Author Archives: misterselfish

How to Travel Hack Your Way Around the World

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Travel Hacking

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Mrs. Selfish and I are now half-way through our year long trip around
the world. In the last year we’ve visited 22 countries (most in business class), flown in 1st Class on Lufthansa’s brand new 747-8, and stayed at 5-star hotels that retail for over $700 a night.

Park-Hyatt-Zurich-photos-Room-Park-Suite-King

The Park Hyatt in Zurich for ~$700 or 22,000 points a night.

Mrs. Selfish and I aren’t ludicrously rich.  We don’t have a travel nest egg that we’ve been saving for years for this trip. We don’t have a rental property that brings home the bacon (just an underwater mortgage).

But we DID earn over 2.2 million airline miles and hotel points in the last year and a half, with another 550,000 projected to hit in the next 2 months. If you value miles and points at $.01 – $.02 each, then we’ve earned over $22,000 – $44,000 in points. Most with little to no effort.

miles earned

The majority of the miles we earned were from credit card sign up bonuses, followed by bank and brokerage bonuses.  The remaining miles were earned through shopping portals, third party promotions, or normal spending. That teeny-tiny sliver of 3.4% represents the number of miles and points we earned through flying or paying for hotels!

Next

In my next few posts, I’ll take you through the basics of earning and burning miles and points.  Here are some of the topics we’ll be tackling:

Intercontinental Danang: Where Myth Meets Luxury

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, Travel Hacking, Vietnam

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When Mrs. Selfish and I were looking at Vietnam, we decided to visit the places we skipped during our honeymoon: Nha Trang, Dalat, and Hoi An.  Danang was more of an afterthought, the closest airport to the beautiful UNESCO heritage town, Hoi An, more than anything else.

After booking 5 nights in Hoi An, I started looking for a decent hotel to crash for 2 days in Danang. I settled on the Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, the place “Where Myth meets Luxury,” according to their website. Given how ridiculous their tagline was, how luxurious could it be possibly be?

The answer was, without a doubt, the most luxurious place Mrs. Selfish and I have ever stayed or will ever stay.

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The Problems with Eating Abroad

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Asia, Europe, Food & Drinks

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One of the problems with long term travel is you start to miss the familiar. It can be a comforting TV show, a radio station, an appliance (read: dryer), but for Mrs. Selfish and I it was more often than not food – American food.

Since we spent a lot of our days in apartments, this wasn’t a huge problem – we even brought along a knife, a cutting board, and a pack of spices just in case. Unfortunately, there were some things we couldn’t make. Whether we lacked the proper equipment, couldn’t track down the right ingredients (Southeast Asia has a shortage of Parmesan), or just couldn’t make it to begin with there were times where we had to track down restaurants to fill that need.

And most of the time, they were horrible.

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From Worst to First: Flying Lufthansa 1st Class

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Europe, Travel Hacking

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Mrs. Selfish and I purchased our business class the tickets for the European leg of our trip back in March 2012 for the very reasonable price of $128.27 + 100,000 miles each. The plan was to fly from Washington Dulles, to Vienna with a 6 week stop-over in England. For our return flight we were going to leave from Lisbon, returning to Dulles by way of Madrid.

Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

While in England last August I received an email from United that our Madrid flight to Dulles had been canceled. Their new routing ended up adding an extra layover through Newark and tacking on an extra 5 hours of travel time.

I immediately jumped on United.com to find a shorter alternative, and within 20 minutes found a better route via Frankfurt using United’s partner, Lutfhansa. Not only was the layover time a breezy 50 minutes, but we’d be able to try out Lufthansa’s new business class seats, which been receiving a lot of praise in the travel hacking scene.

Lufthansa’s sexy new business class!

I called United, and within half an hour the new tickets had been booked and seats had been confirmed via the helpful United rep. Mrs. Selfish and I were flying home on Lufthansa in style!

Or so I thought.

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The Great Marriott Quadruple Play

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Spain, Travel Hacking

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Back in November, Mrs. Selfish and I drove from Barcelona to Madrid, stopping in a total of 5 cities over the course of 8 nights: Valencia, Murcia, Malaga, Seville, and Cordoba.

