If you get holidays off work, then it might be possible to book your travel over holidays to avoid taking much time off. For example, Christmas and New Years' award travel just opened up, and you can theoretically get a 5 day trip by taking just 1-2 days off work. There are still lots of fun destinations open on prime holiday dates -- you just need to be somewhat flexible on where you go.

Next, pick less expensive destinations, and destinations where you can use your miles for lodging and/or food. For example, you can get a meal in much of Southeast Asia for only a couple of dollars, transportation is really cheap, and the big hotel chains all have really nice hotels available for free using a few points. A couple of years ago, we spent 5000 Starwood points a night for a club room at the Le Meridien in Chiang Mai, which included snacks and drinks at night in the lounge (read:dinner) and a *huge* breakfast buffet in the restaurant each morning. Coupled with some good street food for lunch, we were set. We also found a number of hotels/hostels/rooms for only a few dollars a night.

Finally, if you really don't want to pay for lodging and expensive food, take a tent in your suitcase and find places to camp. Hawaii is one of the most expensive tourist destinations in the US, but camping at the end of the Kalalau trail in Kauai (or at one of the many state or county parks) costs almost nothing. And it's hard to beat camping on a desolate beach in the middle of paradise in the shadow of a giant waterfall!