Adam wrote an introduction and background leading up to his trip. Here it is:
Hello Travel Freely family! My name is Adam, a soon-to-be international traveler. I have just finished my first year of medical school at CWRU SOM in Cleveland, Ohio, after graduating in May 2021 from Hillsdale College with degrees in Biochemistry and Economics. I like to stay busy – and fill my downtime with work as a real estate agent in the Cleveland area. And soccer. A lot of soccer.
This summer, Travel Freely has granted me the privilege of bringing you frequent updates on my travels on Instagram, Tiktok, emails, and blogs. As I am sure many of you can understand, I planned a trip to scratch my post-pandemic travel itch. This particular trip, though, is memorable for several reasons.
First, it is a whole seventy (yes, 70) days. Second, it is an itinerary that will take me *around the world*. Last but certainly not least, it has all been booked with credit card points!!
Fortunately, I will also be in good company as I travel. My girlfriend, Dakota, is sharing the entire itinerary with me! She just finished up her junior year at Hillsdale (studying Biology) and will be applying to Physician’s Assistant programs as we travel this summer. Dakota graciously agreed to fly out of Cleveland on Monday, May 30th, even though she would be traveling back from running at the NCAA Division II National Track and Field championships just the day prior. What can I say? Monday had the best points offer!
And what’s more – in just about every location on the itinerary – we are staying with friends and family. This has really helped make the trip feasible for a couple of broke college/medical students.
Above: One destination I’m looking forward to is Switzerland! I’ll be there for 9 days, and my parents are joinng too.
Speaking of that itinerary, let me shed a little light on our travel plans… you may want to take a seat.
- 6 days in Paris – staying in a close family friend’s flat
- 4 days in Lyon – staying in the same friend’s family home
- 4 days in Mallorca – staying with my old roommate from Hillsdale
- 4 days in Barcelona
- 9 days in Switzerland – my parents are meeting us to take a nine-day road trip.
- 2 days in Venice – Dakota’s sister is meeting us for Italy!
- 3 days in Florence
- 6 days in Rome
- 5 days on the Amalfi Coast
- 9 days in Israel – staying with one of my best friends, also from Hillsdale
- 12 days in Japan – my brother and his fiancee will be meeting us for our time in Japan
- 5 days at Hyatt Zilara Cancun all-inclusive resort – also with my brother and his fiancee
Now, why did I decide to travel to so many places at once? Short answer: why not! The first year of the medical school allows for a summer of about 73 days. And I am taking full advantage of the entirety of it.
I also happened to have more than enough points to make it all happen… shout out to Travel Freely for that. I can still remember that fateful winter night during my junior year of college when I stumbled across Travel Freely. I’ve always been somewhat of a ‘points’ person – and free *anything* was right up my alley, let alone thousands in free travel! I recall emailing Zac a million and one questions over the span of a few days – soaking up all the information I could. It just sounded too good to be true! Change nothing, pay with credit cards, and accrue all these benefits? I was hooked.
Of course, I started with no annual fee cards. It was the easiest way to start to understand the points systems while still feeling somewhat safe. The Chase Freedom Unlimited was my first ‘travel’ card. From there I progressed somewhat quickly to other, slightly higher grade options. The Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and a Chase Ink Business Cash card for a side business that I had. A few months ago, I stepped into what many would consider the upper tier of travel cards and landed the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card during its huge introductory offer.
Now I have had two years of points aggregation. I have been sitting on earned sign-up bonuses and many referrals (after all, why not share free travel with friends and family?). I did not have many reasons to use my not-so-hard earned points other than a trip Dakota, and I took to California and a family ski vacation to Vail.
I have recently invested just about all of my savings into some high-end camera equipment so that I can adequately capture and share the moments of our entire adventure. If you are ever curious for a more in-depth view of my travels, you can take a peek at either my personal YouTube or Instagram channels! Both here and there, I will be giving a breakdown of what I am doing and how I did it – with credit card points. So be sure to keep tabs on everywhere I’ll be off to this summer (and feel free to send along any suggestions you might have for the locations I am visiting)
This summer is the perfect time to take the trip of a lifetime. And that is just what I am setting off to do – bringing all of you along for the ride!
