Ok so consider this...

You are into miles and points now, but you started somewhere, right? Like, what were you like as a kid, what did your friends or your family say about your ways? Does you current girlfriend or boyfriend or husband or wife know that you think a certain way and understands part of where you might get it from?

What was the thing or things you can mainly remember going back many moons in your existence that, when you do your mile dealings today, makes sense as the point where it all began?

For me, I can recall a few instances in my childhood...

One was when I got into magic tricks at around 8 years old or so. I had seen something on TV or in a magazine and I actually MADE a 3 1/2 of clubs on a playing card.

Then I taught myself how to do this card trick and would 'force' people to pick the 7 of clubs. With them not knowing anything, I would say, "OK, I will produce half your card" and then they'd think they got me!

Then I would whip out the real-looking fun card and everyone would have a laugh.

Another was when I was in 7th grade and we were learning all about Greece. I really wanted to go there and I asked my parents a lot but we couldn't afford it. (and miles were not yet in existence in those days lol)

So I went to the town copy center and, after cutting out the little letters on a bunch of Chinese restaurant fortune cookies, I created a line of text in the same block font they used to use that read, "You will go to Athens" with a bunch of Chinese characters under it. I had this photocopied in Red, which, in 1978 was a pretty cool thing (and it cost me $1.50) so it would match the ones found in the cookies.

We used to go to this same Chinese place all the time and I asked the waiter we often had to please try to stuff this new fake message into a cookie and make sure my mom got that one. She did, and she saw the message.

Wouldn't you know it, I would one day go to Greece!
A lot later in life, but the fact is, I did eventually make it there with my now wife.

the point of this is, these were the kinds of things that were in me, that shaped me, that made me that kind of person who thinks a certain way and wants to do what we do here now with miles and points and deals and such.

I am now curious what you all had once done... I am sure this thread will generate some fun stories. And aside from actually earning miles or talking travel, fun is what this stuff is all about, right?

So let's hear it!

MM