The US is a complex, beautiful country. As much as I love to travel on other continents, there’s so much here in our vast nation that I’ve never experienced.
Some people believe in saving the best for last, but I can’t hold out on you. This deal has been one of the easiest travel hacks that I’ve used. Like all strategies, it takes the diligence of advanced planning and calculated spending, but it’s not hard.
Our first two years of our marriage, Tannia and I scored the Southwest Companion pass. In a nutshell, all you have do is sign up for a personal and business version of the Southwest credit card lines and meet the minimum spending. Once you earn the sign up bonuses from those, you’re nearly there – to the required 125,000 miles. You earn the companion pass in the year you cross that threshold – and for the following year. This means you want to earn it in January or February (so you have it for 23 months) instead of November or December (meaning you’d only have it for 13 months).
How did we do it?
I got a personal and business version of the Southwest credit cards (I’d apply for the personal card first). Think you don’t have a small business? If you rent houses, freelance write, tutor kids, or even sell items on the internet, you legally qualify – just use your SSN as the on the credit card application as a sole proprietorship, and use your name as the business name. Voila.
The double bounty of the companion pass is that your companion always flies free with you – it doesn’t matter if you paid with cash or with the 125,000 points you earned!
Where did we go?
I guess you could use this travel hack to lay around on the beach every few months for 2 years, but we’re after more. We want to bless others, enrich ourselves, and become more full human beings. Here’s a few of the places where we took pilgrimage that financially couldn’t have happened otherwise.
New York
My grandparents live on a farm in rural New York – a small village called Avon south of Rochester. I love visiting, as this is the only place on earth I have that I can go back to from childhood. There’s nowhere else where I can return to soak in memories of my roots. This place has been in the family for 52 years. It was wonderful to introduce my baby son to my grandfather – 4 generations together! While there, we took a day trip to Abbey of the Genesee, where you can join for prayer and the monks sell bread made on site. The bread has been a staple in my grandparents’ home for as long as I can remember.
California
The CCDA network has had profound impact on my life, and it was a treat to host a workshop at their national conference in LA in 2016. Thanks to the companion pass, my wife joined me at the conference for a rich 3 days of fellowship. We then rented a car and headed up the coast on Hwy 1, stopping for seafood along the way all the way up to San Luis Obispo. I even joined some locals for a shot at surfing with the dolphins! On the way out, we connected with old friends in San Diego for a night before flying home. This little journey was an incredible respite from the grind of life for Tannia and me, strengthening our new marriage.
Mexico City
While Southwest doesn’t fly to many international locations, this is one of them – and a great one at that. Reality beats the stigma. Mexico City is diverse mix of neighborhoods with friendly people, affordable street eats, and tons of art. We stayed in a gorgeous little Airbnb in San Rafael neighborhood. The high altitude makes it cool year round and pleasant to be outside. We visited Frida Khalo’s house, getting a glimpse into her complex longing to bring beauty to her personal struggles. Diego Rivera murals are scattered throughout the city, too. Our favorite was a small, simple one called Museo Mural Diego Rivera, preserving an enormous piece that tells the story of Mexico’s past in typical Rivera fashion. Strolling around the city, we savored the street food, too, such as mole, chilaquiles, churros, and huarache. If you’re feeling less adventurous, you can even hire a guide to take you on a food tour.
Where else did we visit with our companion pass those two years? The list goes on. We took a jaunt down to Tampa for our honeymoon for a few days. After 2 weddings in both the US and Ecuador, we needed a getaway. We also used it for a weekend in Washington DC to attend a friend’s wedding. We also took a day to explore the National Mall of Museums – an incredible network of free museums open to the public. Wow! Think Disneyland for the intellectually curious. One cold long weekend in January, we headed up to Philadelphia to stay with friends and explore the city. Visiting the Liberty Bell on MLK weekend was rich and reflective.
In monetary terms, the flights represent thousands of dollars in non-taxed value that we leveraged to make these trips possible. Working for non-profit organizations, this would not be in the budget otherwise. But even more than maximizing money, earning this companion pass allowed my new wife and I to connect with family, introduce one another to places from childhood, see generations come together, meet new people, connect with old friends, receive spiritual nurture, participate in weddings, and celebrate our own union. We want our posture to be one of pilgrims on a journey; not mere consumers seeking to absorb more.
You can do this, too! If you’re interested in designing a similar experience, check my video toolkit: Pilgrimage to Any Country for Pennies. I’m not a travel agent – I won’t book your itinerary or do your detailed legwork. In this toolkit, however, I lay out clear steps for how you can plan and create unbelievably affordable, meaningful experiences you might not be able to imagine otherwise. Whether you end up exploring the US or going abroad, I’d love to hear about your journeys. Bon voyage!
