This journal will be updated throughout our trip! Check back for more! This article also include affiliate links to things we truly like.

I am off on another travel adventure! This time with my family along with me! We are headed to Arizona to, as many people have put it, see a big hole in the ground… the Grand Canyon. Why Arizona? For years, my family has gotten stuck in the rut of “do we go to the beach or the mountains?”. While it was always a good time, I was raised traveling the country visiting every national park possible and I KNEW I wanted my kids to see more.

So I asked my husband.. where do YOU want to go? And Grand Canyon it was.

We will be tagging on Sedona and Phoenix as well per MY request. I mean… Sedona.

Take a peek at our upcoming itinerary:

Day ONE: Fly into Phoenix, drive to Williams, Arizona

Day TWO: Ride the TRAIN (excited!) to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and stay two nights in the park.

Day FOUR: Off to Sedona!

Day SIX: Back to Phoenix

Day SEVEN: Homeward bound.

The Magic of Travel Points:

Now many of you have been interested in this fun fact… I managed to book almost this ENTIRE TRIP using only travel points and credits.

Flights for 4, rental car, and 4 hotels all covered… HOW?!

More recently, I reframed my mind around the use of credit cards. My entire existence I either saw them as an unfortunate necessity or a dangerous risk. However, one day I realized I was successfully navigating adult and business financial life and missing out on a HUGE opportunity. Us as business owners quite frankly have a good bit of expenses. In my particular business, technology and advertising being HUGE monthly necessities.

So WHY was I not RACKING UP massive travel points covering expenses I was ALREADY going to be paying?

I promptly signed up for a business travel credit card and now my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.

After much studying of the options, I settled on the Capital One SPARK business travel credit card because of the double miles and miles bonus at sign up. (Use my link to get 50,000 free miles when you sign up and meet the requirements!)

BIG TIP: As you collect travel points using your business cards… do NOT use those points for business related travel! Business related travel is a major tax deduction you don’t want to miss out on. Instead, save travel points for PERSONAL travel.

Additionally, after getting hooked on Travel Points… we also jumped into travel points with our personal expenses. ALL of our expenses run through a travel credit card now which is paid off at the end of of every month. While looking for the best credit card for our needs, we chose what is now my FAVORITE credit card… who has a favorite credit card?! Me…. the Capital One Venture X. When you sign up for the Venture X card with my link, you will get 75,000 free miles when you meet the requirements. This card is so cool… it’s metal… it has a CRAP TON of rewards tied into it… even cell phone insurance incase I drop my phone in the Grand Canyon! Look into it.

I know it sounds like we are sponsored by Capital One at this point… but we aren’t. Just truly happy customers.

So between these two cards, expenses earning travel points, and the 125,000 or so bonus points, we covered all our hotels and car rental. WOW! Flights were covered by a Southwest Airlines credit I received when they canceled my flight and stuck Mary Kate and myself in Boston last year.

All that has remained for personal expenses on this trip is FOOD and ACTIVITIES. A total win.