As the weather cools, travel heats up this time of year- visits to friends and family during the holidays, local trips to experience outdoor activities or destination trips to warmer locales certainly sounds appealing – especially as I write this – huddled next to a space heater. The warmth of this heater is making me reflect upon warm weather destinations that I visited earlier this year; Bermuda (an easy flight from the East Coast), Sydney, Australia during the summer, and Thailand, which is warm most of the year. All of these make great destinations, especially during the colder winter months of the Northern Hemisphere.
However, colder weather does not necessarily mean stuck indoors – with the proper gear and mindset, there are plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy this time of year close to home, especially for those living in climates that do experience a real winter.
With that said, having the right gear for outdoor and winter adventure travel is crucial. American Express offers a number of ways to redeem Membership Rewards points for these types of presents – including a wide range of exciting products on shopAmex® , Ticketmaster events, pay with points using your existing Amazon Account and, of course, travel. Moreover, some of the best dollar-to-point value ratios through rewards programs such as the store gift cards available on MembershipRewards.com.
Here are my top 5 winter wish list items for the upcoming holidays – travel related of course 🙂
1. Bose® QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones – Until technology is built into planes to eliminate the noise of forward movement, this is very good alternative. It is hard enough to sleep on a plane – we need all the help we can get!
2. I become cold rather easily. I enjoy climbing mountains. Not the most ideal combination. As a result, I’ve built a rather robust collection of winter gear over the years, including a -50 degree sleeping bag I had specially made for me – stuffed with extra high quality goose down. That might be a bit extreme for most uses, but there are plenty of winter sleeping products on shopAmex.com, including a light yet warm sleeping bag, rated +5F/-15C from Everest Mummy.
3. Gift cards are a good value and are the most versatile of presents. There are plenty of stores you can choose from, like Sports Authority for additional winter gear.
4. My last outdoor hiking boots finally succumbed to the elements leaving pieces of rubber all over my friend’s car on a recent camping trip – what looks to be a sturdy boot, built for outdoor enthusiasts is the Itasca Amazon Men’s Boots.
5. Sure, there is an overwhelming amount of travel and destination information online, but travel books still provide a valuable need: condensed information about regions based on focused research. Do a search for “Lonely Planet” on shopAmex – there are over 500 products listed!
Getting value from Membership Rewards is easy. Once you have signed up for an American Express card – use it all year – for travel expenses, airlines, hotels and restaurants. Not only that, but using the card for your daily expenses is crucial to quickly accumulating points.
Through Dec 2013: American Express Card Members can browse great gift ideas available with Membership Rewards points for the Holiday by visiting: shopAmex
Note: I was honored to have been selected by American Express as an ambassador to help educate consumers about how to use Membership Rewards points. As such, I was paid for my services, but all gift choices selected and opinions about the gifts and American Express are my own.
My holiday wish list includes a new air conditioner! I’m currently traveling in Saudi Arabia so just hearing about colder weather is refreshing.
Sounda like a great goal. I think that Thailand might also be next on my list. Beautiful oceans are also in the Caribbean. My first time snorkeling there I fell like it was a dream. Neon colored coral and fishes.
You will love Thailand! I’ve been fortunate to have visited usually several times a year for many years. Great food, people, culture and plenty of outdoor experiences to enjoy! Head to some of the lesser visited islands for some great snorkeling and diving opportunities.
I always crave heat, even when its hot! Not sure what the temps are where you are now in SA – that country has long been on my list to visit. Have always had fun trips to the Middle East.
Phuket might be a nice start, Mark. Great beaches and tons of stuff to do. You will not regret it.
Interesting article, Dave. It made me realize what I want right now. 🙂
Yes, I need to get back to Phuket. Coincidental timing on your comment! We were just looking at Air Asia for some flights down from Bangkok 🙂
I love mountains and my list has the Andes listed high. These massifs make you look like a pebble in a desert, so massive.
Rob – I keep going back to the Andes – they are certainly among the world’s greatest mountains. It is hard to top their stunning scenery in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. Course their is no topping the Himalayas for sheer height and ruggedness – but the Andes are an affordable alternative for me 🙂