A New Home for Live and Let’s Fly

Once upon a time, a 24-year old law school student created a blog to impart his love for travel and frequent flyer miles to a like-minded audience.

This young man loved traveling in first class and staying in fancy hotels, but he also was happy to sleep in a hostel or even a bench at the airport. He loved going to Paris and London but he also loved going to hotspots like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan. Sure, he wanted to take advantage of every complimentary upgrade available, but if he had to travel in a middle seat in the last row of coach, he did not bat an eye.

A wise older man reached out to him and offered him a home in which to build his blog and grow his audience, but being stubbornly loyal and believing that he could do just as well outside, he politely declined and labored away on a smaller platform with more limited support and opportunity.

As the years flew by, there was often remorse as he looked at colleagues who began writing after him far surpass him in terms of blog growth. Opportunities were missed and that dejection caused him to write less and less. He married, bought a home, had a child, and in that time the blog gathered dust, being occasionally dusted off with a spurt of posting or a special post but becoming less a centerpiece and more an afterthought.

But he never stopped thinking about it. He never stopped loving it. When he turned 30 he had a decision to make: let the blog die or give it new life. Although he had studied political science and law and held a number of interesting jobs including work in the White House, his primary occupation was running a very successful consultation service in which he helped his clients—ranging from single pensioners to large companies — effectively use their miles and points.

But even though the business grew into a “practice” in which he could depend upon returning clients to pay his mortgage and meet his living expenses, his blog remained his love. And that love was neglected.

He never reached a point in which he was fighting pigs over slop, but as the days turned into weeks and weeks into months he realized that it was time to come home. He was the prodigal son. He had turned down reasonableness and acted in a childish and selfish way, wasting prime years of his life in a journey down a dead-end road. But could he come home? Would his proverbial father take him back after had he had rejected him years earlier?

He began the trek home and much to his delight and surprise, he found his father waiting for him. Watching for him. Rather than scorning him for being foolish, when his father saw him in the distance he came running to him and with a grand embrace heaped praises upon him and offered him a place in his home. There was reconciliation and forgiveness. There was joy.

Now the 30-year old blogger has reached his true blogging home, the home which was always waiting for him and never gave up on him. He has found rest.

For those who followed me on UPGRD for the last six years, I welcome you to my new home on BoardingArea. For those who do not know me, I look forward to getting to know you and introducing myself to you. I trust that my perspective on the world of miles and points and the broader world of travel will be a breath of fresh air and an opportunity to engage in a level of dialogue that will be deep and meaningful. I was the prodigal son and Randy Petersen, founder of BoardingArea, was the patient father who watched me from afar and waited for me to come home. As I begin a new chapter of my journey here on BoardingArea, I offer my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity and look forward to the great things in store for the days ahead.

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