If you travel a lot, or wish you traveled a lot, or even just wished you traveled at all, you need a travel credit card.

I own two travel credit cards: Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard (note: this card is no longer offered... womp, womp), Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard, and my newest, Chase Sapphire Preferred. They are the reason for the season, as in they are the reason I was able to go to London for 10 days last June and the reason I will be returning to that beautiful English perfection of a city this upcoming April. I qui’e li’erally (said in Cockney accent) could not afford these trips without ‘em, so consider this my ode to the travel credit card and the reasons you should consider owning one.

Disclaimer: I’m not going to explain how you should be using your credit card (there’s a post for that), but please, for the sake of all that is financially good, use your credit card wisely. Do not go into debt over a trip. That is just straight-up goobish.

No International Fees.

If you travel internationally, you should own a card that doesn’t charge you money every time you swipe it abroad. Those 3% fees add up ‘n up ‘n up (sung to the tune of Coldplay’s “Up&Up”), so this is where a travel credit card’s no international fees benefit can save you moolah that you probably don’t have much of to begin with (unless you don’t live in an follow-your-art-fueled city, in which case you probably have a decent corporate job that pays you a decent salary, to which I say haha wut you only have one job???). Be smart. Don’t spend extra money on a dumb fee for no reason. Save that money for another Stella Artois cidre at a cozy London pub.

Travel Perks.

My American Airlines Citicard offers me a few li’l things like a free checked bag (yes, please) and group 1 boarding (also, yes please). These are the simple things that make traveling for me a little less hectic (aka not having to ask the unsuspecting stranger in the seat below the overhead bin to please assist me with hurdling my carry-on up there).

There are also other perks like complimentary travel insurance to cover costs should you be unable to go on your trip after all due to illness or other tragedy. Most travel cards should offer this. Read up before you sign up.

Miles/Points Redeemable for Free Things.

FREE THINGS, you guys. FREE THINGS. The real reason to own a travel credit card. Am I the only one whose emotions can best be summed up as exclamation points (!!!) when I encounter the opportunity to travel (!!!!) for like, no money (!!!!!!)?

How I’ve used my miles—

A $200+ car rental for a trip to Arizona last December
A roundtrip flight from Nashville to London last summer (only paid a $120 booking fee)
A roundtrip flight from Nashville to New York this April (I only pay a small booking fee)
An 8-night Airbnb in London this April

I qui’e li’erally don’t have the money for any of those things, but thankfully my handy dandy travel credit cards offer me miles for every purchase I make on them; I then use those miles to pay for things I otherwise wouldn’t have the money for.

How it works—

You buy something on your credit card (that you can afford to pay off when the bill comes because you are a financially wise individual who knows that going into debt is STUPID AND NOT WORTH IT).
You earn 1 or 2 miles for each purchase. This varies based on your card. For example, my Barclaycard gives me 1 point for every regular purchase and 2 points for every dining and travel purchase.
These miles add up over time.
You then redeem these miles fo’ free things.

Redeeming Miles

What miles can be redeemed for varies for each card. My Barclaycard’s miles can be redeemed for any travel-related purchase, so flights, hotels, and car rentals are all fair game. My American Airlines Citicard can only be redeemed for—you guessed it!—award flights on American Airlines.

Sign-up Bonuses

Some credit cards offer sign-up bonuses. My Barclaycard’s offer: spend $1,000 in the first free months and receive 20,000 bonus miles, which equals a $200 travel voucher. My American Airlines Citicard offer was similar, awarding me 30,000 miles for that initial $1,000 spend, which coupled with my existing miles allowed for that free (save the booking fee) aforementioned flight from Nashville to London last summer. Look for a card that offers a dope bonus like this. Reaching that initial spend limit can be as easy as putting rent or other recurring bills on the card for a month (instead of balling out on Target home goods purchases you don't need).

Do you travel American Airlines frequently? The current sign-up bonus offers 50,000 miles after a $3,000 initial spend, which is way more than my offer a year ago (but also the initial spend is higher).

