What is Lifestyle Architecture?

I had booked a routine flight from my Miami, FL to Tampa, FL however this trip became on of my most memorable travel adventures. That’s one of the things that I enjoy about travel is the adventure and unknown that may emerge from what could be a simple flight. My day started out as a normal short work trip travel day would. Wake up and check emails, pack my bag for a 4 day trip, jump on the train and head to the airport. Upon arriving security was unusually busy for a Thursday morning but I didn’t mind I had my system down. Shoes off, belt and pocket contents already in the front pocket of my bag, laptop ready to come out its sleeve. I’m a travel pro I can navigate through security with ease.

Now with this being a short local flight and not international flight in addition to my personal philosophy to NOT give an airline any of my extra time if I don’t have to I was pushing the time to make the flight a bit short. Basically I like to arrive at the departure gate from a window of right as the flight begins to board to a few minutes prior to the boarding door closing. To be honest I like to arrive for flights like these as close to the boarding door closure time as possible. For a 38 minute flight I don’t wish to wait on the plane in my seat for another 38 minutes as the flight boards it’s passengers. So as customary as it is for me I arrived at the gate with about 10 minutes to spare to discover my flight departed early.

Yes that’s correct the plane left before its departure time, I was shocked to learn this as well. Due to storms and weather that was approaching the area the airline opted to close the boarding door early so the flight wouldn’t be grounded. I wasn’t too concerned since I know there are several flights each day and I’m positive I’ll simply be re-booked on the next flight. I speak with an agent and have my boarding pass for the next flight departing at 12:30pm. In my mind I just wasn’t supposed to be on that flight so I’ll head to the lounge and get some work done until I depart in a 3 hours. My days not wasted I have my laptop and can work from anywhere Live Retired Now right!

I check the flight info to see if the gate has been assigned about an hour before the flight to discover it’s been delayed, I check a few minutes after that to find out it’s been canceled. This was unsettling because had I known it would be canceled I would of gone home or headed to my Miami office until the next flight. I contact the airline to find what the next flight I’ll be placed on is an (cue the dramatic music) the next flight is sold out and now overbooked with passengers from the 12:30 canceled flight and the next two flights aren’t looking too good. I speak with an agent at the airport after doing some quick research on what flights are leaving today and we discover there is a flight that connects in Los Angeles (LAX). So I can fly from Miami to LAX 5.5 hour flight and have a 2 hour layover and then fly LAX to TPA (Tampa) another 5.5 hour flight I’ll arrive at 6:00 am which works for me because I have meetings at 10am. Now Tampa is only 277 miles from Miami. I could drive, fly another airline, take a train or bus and get there late on this same evening. However I tell the agent; “Book me on that please”, she looks at me confused.

“Sir you’ll have to travel all night and you won’t reach your destination until tomorrow”. I exclaim “Yes, I know!” She says “Ok I’ll re-book your ticket”. Now I’m sure at this moment you are just as confused as she is wondering why would I want to fly across the country and back nearly 5000 miles to go 277 miles from where I started to where my destination was?

Why was I so excited to embark on this outrageous journey?

With this flight I’m going to earn 4500 miles for a flight that cost me $43.00.
With the platinum double miles bonus I’ll earn 9000 airline miles in total which is $209 miles per dollar spent!
I get the experience of seeing both the atlantic ocean and pacific ocean on the same day.
I earn an additional 4500 lifetime flight miles as well as 4500 elite qualification miles.
An opportunity to work uninterrupted by email, calls, text while flying.
Meet new people and make more connections with passengers in the lounge or on the flight.
Last of all I’ll have a great story and find memories about my trip.

Sometimes the path you take in life isn’t direct to get the destination you desire. It can be a benefit to sit back at times and allow life to take you down an unfamiliar or unknown path to get where you want to be. Stay focused on the objective and enjoy the ride as you follow your pursuits. Find a way to turn the unexpected into something memorable and enjoyable, while also making sure you find the benefits from things that don’t go as planned. Slow things down and soak up the experiences around you, that’s how you can Live Retired Now.

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