It’s Sunday morning, and I’m parked on my front porch with a cup of coffee, the Sunday paper, and my MacBook Air.  It’s comfortably cool out, but a little cloudy.  Still, not a half bad morning considering how humid it was here early last week.  Seems like a good time to reflect on the week that’s passed, the weeks ahead, and where to go next!

Frequent Traveler University in New York was a great experience.  I got a good refresher on a lot of things I already knew, some tips on how to execute some of those things more effectively, and as always, I learned some new tricks to help me (and you) travel better.  The best thing of all is meeting really interesting and friendly people with a common interest.  (A big highlight was finally meeting Randy Petersen.  Even bumped into him at the Red Carpet Club in LGA and spent several minutes talking about my blog and the success of Boardingarea.com in general.)

One thing that became clearer to me this weekend is that while I’m probably “above average” when it comes to leveraging miles and points to travel better, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface in being really effective at it.  In short, I am going to have to be less lazy about scouring for travel treasure and sharing what I find with you.  If I really want to turn things up a notch with the blog, I’m going to have to work harder and make the investment in time necessary to get to the next level….and that’s what I’m going to do.  Traveling well at a cost I can afford isn’t just a neat goal, or even a hobby.  It’s a passion, and I’m looking forward to helping each of us out as I explore and learn more.

One week from now, I’ll be sitting in Miami by this time.  I’m flying Delta’s nonstop service from DCA to MIA….aboard an EMB-175.  That should make for something interesting to write about!  Seems like a long flight for that airplane, but if my flight on the same aircraft type last night with United Express is any indication, and our upgrades clear, the forward cabin on these airplanes is really comfortable!  It will be interesting to see how Delta’s service aboard these small airliners (I don’t think it’s fair to call the EMB-170/175/190 series an RJ) compares to United’s last night.  We’ll be spending one night at the Conrad Miami and then boarding a short 4-night cruise to the Bahamas and Key West.  MrsMJonTravel and I are taking our mothers with us for a Mother’s Day gift.  That should be a travel experience worth blogging about if there ever was one!  😀