Live Your Life! Travel Plans for 2025

Life is short, and the world is wide.

January is the month of resolutions, budgets, and booking all those Black Friday travel deals from 2024 into my 2025 calendar. But as it turns out, one of us is still working (ahem), so my PTO days are rationed like gold. With travel plans already filling up the year, I’m on the verge of running out of days off… but hey, who needs rest when you have points?

After Shawn's cardiologist visit in November, we took his advice to 'live your life' seriously. Instead of scaling back, we decided to lean in harder on spending time together doing the thing we love most - traveling. Our new way of life, including healthy eating and walking multiple miles each day, had to fit into our travel plans as well.

Of course there is also cost associated with travel, and we don’t just throw our money around; Shawn is the Chief Deal Finder in this marriage, so he put in the time to make this all happen for as little cash outlay as possible. His first order of business was getting the SW Airlines credit card deal that gets you a bunch of miles with a companion pass. This allows us to travel as a couple anywhere SW flies basically free; the miles cover one of us and the pass covers the other.

2025 Here We Go…

At the end of February, we’re heading to the Seattle area to spend some time with my parents. It’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to sit down and visit face to face, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them.

In early April we’re planning a long weekend trip for Shawn’s birthday, possibly to Nashville, which would give him an excuse to wear this outfit again, (and me an excuse to see him in it.)

In late April my bestie is having a big birthday celebration and we’ll be heading to California to celebrate with her!

In June, we have a 15 day trip to Europe booked. Shawn scored a great deal on mileage redemptions for business class flights into Heathrow and out of Frankfurt. I’m excited to explore places neither of us has been before - maybe Scotland or Denmark; we’ll finalize the itinerary when we get closer to departure.

And finally, after spending too little time on the beautiful beaches on our last cruise, I was pining for a real beach vacation and managed to talk Shawn into this; in November, we’re going on another Virgin cruise! This time with a heavy beach itinerary, as there is only one day in the whole cruise when the ship is not docked at an island with a fabulous beach. This will be a couples retreat of sorts— we’ll be traveling with Shawn’s brother and his wife, who will be celebrating their wedding anniversary on their first ever cruise! We fly into Puerto Rico, where we’ll spend a couple of days, then head out for a 7 night Southern Caribbean itinerary. Nine beach days on a 10 day trip. Sounds heavenly!

Fitting in all this travel is going to be tricky, especially with my work demands ramping up, but I’m optimistic we can make it all happen. After all, no one ever regrets taking the trip.

Live your lives, my friends!