Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as inflation hell, Mag 7 AI risks, best US places to camp, huge Capital One Venture X offers, best 529 college plans, the latest scams, encouraging gun violence stats, visiting each country in the world without flying, the best photography links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. Have a great weekend!
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
This blog stays in business with clicks only from readers for credit cards and coffees. You can always get to my credit card links by clicking on “CREDIT CARDS’ at the menu on the top of the homepage or the “We make finding a new credit card simple” banner on the right sidebar. Or, preferably, you can receive new offers in your email inbox by signing up to receive alerts HERE . Or just email me.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
Hello from Bangkok, Thailand. I am posting frequent trip updates in Instagram. And YouTube when I get around to it.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Retiring is hard” – Anonymous?
MUST READ GEMS
One article this week. I started reading this and I set it aside, it was slow reading. And then I came back to it and gave it a bit more time. And then I just could not stop until the end. Amazing what some people can do deceiving others, let alone their own families. And how come I hear about this guy for the first time? And I just hope he does not profit from this giving away movie rights. And how come this has not translated into a movie yet? You’ll understand. Support The Atlantic for beautiful writing like this:
PERSONAL FINANCE
For that eventuality ahead: The Astonishing Bull Market Will End One Day. Are You Ready?
But terrible stock market declines happen with shocking regularity. Diversification , or owning a variety of assets, has helped to ease the pain in the past. When the stock market is better than expected, it’s worth remembering how bad it could suddenly become…If you’re going to take the risk of investing in stocks — particularly during a stock market rally that seems to have been swept by excessive enthusiasm — it’s critically important to be ready for setbacks, even severe ones. [Good reminders]
Always a good reference: Morningstar 529 Ratings: The Best Plans of 2025.
At least we still have Jason Zweig at the Wall Street Journal who still warns us all about the dangers of all these “private” and “alternative” funds: This Small-Town Pension Fund Has a Warning for Millions of Retirement Savers. If you think cashing out of a private fund is easy, just ask a guy who used to manage $750 billion.
The advocates of private funds say they can provide superior returns to public markets. That’s absolutely true, but there’s a big difference between “can” and “usually do.”
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the pension plan was able to redeem only a little under $64,000. That was less than 7.5% of its position in the fund at the start of the year. (Of course, the Intercontinental fund has distributed income over the years.) Last October, Intercontinental permitted Indian River Shores to withdraw $1,684, less than 0.2% of its holding. “Apparently they had a lot of people stacked up over the airport waiting to get their money,” says Auwaerter. Like other private fund managers, Intercontinental has the right to restrict redemptions as long as it’s fully disclosed to investors. [$1,684 lol]
The typical alternative fund is “a roach motel,” says Auwaerter. “You come in, and then you can only get out when they liquidate an asset. And you don’t know what that price is going to be down the road, but the range is probably so wide you could drive a Mack truck through it.” As a bond-fund manager, says Auwaerter, “When I bought illiquid stuff, I was getting a return premium for it! Here, it’s a trifecta of bad things: lower returns, higher fees and no liquidity. You’ve got to be paid for taking all those risks, and that’s absolutely not the case.”
Inflation affects us all. Some not as much. And I must admit I was in that camp and never really understood how pissed off so many people here in the US were about it. And voted likewise. I am glad this is working out so well: There’s something worse than recession and we’re all already in it.
It affects all one hundred out of one hundred people in our sample. Everybody hurts. Even the owner struggles to keep employees and maintain his or her cost of doing business. Inflation affects us all and, as such, is potentially more destabilizing than a periodic bout of job loss. It infects us. Turns us against each other. Produces the sort of firebrand politicians and harebrained political solutions that tear at the divides we already face, making them worse and more glaringly apparent. Inflation creates the conditions for outsized and unexpected reactions among the electorate. It turns dissatisfaction into dystopian rhetoric. It turns disagreement into distrust. It eats away at everyone and everything until bad things happen.
