We have landed in NYC to begin the trip and I officially turned on the out of office while turning off all notifications. And not just work…I mean every notification. I am elated and nervous, giddy and tired, and pinching myself that this day is here. ‘What a dream trip we get to embark on’ and ‘how lucky are we’ are two common phrases that are pretty much stuck on loop at the moment. Not only do I get to step away from work for 8 weeks to travel but I get to do it with my amazing husband.

Speaking of him, have you seen those internet memes of travel prince/princess? That is literally me at the moment. While I have been wrapping up work he has been tirelessly figuring out every single detail, meticulously documenting everything, and making this whole thing a breeze. I have a lot of ‘thank you’s’ to be owed to him for doing all of this so I could focus on work and wrap everything up to feel like I truly can disconnect.

I have to also admit that I am typing this after we enjoyed espresso martinis in the AmEx Centurion Lounge Speakeasy, 1850, and are now having early dinner in the Emirates lounge. When the sabbatical policy was announced at Aledade a couple of years ago I stopped using any of our AmEx points and told myself we would save them all for a dream trip. So that is exactly what we did – every single flight we booked was done using points and got us into business on Emirates and Singapore. The hotels in between the already planned parts were also points. Y’all…points converted to these types of uses are insane! And if you do not know where to start I would suggest using Points.Me. I also have another admission…upon checkin for our Dubai flight Jeff asked if they still had First Class seats available and if so, could we upgrade using points. Well, let’s just say we are checking off ‘First Class Flying’ and doing it on Emirates A380 to Dubai! All I know is that they allow us to use the shower while 30,000 feet in the air, have a beautiful bar to enjoy, and first class gets poured Dom Pérignon exclusively (fun fact: Emirates is the largest purchaser/pourer of Dom). We both have said we will not look into anything else First Class gets so we can be surprised.

So cheers friends & family. We’re kicking sabbatical off in style!

Much love – Andrew