8 Days of driving in Southern Spain!

While Mrs. Selfish was excited to try authentic Spanish paella, take in the Moorish ruins, and experience Flamenco dancing, I was excited to try out Marriott’s latest promotions.

Marriott acquired the AC Hotel chain in Spain, which is a low-to mid tier chain with quite a number of cheap hotels. While a few of the hotels ran us upwards of 80 euros a night (or $106), the majority were 60 euros ($80) or cheaper.

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34,000 Miles to Home!

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Europe

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Happy New Year! Mrs. Selfish and I finally arrived in Singapore’s Changmi International Airport after a grueling 36+ hours of traveling, including a relatively uneventful New Year’s in the air.

Since my work is largely starting to slow down, culminating with the release of Little Inferno, I promised Mrs. Selfish I would start contributing regularly to our little corner of the web. So what better way than to highlight our recent experiences buying our tickets for the second leg of our trip?

American Airline’s One World Explorer Ticket

2013 One World Flights

Our long-haul international flight for 2013 – 16 Segments in Business Class!

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Fun with Expedia’s Best Rate Guarantee

17 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Travel Hacking

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After airfare, accommodation costs are probably one of the highest expenses you’ll incur when traveling (with the possible exception of food, if you’re like Mrs. Selfish and I!).  For stays over 5 days we like to rent apartments, but for fast travel we usually stay at a hotel.

For our trip to Ireland, however, Mrs. Selfish and I planned on driving through 6 cities in 7 nights.  This entailed staying at 6 different hotels – a booking feat which I used to loathe, but now enjoy.  Why? Because of Expedia’s Best Guarantee.

What is the Best Rate Guarantee?

Expedia claims to have the lowest price for all hotel rentals and flights everywhere and even go so far as to back it up with a Best Rate Guarantee:

“We’re so confident you’ll find the best price for your trip on Expedia that we guarantee it. Find a cheaper identical trip within 24 hours of booking and we’ll refund the difference–and give you an Expedia travel coupon worth $50.”

That’s right, in the event that you manage to find a cheaper rate, not only will they match the price, but they’ll give you a $50 coupon for your next Expedia purchase! This seems ripe for exploitation…

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On to the Next!

15 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by in Accommodations, Europe

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Today we’re saying goodbye to our cozy London studio flat, and are hopping on a train to Scotland to start our trip from London to Paris by way of Eastern Europe.  While two weeks would normally be a decent amount of time, we’re passing through 5 separate locations and covering over 2,100 miles, so I expect it will be a little frantic.

Along the way we’re hitting up:

Edinburgh

Home to kilts, haggus, scones, and a host of tough man stereotypes!  Mrs. Selfish and I plan on hitting up castles, pubs, Arthur’s Seat, and the Royal Mile.  For our three nights in Edinburgh, we’re staying at the Hilton Grovesnor hotel.  It’s slightly pricier than I’d like (about $120 a night), but with Mrs. Selfish’s gold status we should be getting wifi and free breakfast every morning – so not too shabby!

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The Little Differences

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Europe, Living Abroad

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It’s been one month since we left the States and started this whole Selfish trip, and while we’ve only been in London for a little less than a month, it strikes me that “home” has changed meaning in the last few weeks.  A few months ago, “home” was Orlando, but after packing everything into storage and renting out our house it’s safe to say that definition no longer applies. For now, home means our little studio in Highgate, but in a week, home will be a hotel in Scotland, and in a month, an apartment in Paris.

In the States (or maybe everywhere), we have a tendency to romanticize the European lifestyle.  35 hour work weeks! Amazing food and wine! Architecture! History!