US Inflation by Category in 2025:
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
When lawyers steal money from trust funds to finance their lavish lifestyle smh. This made me ill, lock them up now! Pathological Lawyer What happens when a real estate lawyer uses her firm’s trust account to finance her family’s lavish lifestyle? Inside the multimillion-dollar embezzlement case against Singa Bui. Can you imagine wiring $2.175 million for the closing of the house you thought you bought and it went poof?
By all appearances, she and Cartel were the couple who had it all: the right house in the right neighbourhood, fancy clothes, flashy cars, children in private school and summers in Europe. But it was all just an illusion. In King’s experience, cases like this often involve a costly vice, a drug or a gambling habit that has spiralled out of control. With Bui, he sees a similar pattern: “I think what we’re looking at is an addiction to the high life.” [Yikes!]
One of these days I am going to separate AI to its own Section. Until then it will stay here. Like this article: AI Rally Market Risks.
The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks—Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla—now account for more than a third of the S&P 500’s total market value, up from less than 10% a decade ago. So if they stumble, the overall market will stumble. That’s the risk, and that’s why it’s fair that investors want to better understand these companies’ finances.
How will things turn out? The reality is that no one knows for sure. Partisans on both sides of this debate make valid points. But as always, risk management should be paramount. Nvidia and its peers have helped drive the stock market up over the past two years. But because of the resulting top-heavy nature of the market, now is a good time for investors to review their portfolios. Look to see how diversified you are beyond these big tech stocks.
Another super sad story of scammers taking advantage of gullible lonely seniors: Fake FBI agents, intricate paperwork and how his dad lost $400K to a scam. Check up on your parents folks, this is a scam pandemic.
The world’s largest floating photovoltaic plant in Germany just looks kind of wild:
ODDZ & ENDZ
This is so much fun: PlayPhrase. me: Site for cinema archaelogists. Type something and it plays it back to you from past movies. Go ahead, be imaginative “you piece of shit” or “bite me” LOL.
Why are we sending troops into US cities? A Trace Analysis of 150 U.S. Cities Shows One of the Greatest Drops in Gun Violence — Ever.
Amazingly breathtaking photography from the Vietnam war: The Marines and Tet: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War.
Another superb photography piece: 18 triumphant images from the 1839 Photography Awards.
TRAVEL
For all the camping fan blog readers: 23 Most Scenic Places to Camp in the United States.
Going to China soon? Essentials for Independent Travel in China.
I would try this flying business class so I need to earn a lot more miles and points you guys: I visited every country in the world without flying. Here are eight things I learned. Very unique and interesting experience indeed.
The video of the spiderweb is just wild: World’s biggest spiderweb home to more than 110,000 spiders discovered on the Albanian-Greek border.
Love the photos in this article: First-class beauty: Prix Versailles picks the world’s best looking train stations.
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This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. Everything below deals with the hobby of collecting frequent flyer miles and points and maximizing your travel experiences. If you are not interested, you can stop here, thank you.
MILES & POINTS
Here we go again.
Capital One Bank is back promoting its great Venture X cards with even higher signup bonuses, see Travel Rewards Credit Cards section below. This bank had been quiet lately, probably focusing on getting the Discover acquisition integrated I am guessing.
Looks like this is going to happen: Hilton Program Refresh Coming: New Diamond Reserve Tier & Additional Milestone Rewards.
Latest lame Choice Privileges promotion to earn 1,000 bonus per night through December 26, 2025.
