Country Directory Complete!
Don’t Leave Cartagena for Panama
The year was 2010. The time was New Years. The weather was meh. So we decided to pack up and leave one of the most beautiful cities in the world for a place where the weather was even worse and the people were quite strange. It’s no wonder survivor was filmed there. The name of that place: Bocas del Toro, Panama. Things weren’t always so bleak on this trip. Actually, things started off quite nicely in Aruba. Here is the overview of the Trip Report titled The Graduate. And here is where we went:
The Pointless Global MBA: Take 2
- Saigon, Vietnam
- Nha Trang, Vietnam
- Hoi An, Vietnam
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
- Koh Phanghan, Thailand
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Shanghai, China
- Wuhan, China
- Xi’an, China
- Chengdu, China
- Macau
- Hong Kong
- Boracay, Philippines
- Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
- Phuket, Thailand
- Koh Samui, Thailand
- Hong Kong
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
- Vientiane, Laos
- Vang Vieng, Laos
- Bali, Indonesia
- Hangzhou, China
The Pointless Global MBA: Take One
I finished my MBA in 2010 from Thunderbird School of Global Management. Thunderbird provided the first truly global MBA allowing its students to globetrot while learning all the skills needed to secure a future posh lifestyle. As this is a points/travel blog, I’ll limit my analysis on the value of obtaining an MBA or any other higher level degree citing Lesson 2: A Dollar is Green of my book. Besides being able to read the balance of my student loan bills, my MBA took me all over the world, planting the seeds for my points addiction. I probably would’ve saved myself a few hundred thousand had I read ThePointsOfLife Infomercial and applied for credit cards instead of graduate schools. As the point of life is not only travel, I have to say that I don’t regret the collection of letters in my signature box. After all, you know what keeps me warm? That’s right, those degrees. So enough with the cynicism and onto Kanye’s Good Life. Here is the overview for the Trip Report titled MBA in Travel & Tourism: Part I. Where I went:
- Dubai, UAE
- Monterrey, Mexico
- Cancun, Mexico
- Acapulco, Mexico
- London, England
- Dublin, Ireland
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Budapest, Hungary
- Munich, Germany
- Berlin, Germany
- Rome, Italy
- Vatican City
- Fiumicino, Italy
- Brussels, Belgium
Aloft Bangkok: Accept No Substitutes
This is part of the Trip Report So Long Mongolia, Hello SE Asia (December-January 2015) which covers:
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Chiang Rai, Thailand
- Yangon, Myanmar
- Ngwe Saung, Myanmar
- Mandalay, Myanmar
- Bagan, Myanmar
- Hong Kong
- Orlando, Florida
Getting There: Take a metered taxi. The SkyTrain is inconvenient and not worth the nominal savings.
First come the pictures, then come the words: Aloft, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, is my favorite everyday hotel chain. Aloft Bangkok is one of my favorite hotels in the world, but why? First, the price: It costs around $100 per night, 3000 SPG points for weekend nights, or 4000 for the weekday. Second, the location: Sukhumvit Soi 11: Right in the middle of the action in Bangkok is Sukhumvit Soi 11. Food is all around, bars as far as the eye can see, and for those too lazy to leave the hotel, there’s even an attached overpriced nightclub. If you’re coming from the airport, take a taxi to the hotel. The savings from the SkyTrain aren’t worth the hassle of changing trains and dragging your luggage down Sukhumvit. Third, the service: There are plenty of SPG hotels in Bangkok including the stunning W Bangkok but the service of Aloft is on par with all of them. The front desk is friendly and accommodating and the bellman does his best to get you a metered taxi though that can be impossible to find. Fourth, the pool: Bangkok is nuts. Sometimes you want to relax and do nothing. The pool is facing the wrong direction so it doesn’t get plenty of sun during most of the day. Fifth, the gym (not pictured). If you are feeling in good enough spirits, the gym has plenty of equipment to keep you going. Sixth, the breakfast: Platinums get an over-the-top breakfast buffet that rivals those of 4-star hotels. Well worth waking up for or passing out from. Seventh, the welcome drink. It’s a legit delicious mojito or Long Island. Eighth, the room. Standard Aloft room with coffee maker and infinity shower. Two essentials for stays in Bangkok. Like this review, staying at the Aloft Bangkok is as straightforward as it gets. What you chose to do after leaving the hotel is a bit more complicated.
<==Back to Air China PEK-BKK in Business – Onto Guns & Butter: Bangkok Travel Guide==>
Free Advice on Amazon Kindle
Now through Sunday the book with perfect reviews, Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong is available on Kindle for the obscene price of $0.00. I only ask that you write your own candid review in return. It doesn’t have to be as great as the one below if you feel differently. Click here to buy for free.
Guns & Butter: Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide
This is a special edition of the Travel Guide as it commemorates one the most fantastic travel experiences, Rio de Janeiro Carnival. (Carnaval en Português) Though the experience was different, the formula for what to do when I arrived in this new city remained the same: Guns & Butter.
- A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy
- Anything on the line (Production Possibilities Frontier for my fellow economists) is an efficient use of your time depending on your tastes and preferences.
- Anything inside the line is inefficient as should be avoided.
- Anything outside is aspirational but may be impossible to do given the constraints of time and resources.
- The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa.
- Sugarloaf Mountain
- Tijuca Rainforest
- Christ the Redeemer
- Hand gliding
- A soccer game at Maracana Stadium
- More partying at Scala Balls
I’ve Got [E]Mail!
Finally, after almost a year of fumbling around with different host providers TPOL has an email address, alexander at thepointsoflife.com. So send all your spam, award booking, travel questions, and whatever else my way. Now to put an icon on my page…
3 Point NBA All Star Weekend NYC
Southwest Devaluation: Gotta Get Away
Imaginary trip planning is one of my favorite hobbies because I get to fantasize about where I can go. The problem with the points game is transitioning from being a curator of points, putting them on display for all to see, and heeding sound advice: Shut Up and Book! Luckily, airlines and hotels intervene by way of devaluations, incidentally freeing us of our hoarding ways. Though we gripe and groan about the injustice of making free becoming less free, we really should be thanking the power players for encouraging us to get away. Those who are paranoid of the devaluation who plan tomorrow’s vacation today realize the greatest dividends in the points biosphere (see $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World). Those who preemptively book following news of a devaluation find themselves on an unanticipated adventure (see Round the World Dividends from the Geographically Challenged). Which brings us to Southwest Airlines who announced they are going to essentially freestyle their awards chart. So what do we do? Tweet at Southwest that bags and humans should both fly free? No. We should imaginary trip plan. And if anyone’s interested here’s what I’ve come up with. The Mission: burn 87,244 SWA points. The Target: complete the following Trip Report: The Southwest Companion Pass Round 3 (see Round 1 & Round 2) by going to:
- Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- Montego Bay, Jamaica
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Belize City, Belize*