn’t do too much research ahead of time. However, the trip really blew my expectations out of the water (pun intended)! We had such great group chemistry and talked about things far beyond just points and miles, shared a lot of laughs and some crazy moments like a whale hitting our ferry on our way to Isabela Island or getting comfortable in a tiny hotel hot tub! I’m so grateful to have met everyone and had an amazing trip! #10xtravel #10xtravelinsiders #galapagos #quito #trovatrip #newfriends #hottubparty #goodtimes (at Galápagos) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdn2eOaLbPV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=