Imagine you are staying in a property because you wanted Marriott Bonvoy points. And you are told to move out now, talk about getting Bonvoyed elevated to stratospheric levels. Just when you thought you had seen everything from Bonvoy, speechless: Marriott Ends Agreement with Sonder, Guests Getting Kicked Out. How about your now canceled future reservations? If this happened to you I am sorry. Maybe you should have never trusted this program? If it did happen to you, document everything and counter attack. This company would not want all this bad press to keep surfacing. I am just really surprised, what the hell went down with this after inking a 20 year deal? Something fishy going on…
Another reflagging in the Bangkok BKK airport? Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel Reflagged As Hilton On January 1, 2026. Not sure what is going on there but still have not stayed in a BKK airport hotel yet since I just get on the Air Link train and I am in the city center in half an hour.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
This anti consumer stuff happens only in the US, thanks to the always powerful banking and airline lobbies: Visa and Mastercard Near Deal With Merchants That Would Change Rewards Landscape. Don’t get me wrong, the always absurdly high interchange fees has allowed our hobby to thrive for decades. And you know who is paying for it. 20 year old court legal dispute and we get this absolutely pathetic outcome smh. Maybe in a few more years the judge will decide if this deal is good enough or he/she will knock down the tiny 0.1% fee decrease even more smh.
Visa and Mastercard would lower credit-card interchange fees, which are often between 2% and 2.5%, by an average of around 0.1 percentage point over several years
Don’t fall for how they are trying to sell it as a win for consumers because merchants will be allowed to refuse certain cards. It’s a total con job, banks win again. And we win by taking their miles/points, sad lol.
Everyone is getting into plastic, no end in sight: Samsung Wants to Launch a U.S. Credit Card and Challenge Apple in Consumer Finance. Watching this as I am a Samsung fan boy. And Barclays wants to expand in the US. Just not in the travel sector it appears. And who knows when a deal goes down. It could be like the Apple card that we are still waiting on who will take it over, zzzzzz.
I think we will be seeing this more and more going forward: United Offering Lower Award Rates…But Only For Some MileagePlus Members.
I have noticed this with us too: Trouble Transferring Your Chase Points? Try This. Read the post on what to do. Just know that you need to:
…make sure your cell phone is listed as your Mobile number and then ALSO set as your primary phone number.
The panic in the Chase Sapphire department continues: Chase To Launch Targeted 200,000 Point Offer On Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Sometimes lately it feels like all banks are out to get us. This is in direct consequence of so many newbies who recently discovered our hobby. Which manifests in so many mainstream articles lately. The good old days are behind us when we were all a small circle of weirdos who knew each other. And then someone found out that banks pay bloggers to sell plastic. And told The Points Guy and…you won’t believe what happened next. Anyway: Chase Adds Restrictive Language To Ink Cash & Ink Unlimited Cards.
Not many changes in the offers listed below: I added the $100k personal Capital One Venture X and the 200k/400k business Venture X, the $250 Chase Amazon Prime Visa and I deleted the now expired 90k Chase Ink Cash and Unlimited cards .
NEW OFFERS:
100k CAPITAL ONE Venture X: 100,000 points after $10k minimum spend in first six months. $395 annual fee less $300 travel credit less $100 (for 10,000 points on each anniversary). The card that still pays you $5 to carry it in your wallet. It was the #1 card offer at 75,000 so now it is offered for 100,000. Of course the minimum spend is $6,000 higher than the 75k offer, you can’t have everything in life. See detailed description below. Click on the link, it takes you straight to the application, the only bank I am allowed to link directly to my affiliate links, thanks for your support.
200k/400k CAPITAL ONE Venture X Business: Almost identical as the personal Venture X. But higher signup bonuses and higher minimum spend requirements. 200k points for $30k spend in first three months and a whopping 400k points for an equally whopping $150k spend in the first six months. Click on the link, it takes you straight to the application, the only bank I am allowed to link directly to my affiliate links, thanks for your support.
