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Answers (5)

I don’t know if I should envy you.

I don’t know if I should envy you.

  1. BrianM New Member

    You give the impression that you’re some unemployed rich kid who snuck on board and you’re waiting to be caught. First, it seems you would have a permanent address, so why do you say you’re homeless?

    Aren’t you in fact a well paid travel writer? You’re like a hard working software developer sitting in a windowless basement all day, but who tells others “I sit in cool, cushioned comfort all day and YOU CAN TOO!” Because for some reason I DON’T ENVY YOU. You’re in a plane 4 hours a day? Somehow I feel…bad for you. It’s unfortunate that you can’t get a real job.

    It seems the point of “credit card reward schemes and mileage running” is to fill routes that would otherwise not be worth maintaining, as if the travel industry is nothing but a jobs program, or because the stewards and pilots would be depressed if the planes were only half full? Who would imagine such luxurious traveler comforts and conveniences would go unused? So they’re given away for free to…guys like you? Again, I just don’t get the “homeless guy” routine when you’re actually a highly paid travel writer.

    Sorry, I don’t envy you. I like my feet on the ground and a regular house and the same boring bed every night.

  2. Anonymous Guest

    I certainly respect your opinion, and even agree with your conclusion in many ways. My goal isn’t to have others envy me. I do consider myself very lucky that I get to do what I’m passionate about every day and make a living doing it.

    I don’t come from a rich family, and I also don’t think it’s a fair characterization to say I “can’t get a job.” I’ve been extremely fortunate to create my own job, so I don’t have to go out and get another one.

    Should a majority of people envy my life? Probably not. I’m obsessed with planes and I love being on them. It’s my happy place. Is that for everyone? Absolutely not.

    I also do “work” a lot of hours. I put “work” in quotes because I love what I do and don’t really consider it work, but I do put a lot of hours in, more hours than most put into their “desk jobs.”

    In many ways you’re right. My life doesn’t consist of 12 hour days of sitting on the beach, or 12 hour days exploring cities. Those are little glimpses of the highlights. Instead my life consists of working for 12 hours, exploring a city for a few hours, then trying to go to bed but not being able to sleep due to jetlag, etc.

    But I also wouldn’t have it any other way. Because flying and travel is what I love. And while I realize most people love traveling, a vast majority of people don’t love flying.

    So I agree with you in that way. Don’t envy my life, but if you’re not otherwise familiar with miles & points, hopefully you can learn a thing or two so you can earn miles to take a trip at a pace which makes you happy.

  3. BrianM New Member

    But the article I read titled “Meet the ‘homeless man’…” seems misleading. I’m curious, where is your home? And [U]who is your employer[/U] and what is your job title and what is your annual salary?

    Also, doesn’t your employer pay for all your travel expenses? I would think you’d spend nothing on travel for this reason alone, which puts the whole thing in a different light compared to the rest of us who can’t afford your lifestyle no matter what the discounts might be. And how much time do you spend in the air just to use up miles or acquire more, because NO ONE else would have the time to do this, and advice regarding this seems to be wasted.

    I don’t mean to be nosey, but your life does seem interesting, if not enviable. You probably spend a lot of time sleeping on the plane, which obviously isn’t work. And other time spent flying are to use up miles or acquire more – which isn’t “work” either, any more than just sitting in the lobby of an expensive hotel enjoying the ambience (or flirting with euro-trash). I also don’t expect you get paid for time spent blogging (although this may overlap other billable hours). I’m trying to figure out how many actual hours you work a week, because it seems that the term is meaningless in your case. So, how do you decide, exactly, what are billable hours? And how do these hours compare to the non-billable hours spent flying or in transit to airports?

  4. MidSouthSkier Community Ambassador

    Brian, Lucky gets paid from advertising on this blog and through his award booking service, Points Pros (see the Award Help tab at the top of the page). So while he’s traveling he can log on from anywhere to help other travelers use their own points and miles for their travel.

    See this post: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/one-mile-time-advertising-policy/[/URL]

  5. Anonymous Guest

    Brian, I don’t come up with the titles of stories written about me (the titles on this blog I’m responsible for, however). I do live in hotels full time, so I guess you could say I’m voluntarily homeless.

    I’m self employed and this blog is my job. I earn all my miles “personally” through methods shared on the blog. Stick around for a while and hopefully you can earn lots of miles as well. 🙂

    If you’re trolling then by all means continue and I can ignore. If you’re genuinely curious, then maybe don’t come in with all kinds of accusations based on things you have no clue about?

    In the first post you call me a “well paid travel writer,” and then in the next you ask me what I do for a living…?

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