Having spent a little time abroad now, I’ve definitely noticed a few differences between living in the States and Europe (or at least in England), which I will now present to you in rant form:

1. Doing Laundry is extremely time consuming.  I used to think this was the case back home, but man was I wrong.  In the States, a long time for laundry was 3 loads of laundry in 6 hours.  Here, it takes a day for each load, which is due to the fact that England seems to have a massive shortage of dryers. So instead of throwing things in the dryer, you have to hang your clothes up to dry.  After a few hours in the sun (if you’re lucky and it hasn’t rained), your clothes are ready to be brought in – only now they have a delightfully crunchy texture.  This is due to either the water here, or perhaps because of the lack of dryer sheets – I’m not sure what to believe. To combat this apparently a lot of Europeans iron everything, including socks and underwear!

2. Semi-Wet Bathrooms.  If you’ve never encountered one, you’re in for a treat!  Instead of simply elevating the shower or adding a curtain, you have a delightfully open shower with a drain in the floor.  Move ever so slightly the wrong way and water cascades off of your elbow and on to the floor (or worse, the toilet). To fix this problem, we use two different bath mats: one to sop up all of the water from the shower itself, and the other to wipe down the entire bathroom floor after we finishing showering.

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Don’ You Go Rounin’ Round to Re Ro

06 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Europe, Living Abroad, London, United Kingdom

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While Mrs. Selfish and I have certainly enjoyed our time in England, we’ve noticed a  common problem – we can’t understand the English.  And to make things even more confusing, some times they can’t understand us!

Oftentimes it comes down to an issue of terminology. Shopping for groceries we had a devil of a time tracking down crushed tomatoes (“passata”). Or when we asked for cotton swabs in a local pharmacy the confused store clerk brought us to the cotton ball section.

But more often that not it comes down to the fact that we just can’t understand people’s accents – and there certainly are a range of them here in England.  The other day I stepped aside for some lady in a museum, and she responded with “S’cuse me guv’nor!”  To make matters even more confusing, London also seems to have a pretty large population of immigrants, whose British is even harder to understand!

One thing Mrs. Selfish and I have enjoyed, however, is British movie marketing.  We don’t have a TV, nor have we watched any movies in the theatre (not at 15 pounds a pop!), but we have seen a ton of billboards.

In American you’re on your own – I feel more rugged already!

You’d be a mug to miss it. – What’s a mug?!

The New Guv’Nor – When did Ford get so British?

Oosh! Bang Tidy! – This one makes me laugh every time.  We briefly considered watching Keith Lemon: The Film, but it had a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and neither Mrs. Selfish nor I speak British that well.

With less than 3 weeks left in England, I can’t help but wonder whether things will be more or less confusing when we leave.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they speak English better in France!

Travel Hacking Our Way Around the World

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Travel Hacking

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Though the Selfish Years started as a dream years ago, the idea for a year long trip around the world didn’t become a reality until September 16, 2011.

Mrs. Selfish and I have always liked to travel, but we’ve usually limited ourselves to one international trip per year – mostly for time reasons, but also because international trips can be utterly expensive.  This all changed after our trip to Peru last fall.

After an amazing trip to Machu Picchu, I became deathly ill upon our return to Orlando.  Bed-ridden, I spent an entire week lying on the couch when I wasn’t doubled over.  My only solace was the internet – and on this particular day, I stumbled across an article about how some guy had spent the last 9 months traveling around the world.

And he had done it for $418.

Immediately, Mrs. Selfish and I started plotting.  Was it possible for us to accumulate the necessary miles to fly around the world for next to nothing? Better yet, could we do it all in business class?

The short answer, was yes.

What is Travel Hacking?

Travel Hacking is about earning miles and points to get free flights or accommodations. Travel hackers are typically looking for ways to accumulate the most miles, points, or elite status for the least amount of money.  They look for ways to game the system. Some of it can be pretty hardcore, like a mileage run where the goal is to fly as many miles as possible for the least amount of money (think New York to San Francisco by way of Philadelphia, Tampa, Dallas, and Seattle). Other times it can be pretty easy, like signing up for a new credit card, or moving your investments into a different brokerage account.

Shortly after reading the initial article last September, I became completely obsessed with the idea of earning enough miles to get us around the world. And it worked.