$250k Chase Amazon Prime Visa: At $250 gift card, it is the highest signup bonus. No minimum spend. No annual fee. Requires Amazon Prime membership. Earns 5% on Amazon, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. Even earns 5% on travel purchases at the Chase travel portal. 2% on gas, restaurants and local transit and commuting. 1% on everything else. Earns 10% Prime bonus on rotating Amazon products and categories. No foreign transaction fees. It appears the Chase 5/24 restriction does not apply to this card. But getting it will add to your 5/24 count, so beware. This is for people who just spend a lot on Amazon and Whole Foods, I should get it myself but these Chase 5/24 slots are oh so precious…
EXPIRING OFFERS:
We now have the refreshed AMERICAN EXPRESS Platinum & Business Platinum Cards ($895 Fee, 175k/200k Bonus, Many New Credits).
The Signup Bonus offers remain the dreaded “Up to 175,000 points” for the personal card. And a solid 200,000 points for the Business card.
125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve/200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business
Chase raised the Signup Bonus to 125,000 from 100,000 points. The minimum spend is $5k in the first three months. As with all cards, you know what to do to help the blog, thank you. You can read a lot more about the Sapphire Reserve cards HERE.
Southwest always has new offers it appears, here we go again: Chase Southwest Personal Cards: 85,000 Points Signup Bonus. For $3k minimum spend in three months.
New card: CITI AAdvantage Globe Card Launches With 90,000 Points Bonus ($350 Fee). The minimum spend to earn the 90,000 AA miles is $5,000 within the first 4 months of account opening. The card earns 6x on AAdvantage Hotel bookings, 3x on AA purchases, 2x on restaurants, 2x on rides and rails and 1x on everything else. First checked bag free and preferred boarding. AA companion certificate (after the first year) for $99 plus fees and taxes. $240 credit on Turo at $30 per quarter, $100 credit on inflight purchases, $100 credit on Splurge (up to two merchants from 1st Dibs, eligible AAdvantage Hotels, Future Personal Training, or Live Nation). 4 Admirals Club lounge passes every year. $120 Global Entry/TSAPreCheck every four years. No foreign transaction fees. If you are looking for a link please email me.
Citi now offers the 100k CITI Strata Elite card after $6,000 minimum spend. This is Citi’s premium card at a $595 annual fee. $300 annual hotel credit, $200 annual Splurge credits, $200 annual Blacklane credit, 4 annual American Airlines Admirals Club lounge passes, Priority Pass Select membership and $120 Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit. Earning structure is: 12x points per dollar spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com, 6x points per dollar spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com, 6x points per dollar spent at restaurants on Citi Nights purchases, Friday and Saturday from 6 PM – 6 AM EST, 3x points per dollar spent at Restaurants any other time, 1.5x points per dollar spent on All Other Purchases. Points can now be transferred out to American Airlines. This card is a Mastercard. There is a $145 discount off the annual fee if you are a Citigold customer or have a Private Client relationship (requires over $200k with Citi). Citi Private Clients get the first annual fee waived. Citi is not an easy bank to deal with so beware. If you are looking for a link please email me.
American Express just came in with elevated offers on all four Hilton Honors cards, they all END 1/14/2026:
– Honors: 100,000 points after $2,000 spend in six months
– Surpass: 155,000 points after $3,000 spend in six months
– Aspire: 175,000 points after $6,000 spend in six months
– Business: 175,000 points after $8,000 spend in six months
And Chase just elevated this offer:
Chase Marriott Boundless 125,000 Points + Free Night Certificate (up to 50,000 points) after $3,000 in six months
30k CHASE United Gateway
One of my favorite no annual fee keeper cards. Just $1k minimum spend in the first three months. Earns 2x on United purchases, gas stations, local transit and commuting, 1x on everything else. You get expanded award availability and 2 free checked bags after $10k spend in a calendar year. 25% off in in-flight purchases. No foreign transaction fees. Many spend based promos with this card from personal experience, there is always a spend based promo going on, they never stop, love it.
CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Business Card $1,000 Signup Bonus With $10,000 Spend
The card has its annual $95 fee WAIVED for the first year. No annoying credits to deal with, it just earns 2 points everywhere. And you can earn 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal too. And when you have a Capital One Venture X or the Venture card above, the $1,000 can be turned into 100,000 miles.