Annual Fees

Some credit cards have an annual fee. Some don’t. My Barclaycard has no fee and my American Airlines Citicard has a yearly $95 fee (waived the first year).

This list provides an extensive list of travel credit card options, as well as tips to choosing the best card for you.

So my fellow traveling brethren (and sisthren?), it's time to find your travel credit card soulmate so you can avoid that international fee, bask in travel perks, and—most importantly!—get free stuff.

Traveling on a budget? I wrote about that once or twice. Check out How to Travel on a Post-Grad Budget, Part 1 and How to Travel on a Post-Grad Budget, Part 2.
These 4 tools are your new besties for saving you money on flights.
Earn more miles (and get closer to that free flight!) with these 7 ways to earn airline miles.

NEW TO AIRBNB?

'Eyooo, get $40 off your first Airbnb stay by using my referral code!

NOW PLAYING

"8 (circle)" // Bon Iver

In February, The 1975 released an album titled I like it when you sleep because you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it. I kid you not! Bon Iver, not to be outdone in this game of title absurdity, named songs on the newest album, 22, A Million, endearing titles like "10dEAThbREasT" with two weird square symbols after it. What is this, Justin, early 2000s AIM away messages? Regardless, I do enjoy the album, though not necessarily more than the prior two (because Bon Iver, Bon Iver is a MASTERPIECE).

The song "8 (circle)" is my favorite from the album. Somehow, Bon Iver always gets a play or two while I'm flying, and this song continues to be perfect for the flight setting. Its mellow slow build puts me in a pensive mood, but what better place for brooding than looking down upon the world from 35,000 feet up in a metal tube shooting through the sky at 500+ mph? COUNT ME IN.

Featured

Travel Journal // A Weekend in Sedona

To Sedona, you drive north from Phoenix through dusty lands of short shrubs and Saguaro forests, rugged mountains of black rock and rolling plains of nothingness as your backdrop. The road takes you through a charmingly-named “Bloody Basin” and onward through a changing landscape of distant snow-capped peaks and highway signs flashing warnings of ice and snow on roads further north. And quite suddenly, there to your left on the horizon you see it—the cliffs glinting red like hot coals against the sunset’s light, the towers growing higher and redder as you near.

This my red rock reflection + hiking recommendations for your own weekend in Sedona, AZ!

Travel Journal // Two Weeks in Canada: Alberta [Part 2]

In June, I spent two weeks in Canada’s British Columbia and Alberta regions, exploring the wild beauty of Canada’s Pacific Coast and Rockies.

These are the details of my second week + recommendations for your own trip to Alberta & the Banff area.

Travel Journal // Two Weeks in Canada: British Columbia [Part 1]

Last June, I spent two weeks exploring Canada’s British Columbia and Alberta regions. It was a trip characterized by wild beauty and a swelling appreciation for the peace offered by a hike in the mountains, an experience of rest that my soul had been thirsting for.

These are the details of my first week + recommendations for your own visit to British Columbia.

You're in Bear Country: What A Hiking Trip in the Canadian Rockies Taught Me About Fear

“You can’t do this,” Fear told me as I stopped to catch my breath midway up the ascent. Other hikers passed by clad in proper hiking gear—waterproof pants, boots with grip, collapsible hiking sticks. I was wearing yoga leggings, a barely-waterproof jacket found on sale at Burlington Coat Factory, and tennis shoes that I had owned since high school. Fear was right—I was not equipped at all for a hike in the Canadian Rockies.

This is an essay on fear, doing hard things, and hiking in the Canadian Rockies.

Travel Journal // Look, Listen, Attend: A Week in Southern California

I took a trip to California in April—an idea that was born under the blue skies of another trip west in January, as my friends and I ate pizza after our final hike together in Phoenix. “Let’s go to California,” someone suggested. Why not?

So we booked a week in Los Angeles. On our itinerary: a day hiking in Joshua Tree National Park.

