About Me
Hey! I’m Jackie and it’s my passion to help you travel more often, more luxuriously, and for less money. My travel style is “a little bit of everything” and I always share the good, the bad, and the ugly.
When I’m not traveling, I love spending time with my husband and two cats in our home in Chicago. I have watched every episode of Friends more times than I can count, but also love reality TV (Amazing Race, Survivor, and Below Deck especially).
How I Caught the Travel Bug
When I was 4 years old, I watched Rugrats in Paris and immediately became obsessed with visiting the City of Lights. I even held lemonade stands in an attempt to raise enough money to fund the trip. At 8 years old, my parents surprised me with a trip to Paris and it was just as amazing as I’d hoped it would be (albeit unexpectedly cold for July!).
Since then, I’ve been so fortunate to be able to travel to so many amazing country, including visiting all 7 continents in just 3 months. When I got a corporate job after college, I immediately started looking at the calendar and figuring out how to check off as many bucket list experiences as possible on limited PTO. But I didn’t let that stop me and combined with diving deep into the points & miles world, I have never let limited vacation days stop me!
Why I started Maximizing My PTO
This blog (and Instagram account) were not part of the original plan. After Covid travel restrictions began lifting, my husband and I found ourselves traveling more than ever and I was just sharing bits and pieces with friends and family. Over and over people encouraged me to start a blog and over and and over, I ignored them. I’d been keeping notes on my phone from every trip to be able to give to friends if they were going to the same place, and in 2022 I decided to turn those notes into this blog to help many more people.
My blogging journey has been full of many ups and downs. I’m proud that the site has never been more user friends (or beautiful) than it is now. I hope that you are able to find something helpful as you plan your next trip, whether that be from one of my itineraries or points & miles tips I shared that helped you make the trip a reality.
I am always just a DM or email away if you every have any questions. I appreciate you more than you know.
-Jackie
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