CITI Strata No Annual Fee 30,000 Thank You points
CHASE Aeroplan 100k Bonus Points. $95 annual fee. 75k points for $4k spend in 3 months. Additional 25k points for $20k total spend in 12 months.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
THIS CARD STILL PAYS FOR ITSELF:
The 100K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has a minimum spend of $6k in the first six months. If you like simplicity and looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with an easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its own travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait, there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. And hotels and car rentals booked on the travel portal earn 10 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add four authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership and, this is BIG, they can bring in unlimited guests with their FREE Priority Pass card! You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car top elite status. Up to $100 statement credit for Global Entry/TSAPre every four years. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points each. And lots more.
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
Would you like to be automatically notified every time a card comes out with (or is about to remove) an elevated welcome offer? If yes, I highly encourage you to sign up if you haven’t yet. And when you apply for a credit card from a link in these emails you help support the blog.
Elevated Card Offer Notifications
All you have to do to receive these free notifications is:
1. Click on the link above
2. Create an account
3. Subscribe
MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
Hi from my deluxe room at the Hyatt Place Soi 1 in Bangkok. Here for 10 nights at 5,000 World of Hyatt points each (transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards points).
It will be really hard to keep up the blog next week you guys. But I will try here and on Instagram.
Speaking of Instagram posts:
Pics from the Lufthansa Business Class flight from Detroit to Frankfurt. And pics from the Thai Airways Business Class flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok. For 100,000 United miles, thanks Chase Bank.
I spent most of the day yesterday in the Bumrungrad Hospital, which is right next door to where I am staying at the Hyatt Place. I picked one of the most comprehensive checkup packages and then saw specialists to really get an answer what the hell is going on with my feet. First, I am in excellent health condition overall. Second, and most importantly, I have a definite answer to what is going on with my feet and am so relieved at last. Not that identifying the issue will magically solve it.
So, in a few words, I do have early stage of peripheral neuropathy as I had suspected due to my own research. US doctors were dead set against it because it appears the same issues were not manifesting uniformly in both feet. All because the US doctor who did the EMG neurological test just did not spend enough time and was certain that it is all due to my L4/S1 nerves at my back. Yes, that back nerve issue sure contributes to my left foot suffering a lot more than the right. But, the underlying cause it is that both sides were showing those early stages of peripheral neuropathy. I could sense it as the doc spent a lot more time electrocuting both my feet, both had similar sensations.
She basically wanted to confirm this as she said that the weird patches of lost hair at my lower legs was a clear sign. She also showed me pics of my back showing more patches of lost hair, I had no idea. Of course my US docs never brought this up. I had started taking vitamins/supplements after doing my own research and clearly I am not stopping. The Thai doctor gave me a few more vitamins/supplements to add to my daily regiment.
There is usually no direct identifiable cause for this condition and it is called idiopathic peripheral neuropathy. But after eliminating most causes, it must be the nerve damage from running myself so hard. So no more marathons, I am now officially done. But she did say some short recreational running is fine, hooray. The most encouraging thing is that the peripheral neuropathy does not appear to expand/progress up up from my feet. Yeah, it has been like this for 2+ years now.
It now all makes sense. I was warned to lay off the marathons, I did not listen. Same with live concerts. And I have damaged my feet and ears. So, don’t over do it, take it easy for long term health.
Just finished this section an hour before publishing this post. No time to add more in this section, sorry to bore you to pieces with my medical issues. Hopefully you learned something. I sure did, I learned way too much more about peripheral neuropathy, especially considering I had never heard of the term. Thanks to the orthotics doc who first told me I should look into it.
