My 5 All Time Favorite Posts From My Time At Miles to Memories
The saying goes, parting is such sweet sorrow. It is true, this is the final piece I will ever write at Miles to Memories. A weird thing to type for sure. It has been a wild and crazy five and a half years and I have really enjoyed being a part of all of your lives, even if it was a very small part of them, during that time. Thank you again for reading, watching and listening along the way. If you are curious what is next for me I shared it on my personal Facebook and Twitter pages.
MY Favorite Posts
I thought it would be fun to pick out my 5 favorite posts from my time here. I am sure I have forgotten about some that could be on here, I am old and there have been many written after all lol, but these ones did seem to come to the top of mind fairly quickly. Let me know if there are some you think I missed.
Downtown Detroit’s Cocktail & Bar Scene Is Straight Fire!
Does this one have some recency bias? Sure, I guess you could say that. But, most people don’t know that this article was started in January of 2020. I had put down the ground work for it, taken most of the pictures and was ready to finish it up…and then the pandemic hit. No point in finishing it with everything shut down.
Even after things opened back up it just didn’t feel the same, and then I didn’t have the heart to do it for some reason. This article was like a canceled trip from 2020 I just couldn’t bring myself to rebooking.
I decided to finally wrap it up this week because the content was too important to me. People love to bag on the city I love and that is because they conjure up news reports that are decades old and have never actually been and enjoyed my city. So I decided to do something about it, and help change some perceptions along the way. Here it is, give it a look and I’ll see you in MoTown sometime soon!
Are Staycations Grossly Overlooked in This Hobby? I’ll Give You 5 Reasons Why They Are
I wrote this years ago and it still holds true for me today. People still thumb their nose at domestic travel in the hobby, and even more for localized travel. I think that changed a bit during 2020 and 2021 when you were stuck exploring the United States and your own backyard a bit more. Every single state in this union has something pretty amazing to share, including your own. And, as habitants of an area we tend to overlook many of those things. You know how many New Yorkers I have talked to that have never been to Roosevelt Island? Don’t be afraid to be a tourist in your own home town people!
This is confirmed to me even more after buying our cottage a few years ago. There isn’t a place in the world that we love more honestly. We are making memories that will last a lifetime there and hopefully share with our grandchildren one day. Now, I know that it isn’t really the same thing, but it kind of feels that way. It still feels like a trip every time we go. We look forward to it so much that we don’t even really travel elsewhere in the summer anymore and that is perfectly fine by me. Don’t be scared to say it is okay to return to a place you love and to put far flung travel on hold for periods of time. Who cares what other miles and points snobs think…
Why You Will Never See A Trip Report To The Maldives From Me
In the years since I wrote this the Maldives has only become more popular and more mainstream. But, this post, or the more pointed follow up post, was never about the Maldives. It was about people getting sucked into the halo effect of bloggers and social influencers writing about a property. That feeling that you needed to go someplace just to get your miles and points street cred. We still see it today with properties like Ventana Big Sur etc. If they are high on your list then I hope you enjoy, they both look like amazing places. But, go because you want to, not because others make you feel like you have to. Traveling how you want to where you want is the real point of all of this!
This is a sentiment that was not widely discussed a few years back and has just recently become more discussed in the space.
Is Cathay First Overrated? American’s Secret JFK Lounge, First Dining Review & More!
This is my, and I think many other people’s, favorite podcast episode. I share my pretty funny experience flying Cathay Pacific First Class from JFK to Vancouver. I still get more references to this podcast episode from people than pretty much anything else I have done for the site over the past five and a half years.
Arby’s $6 Hawaiian Getaway Day 2: Lie Flat Seats, Dancers, Singers, Canoes & Meats Of Course!
How could the craziest travel experience I’ve ever had not be my favorite post / series on the site? Be sure to check out my experiences on day 1 too, which was actually more fun overall. I still tell this story often to people after meeting them for the first time, it still blows my mind that it happened at all.
That’s A Wrap!
And that does it for my time at Miles to Memories. Thanks once again to everyone that has been on this journey with me over the years. I hope you all have a great New Year and safe travels wherever you may go!
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Will miss you
Local travel can be just as amazing as going thousands of miles away. We’ve spent time exploring unique places in our home state of Michigan over the years and made some wonderful memories.
Well, Michigan is the best state in the union after all 🙂
I miss you already Mark! I hope to see you at a travel conference sometime soon. All the best for you and your family in 2023!
Thank you sir – been too long for sure!
Sorry to see you going from here. But definitely glad you will still be around.
Thanks Maria!
Truly wishing you the best, Mark. You have always been a breath of fresh air in a sometimes rancid environment (meaning the blogosphere.)
Tha ks Doc. Always enjoyed reading your comments and our conversations over the years! Happy new year
Good luck to you with whatever you do, Mark! I was curious as to your future plans but when I went to FB, this is what I got: “This content isn’t available right now
When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it’s been deleted.”
Then I looked on Twitter, which is a site I try very hard not to use. Guess you were not blocked there or whatever happened on FB. I will be checking that site out!
Again, good luck!
Thanks! Appreciate it