Over the last year, Mrs. Selfish and I have managed to rack up over 1.5 million miles and points (all without flying), including:

  • – 600,000 American Airline Miles
  • – 256,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points
  • – 206,000 Delta Miles
  • – 107,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Points
  • – 169,000 United Miles
  • – 96,000 Priority Club points
  • – 50,000 Jet Blue Miles

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Driving in Ireland

18 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by in Europe, Ireland, United Kingdom

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Although there is a lot to see in Dublin itself, Mrs. Selfish and I had a week to burn in Ireland, so our best option was to rent a car and see the breathtaking Irish countryside.

Ireland Trip Report

  1. Ireland Overview
  2. Driving in Ireland
  3. Castles, Castles, and more Castles
  4. Kylemore and Connemara
  5. The Cliffs of Insanity!
  6. The Loop Around the Dingle Peninsula
  7. Searching for the Best Guinness in Dublin
  8. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 1
  9. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 2
  10. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 1
  11. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 2

If you’ve never been, Ireland is a beautiful country that gets an unfortunate amount of rainfall each year.  It’s also a very small country with a population of just under 4.5 million people and a little over 1 million living in Dublin itself.

There are a number of trains around Ireland.  Another popular option is to join a tour bus, but nothing beats a rental car.

Renting a Car in Ireland

Tip #1: Use Auto Slash to save off of the rental itself

Car renting is a mysterious process with car rates rising or falling just about every day for little to no reason.  Luckily, this is where services such as Auto Slash, come in handy.  Unlike most websites, Auto Slash automatically re-books your reservation every time the price lowers:

You were originally booked at 202.06 EUR, and the price has now dropped to 183.00 EUR. We’ve automatically re-booked your rental at the lower rate. You’ve saved 19.06 EUR without even lifting a finger! 

For this trip, we only saved 19.06 euros, but hey, that’s almost 5 pints of Guinness!

Unfortunately, Auto Slash doesn’t cover every rental agency (for instance, Hertz is unavailable), but I always like to check there first before I look anywhere else.

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Goodbye Orlando, Hello World!

09 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in General, News

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The Beginning of the Selfish Years

It’s hard to imagine that only a week ago Mrs. Selfish and I packed all of our worldly possessions into a 8′ x 16′ x 8′ container and left our Orlando home of 7 years.  Now officially homeless, we’re wandering the world for the next year – hitting an estimated 28 countries and 6 continents. Oh, and did I mention we’re flying business class the majority of the way almost entirely on miles and points?  More on that later.

The trip of a lifetime

Mrs. Selfish and I are travel junkies starting 6 years ago with our first international trip together to Paris. Since then we’ve made it a policy to take at least one international trip a year, and have visited roughly 20 countries at this point.  This trip is a bit different though.

Mrs. Selfish is not much of a roughing it gal – so hostels and camping are out of the question. Some places we’re staying in hotels, others in B&B’s, but we’re spending the majority of our time in apartments.

Unlike previous trips, this one comes fully loaded – two laptops, an iPad, a kindle, 3DS, two iPhones, and two cameras.  I’ll be working the entire way across various projects.  Mrs. Selfish plans on learning various languages, brushing up on her photography, and taking a class or two on her journey to become a Renaissance woman.

So where to from here?  Honestly, I’m not quite sure.  We started the blog because it’s an easy way to let friends and family know where we are and what we’re doing.  Also, it’s the thing to do in this day and age.  Additionally, since I’ve become obsessed with “travel hacking”, it seems like a good way to convince our friends and families of the benefits – we’ve earned upwards of 1.5 million miles in the last 11 months (most without setting foot on a plane), so it’s time to start using them!

First leg of the Selfish Years: Ireland

Although I’m not entirely sure where the blog is heading, Mrs. Selfish and I are heading around Ireland for the next 7 days.  Not only is this my first time driving abroad, but it’s also my driving on the opposite side of the road, and the first time I’ve driven in a manual car in the last 10 years. Further, because Ireland is supposed to be one of the most dangerous driving countries in the world, it makes me more than a little nervous.

But there’s no time to worry about that now.  After wandering around the city for the latter half of the day, it’s time for a Guinness and some rest!