If this blogger is suffering, imagine the owner of this blog here, sad lol: An Awkward Conversation About Blog Monetization: Opinions Welcome! Sometimes I feel like if it was not for the occasional support click this blog would not be around for 13 years. Even having absolutely no $ clicks since last post smh. Don’t expect me going to hide behind a paywall or adding sponsored bribe posts. And likely not moving to video showing my face. I mean, look at this face below, it is not supposed to be in front of any camera whatsoever lol.
In Bangkok at Ploen Chit BTS station heading to Hyatt Place Soi 1. I am not a city guy. But I do love Bangkok. I can’t explain myself sometimes.
I DO have a separate page listing my affiliate links HERE for: Rakuten and Top Cash Back and more. These get one click a year in total, sad lol.
I am giving myself a challenge to average 5 credit card sales and 15 Buy Me a Coffee sales per month.
September:
Credit card sales: 3 Buy me a Coffee sales: 18
October:
Credit card sales: 7 Buy me a Coffee sales: 12
November to date:
Credit card sales: 2 Buy me a Coffee sales: 6
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 100k CITI Strata Elite, 175k AMEX Platinum, 100k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 200k/400k CAPITAL ONE Venture X Business, 200k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 100k CHASE Air Canada Aeroplan, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 1,827,748 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 3,845,541 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy it please forward it to a family member or friend. Or Buy Me a Coffee, thank you!
Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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This site may receive compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. Travel Blogger Buzz and Your Best Credit Cards may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not necessarily include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.
Thanks for all the links! I’ll have a weekend to work though them.
The Marriott – Sonder collapse ought to be — but probably won’t be — a wake-up
warning about “advice” from those with no incentive to look into financial
structures. Marriott – Sonder was not Ponzi but it had a similar property. All
sorts of people were able to find below market accommodations in such
the same way early investors in a Ponzi were able to find above market returns.
I’ll check out your YouTube postings.
Woot! A *LOT* of reading ahead. Great posting this week and have fun in Thailand. I just got diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuropathy this week. It affects the left side of my face to the top of my head. Hurts, too. I am on meds and hoping it passes. The doc say it does, *sometimes*. UGH! That’s on top of the neuropathy in the feet that I have suffered with for several years now. I feel for ya, brother.
Have a great time there and enjoy! You’ve definitely earned it!
Hi Buzz-
I found One Mile at a Time’s discussion of how AI may impact his blog thought provoking. He seems to fear that once AI gloms onto a bit of advice-the best seat, hotel room, redemption access-few will pay Ben to give that advice. AI will also list the best bonus for each credit card. It’s not a big jump from there to ask when banks will just pay or produce their own tips and cut the bloggers down or out.
Hear that tick-tick-ticking. It’s the clock counting down until the first lawsuit is filed on the Marriott-Sonder debacle. Grab some popcorn and pull up a seat.
I don’t if you were trying to make me feel better about never having run a marathon but you sure did. Seriously though, I’m glad you figured out the issue and I wish you the best of luck in treating it.
That missing kayaker story is wild. As always, the human mind is a mysterious thing.
Hello from the breakfast area at the Hyatt Place Soi 1 in Bangkok.
@ DML: Yeah, enjoy the links. I think this was a post worthy of my reputation. Just don’t think I have it in me to follow it back up next Friday, we shall see. Looking for more dirt to come out on this Marriott Sonder debacle.
@ Carl: Just when I learned of “peripheral” now I have to google “trigeminal”. Dang, just did. Sounds painful but also it looks like there are more defined ways treating it. Load up on Vitamin Bs! As far as the feet go, I guess we are on the same path. Phucking US doctors, they kept insisting it is not peripheral neuropathy. Loaded up on so many expensive tests and treatments, all BS. All it took was a Thai doc to look at me and notice my hairless patches and then confirmed both feet were reacting the same (uniform) way because she spend enough time testing them. Anyway, got to really watch the eating now and of course no drinking, which was not a problem. Walking a lot here and sweating (which is automatic lol). Just feel relieved what these weird sensations were coming from.
