Routine

This post is about the routines I follow on a trip, which coincidentally serve to explain how I can afford to drive west so often. You may not be interested in this, so feel free to skip it.

Abbey and I use one credit card for nearly all our purchases, and pay it off each month, thus generating a lot of reward points. I convert these points into Marriott gift cards. This trip, I used gift cards at all five hotels (night six was at my house; night seven at Randall and Lily’s). That in turn generates more Marriott account points that I will turn in for free nights in the future.

I only stay in Marriotts that offer free breakfast. They are a little more expensive, but the alternative is wandering around a strange town at 6AM looking for a place to get breakfast. Their breakfasts are, if not gourmet, varied, nutritious and filling. After I eat, I put a schmear of cream cheese on a bagel, grab a banana, and I have lunch. I look for Subways when I have to stop during the day, and get a foot-long veggie, for no other reason than I really like them. The Subway veggie is dinner for two nights; I’ve always traveled in the winter, so refrigeration is not a factor (even though I usually put the second half in the hotel room’s mini-fridge).

So room and board for this trip was less than twenty dollars.