Dear Friends,

This week, we are in Rome, which has a special place in my passport.  Travel has been my passion since my study abroad days, but the responsibility of building my career took precedent for almost 7 years.  I rarely took my vacation time, and trips abroad were a rare occurence.

In January of 2006, that all changed.  My husband and I decided to plan a trip to Santa Fe, where his family formerly had a home.  The logistics from New York were challenging.  Without a direct flight that worked within time and budget, we were looking at almost 9 hours of travel time and still a hefty ticket price at that.  I told my husband we could be in Italy by then, and in a flash, we thought, why not?

There was something very special about this trip, besides the simple pure fact that it’s Italy.  From start to finish, it was perfection.  At the airport, we breezed into the first class lounge with our coach tickets because of my Platinum Amex, where we were greeted with overflowing champagne and a food buffet worthy of Emirates.  As we cruised up to the gate to board, we were taken aside and informed we’d been upgraded to first class.  I’d never flown first class international; to me it was the equivalent of a lottery prize.

Up until that point, we stayed at Westin and W hotels, as up-and-coming 20-somethings.  With those Starwood points and my Amex again, we were able to treat ourselves to the St. Regis Rome for the trip.  This was also the first time that I was able to take advantage of the free breakfast that comes along with my Amex card.  At 100 Euro a day at nice hotels, it’s still a perk that gets me up a little earlier on vacation.

The St. Regis Rome was the nicest place I’d ever stayed at that point, and is still a personal favorite.  They upgraded us to a palatial suite, just because.  And all of this good fortune was before we even began walking the streets of Bella Roma, where we stumbled upon the perfect cappuccino, outfitted ourselves like stylish Italians and embarked on the Bernini tour, with gelato in hand.  Rome was my gateway drug to travel.  After this, I no longer lived to work, but instead worked to travel.

All the best to you in your travels,