@ Sam: I guess my 10 year plan to accept a multi million offer for my blog by TPG did not work out 🙂 Now I am faced with a slow painful death, oopsie. Yeah, there has to be more fireworks coming out on that Sonder debacle. Ready for the popcorn, hope olive oil was involved because it tastes better and it is a lot healthier.
@ Nick: Yeah, 26.2 miles and all the training for it takes a beating. If I knew I would have stopped at the half marathon level and would probably still be running and enjoying it. Painful lesson indeed. How come we never heard of that kayaker story…and if this is not movie material I don’t know what is.
Hi George. Any chance you could go a bit further on your thoughts about the hospital you visited in Bangkok? I’m giving some thought to having a thorough checkup for myself and – if I can convince her – my wife but any insight would be really welcome.
I thought the OMAAT piece was vaguely interesting but as a reader of his blog for around 15 years I see a lot of changes that don’t really reflect how I view things. It does seem like Ben has slipped into the Conde Nast lifestyle, which is great for him but not in my budget. I want points and miles usage information.
Email me.
He’s been into the Conde Nast luxury sphere for a long time and you will still get the points and miles usage info when there are new cc offers to pump.And you can take this to the bank (pun intended). I would not be shocked to find out many of these salesmen in the miles/points world just buy the expensive tickets and then pretend how they spent miles/points to lure newbies to fly for free just like them.
Great content as always George.
Sorry to hear about your legs issue, and unsurprisingly US doctors were dismissive, SMH
Kind og torn on OMAAT concerns. On one hand, I don’t really think those blogs are a net positive, they feed off newbies misleading them to inferior offers that are not clearly flagged as affiliate and also kind of ruin a lot of opportunities for the folks willing to put some work on it. on the other hand, AI slop will invade every corner of the internet, and it will get monetized in an even more obscure way than currently, so it’ll be very hard to screen all the slop from good content. Very concerning.
on Venture X, my renewal is coming (i got it via your link!) but not sure about it. I need family access to lounges and it’s losing it, so not sure what’s a decent alternative
I hear you and I agree with your OMAAT concerns. On both counts.
Yeah, VO Venture X losing lounge access was a big loss. But we all knew something had to give. Still, it is worth it for the spouse to get as my wife is finally going to go for this card now at 100k (and use my link of course lol). But when kids need lounge access…it hurts. Still, when it pays for itself why not keep it? Can’t think of an alternative for family lounge access,maybe the Morgan Stanley version of AmexPlatinum that comes with free AU cards still? Not positive about that, never looked closer at MS. Schwab on the other hand, I keep trying and getting popped up.
So sorry to hear about your peripheral neuropathy issue. At least I’m glad that you finally figured out the issue with your foot.
It’s a bit scary that you needed to go all the way to Thailand to have it correctly diagnosed…
As someone born in Europe as well, aging in the U.S. makes me a bit concerned. Between the poor city designs that require to drive around all the time, the food that’s meh, and the health care system…
Yep, sure it was an eye opener.
Sheesh that story about the kayaker. Just get a divorce dude.
Yeah really. And the maddening thing at the end…she wants him back!
Thanks for showing the inflation chart. Puts a face on cost of groceries.
Peripheral neuropathy. Ugh. Been dealing with it for about 5 yrs. It has very slowly been affecting both feet. Cause? Healthissues that may or may not get worse. Rather not discuss these issues other than neuropathy is a bitch.
Yeah…the weird sensations continue down there but it does not appear they are progressing. Really watching what I eat now and changing/continuing supplements. And continue to walk and even jog on the treadmill now. And swimming, got to get into swimming. And lower stress.
Speaking of stress, this blog stresses me out because I want my Friday post to be a banger. While everyone says blogging is dying. And it sure does not even now pay its own bills around here. Thank God for the day job that still allows me to blog, otherwise this blog would not even have seen the light of day ever.