Westy on a whim

Jaime and I have been talking about going to Europe together, more specifically Germany and Austria, ever since we were married. I've been slowly racking up the not-so-frequent-anymore flier miles with plans of cashing in on just that. After a bit of research today I realized that although I have almost 85,000 AA miles, we couldn't both get round-trip tickets to Europe with any kind of reasonable itinerary that agreed with my employer's "time theft" policy. Not to mention the weak dollar (and our weak budget) that would be continuously tapping us on the shoulder every time we we required any sort of lodging or transportation from city to city. I always stifled these roadblocks in my reluctant subconscious until I sat and did the math today.

I know we'll get to Germany someday. I'll show Jaime stuff I'm dying to see again, and we'll both experience things anew. But not this next year. Not without a very hefty Christmas bonus and another raise. Yeah right.

So I started thinking about other ways we could escape in '09. Where would American Airlines allow me to use my limited AAdvantage miles and what mutual destination would allow us to afford transportation and lodging? Oh, and it has to be distant and awesomely awesome.

Then it clicked, and I subsequently clicked around the interweb until a few hours hours later it was in the bag.

Nine days of September 2009 will find us on Maui, putting around in our very own (rented) VW Westfalia camper van. No hotels needed. No set plans. Just a bag of local groceries, a GPS and my camera. The flights are already booked, totally covered by points, with some to spare. Surf, dive, hike, swim, chill, nap, cook, eat, drive around, whatever. See the real Hawai'i. Get a real ocean front room.

I've been dreaming of renting one of these puppies and making a week out of it. Deutschland can wait, but I'll still be able to fulfill my Wanderlust in einem VolksWagen.