How I Earned a Year's Worth of Free Southwest Flights for Me and a Friend (By Only Flying 3 Times)

I should start out by saying that I’m not a huge flyer. I don’t travel for work, I have never earned any “preferred” statuses before, and I generally try to book with affordable airlines like Southwest or Jet Blue.

As someone who tries to keep an eye out for deals, I had heard of Southwest’s Companion Pass before. It’s the ultimate deal – bring a friend with you on any Southwest flight you take, for free! It lasts for the rest of the calendar year in which you earn it, plus all of the following calendar year. You can even use it on flights that you book for yourself using points, essentially getting both you and your friend a free trip.

I should point out that “free” means that Southwest doesn’t charge you for the flight, but you still have to pay a few small security fees, so tickets come out in the $5-$10 range.

In order to qualify for the companion pass, you need to earn 110,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year, or else fly 100 one-way flights. I figured there was no chance I’d ever be flying that much. I only usually flew 2 or 3 trips in a year, and maybe one more set of flights around the holidays. I had only earned about 25,000 points over multiple years of having a Southwest Rapid Rewards account. While it sounded cool, I figured it was out of reach for a budget traveller like me.

Setting Adventure Goals: How I Worked up to a 50 Mile Backpacking Weekend (And You Can Too)

On my flight home from Christmas last year, I started thinking about what I wanted my New Year’s Resolution to be.

Most of us have some big, lofty life goals – a bucket list of sorts. But often the hustle and bustle of everyday life get in the way, and our day-to-day actions don’t align with the goals we set for ourselves. It can be hard to bridge that gap, and it takes conscious effort and a plan to keep yourself on track.

For me, I saw myself as an outdoorsman, but I knew that working behind a desk most days and only getting in a few short trips a year wasn’t getting me the experiences that I craved. So I decided to come up with a plan.

Publishing Your Awesome Adventure Footage: 10 Simple Rules for Making Share-Worthy Trip Videos

We’ve all been there. You brought a camera on your latest trip or adventure and captured tons of cool footage.

You want to put together a video that’s as awesome as your trip – something that captures the essence of the journey – to share with friends and family, and to help keep the memories from fading.

But you’re not really sure how to get started. Or you spend a few hours trying to put something together, but what you end up with feels kinda amateurish and falls flat. You never end up finishing it and all that trip footage never sees the light of day. 😞

Don’t let your adventure footage go to waste!

I’ve put together dozens of trip videos over the years and have learned a lot in the process.

I’ve found that you don’t need fancy editing software or a degree in special effects to make a great video. By following these 10 simple rules, you’ll end up with an awesome trip video that captures the memories and makes it easy to share with friends and family.

How to be a Good Trail Leader: The 6 Responsibilities of Hiking Up Front

Hitting the trail with a group of people is a fantastic way to strengthen friendships or get to know completely new people.

While you’re putting in the miles, the person at the front has a very important role in keeping the group together, safe and in high spirits.

It’s important to switch up the hiking order every few hours, to give everyone a chance to hike up front. But whenever someone new takes the lead, I always make sure they know the responsibilities of a good trail leader.

The Benefits of Hiking Poles: 10 Reasons I Don't Hit the Trail Without Them

Some people who aren’t used to hiking with poles ask why I use them. It might seem weird to have a pair of sticks in your hands all the time, but I’ve found that poles are versatile tools that help with lots of small jobs along the trail.

The Benefits of Hiking Poles

1. Help you keep your stride or pace
When you’re out hiking on relatively easy terrain, it helps to get into a rhythm. Often your strides and your breathing start to sync up and really help you maintain a good pace. Adding trekking poles to the mix adds another element to the rhythm and helps you stay focused.

2. Give you a boost on uphills
Your quads will start to burn out quickly if you’re doing lots of uphill hiking. Planting your poles and pushing up with your arms helps take some of the stress off your leg muscles and helps you stay fresher for longer.

3. Take shock off your knees on downhills
Before I got poles, long descents meant that my knees and ankles would get sore from constantly absorbing my weight pounding down on them with every step. Using poles allows me to catch some of my weight with my arms, so that it’s not all on my joints. Poles also aid with stability on steep sections or large drops.

Becoming a Cold Weather Adventurer: Notes from MIT Outing Club's Winter School

Growing up, I was always an outdoorsy person, but cold New England winters kept me cooped up inside for a big chunk of the year. Last winter, I decided to take my first winter mountaineering and ice climbing lessons to start building the skills to become a year-round adventurer.

Earlier this winter, a friend told me about MIT Outing Club’s annual Winter School in January. It was 16 hours of lectures, demonstrations and stories from trip leaders and outside speakers. The course was a great introduction for anyone looking to get outside more in the winter.

I’ve compiled some of my notes from the course here, and added my own anecdotes that I’ve picked up over the past year. While reading about this stuff is a great way to whet your appetite, some of the skills and more technical aspects should really be practiced before you go out and try using them.

I’d highly recommend Northeast Mountaineering’s Introduction to Mountaineering course if you’re in New England.