09/10/2026
at 52, i decided i was done taking care of everyone else first and putting myself last.
so i started using my points on me. not instead of the family trips, on top of them.
we’d take the family trip, and then i’d stay a few extra days on my own. or go out early by myself before everyone flew in.
i spent two months in japan that way. a few nights in vegas, just me. i sat down to meals and ate my own food warm, instead of cutting up someone else’s.
i earn the points on one side. then i turn them into time that’s just mine.
the rules i made for myself:
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1. around the family trip, i add a few days that are just mine. i fly out early or stay on after everyone goes home
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2. i go places i’d never take the kids or my husband. the dusit thani in kyoto. a quiet dinner at Azekura in JW Marriott Nara, where nobody needs anything from me
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3. i slow way down. i want to taste the food and remember it, not rush to the next thing
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4. one night at the sheraton in kagoshima i spent the whole evening talking to the chef about the kagoshima beef he was cooking. i used to think a night like that wasn’t for someone like me
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5. i use my points on hotels too from autograph tokyo to sheraton Kagoshima not just flights. a nice room, a real stay
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6. i stopped saving the dream bucket list for someday. i finally made it to furano. i’m done waiting
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7. i still take the family trips, and i love them just as much. me getting my own days doesn’t mean my family gets less of me
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8. taking care of myself was never taking anything away from them. took me too long to believe that
👉 when’s the last time a meal was just for you, with no one else’s plate to worry about?
🙌 follow along for how i use points to fly my family to asia in the good seats, and sneak in a little me-time while i’m at it 🤍