If my home decor and the tattoo on my wrist and my Instagram caption enthusiasm don’t make it clear enough: I am a sucker for the desert, and cactuses in particular. I think the whole place is a magical, martian land, so different from anything I grew up in or experienced for the first 23 years of my life. I could sit on a rock on a desert mountain all day long, and I have, and I will do again exactly this in November.

This is an essay about hope and resurrection + photos & recommendations for your trip to Southern California.

Travel Journal // London

My London is circling Heathrow on our descent while playing The 1975’s “Robbers” on repeat. My London is a tree on Primrose Hill, sitting underneath it year after year, a bit like marking my growth on a door frame.

My London is a Thai restaurant with only six small tables tucked into a room in a square across from the Natural History Museum. My London is a bench on the banks of the Thames, the Shard barely visible behind a brown stone church on the opposite bank.

My London is a mocha and a notebook and all sorts of thoughts ready to wrestle with the blank page. My London is raindrops and wind gusts and grey skies spread wide.

This is an essay on what makes a city feel like home + photos from my trip to London in March 2018.

Travel Journal // Good Winter: A Weekend in Milwaukee

We were in Milwaukee to see Bon Iver’s show for the 10th anniversary of the album, For Emma, Forever Ago—an appropriate time and place for a band whose name is based on the French “bon hiver”—good winter.

But good is hardly how I would describe winter. I am the scrooge of winter. I can appreciate the season for exactly 25 days in the month of December; once we pass Christmas, I am decidedly over winter, ready to trash it with the torn wrapping paper and leftover cookie crumbs. Most nights are spent hiding under a blanket and watching reruns of New Girl and The Office and longing for the days when the sun stays up past 4:30pm. Outside my apartment windows, tree branches that once carried armfuls of green life now look more like gnarled hands reaching up from the grave. Give me literally any season over winter, please.

This is an essay that asks, “Can winter be good?” + a few recommendations for your own Milwaukee weekend (mainly: the cutest coffee shop).

Travel Journal // Phoenix

I needed this trip. I needed to board a plane and for a few days sit under blue skies rather than the lingering grey of a Tennessee winter. I’ve traveled enough (and been to counseling) to know that you can’t run away from your feelings by hopping a flight bound to another hemisphere, but I also know that, sometimes, a plane ticket can be just what your soul needs to realign your perspective from whatever worries may be disorienting it. Something about looking down at the earth below from 35,000 feet up can refresh a hurting heart.

This is an essay on redeeming a city + a list of recommendations for your own visit (hint: the most delicious tacos you will ever eat.)

Returning to the Desert: When Life Feels Dry and Despairing

On my return to the desert, I hiked dusty trails up mountains and through vast valley expanses, walking in the sunshine and in the rain and as the wind blew cold through our jackets, over rocks and through canyons and sliding down muddy inclines, under “skies that pull you into infinity, like the ocean,” as Anne Lamott describes it. I listened to coyotes sing songs of dusk and I sat on a rock as a bobcat passed casually in front of me (!!!), and I explored a cliffside cave 2,200 feet above sprawling miles of untouched wilderness covered in cactus forests and squat underbrush. And I returned to a mountain south of the city; with Bon Iver murmuring his melancholy melody in my ears, I watched the sunset—the sun sinking below a distant range, the sky set aflame—bright orange dancing with deep blues and pinks, the mountains surrounding the city cast in a rose glow.

Travel Journal // New York City

I recently spent 5 days in New York City visiting two dear friends. Here are some suggestions for what to do + where to eat (bonus: SO MUCH gluten free goodness) + a plethora of photos from around the city.

How I've Earned Nearly $2,000 in Free Travel

Here's a breakdown of how I've earned nearly $2k in free travel.

Travel Budget // Norway: A Breakdown of One Week for $1500

I recently spent a week in the fairytale that is Norway, land of fjords and mountains and all that is beautiful in the world. Here's a breakdown of my $1500 budget: from flights, to transportation, to food, to everything else.

Why You Need a Travel Credit Card