My twitter profile provides the high level summary –  “Philly girl, Finance/Investment MBA, Business Travel Manager and now Arden Road Travel consultant. Addicted to chocolate, travel and luxury using points to experience the world”  There is so much more to me, my life and my travels and I want to convey with my stories and photos adding a different voice/perspective to the (very) crowded travel blog space.  Hopefully, along the way, my stories will entertain you, inspire you or make you laugh at the crazy stuff that happens to me (there’s always something crazy).  Follow the fun on Pinterest and Instagram

PhilaTravelGirl Blog –  Welcome

If you are new to the site, Welcome!

How Did I Become A Solo Traveler?  I was abandoned in Paris at Valentine’s Day and it was the best thing ever to change my life! (at the time, it sucked but looking back I can see how amazing the experience really was).

Now if you want to catch up (there are over 500+ posts you missed!) – here are the year end summaries of highs, lows and fantastic adventures.

• My First Year of Blogging was a year of chocolate, cities and challenges
• My Second Year of Blogging was about reflection, repeats and a really hungry niece
• My Third Year of Blogging was about losing control and discovering more
• My Fourth Year of Blogging was about rebuilding myself and a London hat trick

How Can I Afford to Travel?

Read my Travel Savings Strategy (Simple, Silly and Strategic Ways) and you’d be surprised at a few of my methods.  I started this blog after years of reading how to earn and burn points but not finding much on what to do once I get to the destination – where to stay if not using points, what to experience, where to explore, what guide(s) to use.  I’m spending my own money and points on these trips (except when noted as a business expense or press trip) and will try my best to include the costs, at the time, where applicable.

PhilaTravelGirl Media Features/Interviews

Read or Listen to my Interviews and Features on these media sites

Q&A on Johnny Jet for My Travel Style

The 5 minute (ok, I went a bit over) interview on McCool Travel

Million Mile Secrets – Big Travel Small Money Series feature

Break Thru Radio Podcast – Cheap Traveling Points

You can contact me at suzanne@philatravelgirl.com with any media requests, sponsorship opportunities or travel planning queries.

My PhilaTravelGirl Travel Background

Growing up in Philadelphia, I never dreamed that I would have such incredible opportunities to visit the world, much of which has been made possible with airline miles/points.  Living my best life is about being open to a myriad of varied experiences.  Travel allows me to engage all of my senses on the journey to discover who I am meant to be – to be brave, to be curious, to have fun.   Having the choice to engage or observe the world around me is rife with so much potential – each a path less traveled.  With so many different countries and cultures to explore, people to meet and much to learn about life around the world, I’ve found that my need to travel is an addiction that I am more than happy to feed.

Speaking of food – I have an unhealthy addiction to bread and dessert which I try to offset with gym workouts and logging in my food journal but the cookies often always win out.  My food journal and I are divorced when I travel so that I can enjoy every tempting morsel of chocolate, bread and wine without worry (sadly now the doctor wants me to be gluten and dairy free which has been hard to adjust to when I travel). When I find a great restaurant along the way, I will tell you in my Solo Dining Series

With each passport stamp and experience, I am changed.  At my core, I am a Philly girl – the history, the arts & culture, the restaurants, the neighborhoods and, of course, the sports teams.  I love showing my hometown off to visitors and seeing how surprised they are that the city is so fabulous – who needs New York? (ok, we all still need NYC)  In my heart, I am a traveler longing to explore and capture the world in an effort to refresh my mind, body and spirit.  At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where I am – as long as I am pushing myself past fears, being open to the world and learning, it keeps things exciting for me and usually provides lots of material for interesting stories (and laughs). Life has thrown a few curve balls that put me in this rah-rah introspective mood – I used to be the “most fun negative person” and that worked for a while but really, don’t we all want to be more than that one tag line in our lives?

 

Thanks for visiting the blog and reading about me. Hopefully you will follow along, comment, join a twitter chat and find something to change your perspective, challenge you to experience something new or just have a laugh.

Cheers,

Sue