And the Beat Goes On…

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After a long illness, my mom passed away last week. I’ve made four trips to Denver in the last month to be with her at the end and attend her memorial service. This week is the start of my “getting back to normal”. I know I’ve missed several important travel/miles & points stories over the past month, but we will all survive.

My Mom and Travel

While I have many good memories with my mom, travel memories make up a large percentage. My mom was very much a “Have Kids, Will Travel” person. My first trip to Disney World happened when I was just a baby!

Even though we didn’t have much money when I was growing up, my mom made sure we went on road trip vacations all across the U.S. Thanks to her planning, I’ve visited almost all of the 50 states.

My last vacation with her was in 2019 when we went on a cruise to Bermuda. Despite her illness, she still wanted to travel after that. Unfortunately, Covid had other plans, and her decline during quarantine was significant.

My mom’s spirit of adventure inspired me. I had some of her ashes put inside a special necklace, and I plan to take her along on my future travel adventures.

Miles and Points Helped Me–A Lot

Thankfully, even though we lived in different states, I’ve been able to see my mom a lot over these past few years. While I didn’t always use miles and points for every trip, miles and points helped bring my cost down a lot.

I used points to take my kids on a cross-country train ride to visit my mom after my dad died. We used Hyatt points and suite upgrade certs several times to stay at the Grand Hyatt Denver. I’ve used Southwest Rapid Reward points numerous times as well as Hilton points for my recent hotel stays.

Would I have seen my mom without the help of miles and points? Of course. But, probably not as frequently. Miles and points made my frequent trips to Denver fit into our monthly budget much more easily.

And the Beat Goes On…

To those of you who have lost a parent, my heart goes out to you. Losing a parent is earth-shattering. If your parents are still on this earth, take the trip. Make the call. Treasure the memories.