No one probably had a clue I was travelling as I had scheduled a blog post to appear daily continuing my series on Central America.  For my personal home security, I never announce my dates of travel.  We had an amazing trip to South India & Sri Lanka and saw some amazingly beautiful birds!  I will start blogging about this trip as soon as I finish the Central America one which still has posts on Panama that will appear over the next week.

This was a trip originally planned for 2015 but shortened and brought forward to take advantage of some US Airways promos and lessen the chance that by 2015 the award on the merged AA/US program would become more expensive.  We used TG & SQ all in business class for 180,000 miles for two tickets booked from my account.  Since I have the USDM credit card, I will get a rebate of 30,000 miles.

I have to get photos uploaded, everyday life back to normal and go through all the spam to make sure there aren’t any legit comments stuck in there.  I apologize in advance if your comment has been delayed.  We were in very remote areas with no internet access, no wifi option in internet cafes while transiting a town and I didn’t want to be dealing with sensitive log-ins while using someone else’s computers.

I have to fess up to auto-blogging for the last month.  I pre-wrote some blogs and had them auto-post once per day as I was away in remote areas with either no internet or very slow internet.  Although the posts were on topic for this blog, there were a few filler posts in there as well so I hope you weren’t too bored by them.

A lot happened while I was away.  The AA/US merger is being challenged and on hold.  I am not thrilled as I was looking forward to my US miles becoming AA miles as I need one way awards for most of my trips.

There may have been some technical issues with comments and the blog appearing in Feedly.  While I was away, WordPress had several updates which I didn’t do as I was afraid that something may go wrong while I was unable to fix it.  I do apologize to those whose comments got held up in the spam blocker which also had updates I didn’t do until I got home.

I saw some amazing birds in Central America and one amazing bird in the USA – the  famous Bluebird who feeds on ice cream and beans!  I did an app-o-rama, probably my last as I have run out of credit cards that work for my travel patterns and got to indulge in some manufactured spending to meet the minimum spends, something which can only be done at certain pharmacies in the USA so out of reach for most expats.

I do intend to make up for the auto-blogging with some amazing trip reports and advice on how you can visit some of Central America’s best birding locations using miles and points and staying in some fantastic eco-lodges!  I need the weekend to rest up, get de-jetlagged and go through 1000s of photos but stay tuned as trip reports and photos start on Monday!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone in the USA!  I realize most of you are probably enjoying the weekend and not online reading blogs.  The whole blogosphere seems very quiet today.   I did a random search for “mood reading”  that goes along with the part of the world I am currently blogging about.  This book looked really interesting!

Disclosure:  This is my affiliate link for Amazon.com and I will get a small commission for anything you choose to buy, whether it’s this book or something else.

In April 2008, Ed Stafford set off to become the first man ever to walk the entire length of the Amazon. He started on the Pacific coast of Peru, crossed the Andes Mountain range to find the official source of the river. His journey lead on through parts of Colombia and right across Brazil; all while outwitting dangerous animals, machete wielding indigenous people as well as negotiating injuries, weather and his own fears and doubts. Yet, Stafford was undeterred. On his grueling 860-day, 4,000-plus mile journey, Stafford witnessed the devastation of deforestation firsthand, the pressure on tribes due to loss of habitats as well as nature in its true-raw form. Jaw-dropping from start to finish, Walking the Amazon is the unforgettable and gripping story of an unprecedented adventure.

Enjoy your 3 day weekend and check back tomorrow to learn how to travel down the Tapajos River!

A big thank you to Daraius for interviewing me and giving me a chance to show more people what this blog is all about!

You probably already figured out that I am crazy about birds and travel twice a year all over the world to see them in their natural habitats.  I wouldn’t be able to do this without the carefully planned use of miles and points.  Since I like to stay in eco-lodges located in areas rich in wildlife, I use hotel points mostly for stays at international gateway cities.  Miles are much more important to me and I have a list of programs which I recommend to beginners who come to this site on searches of bird species.  When I review an airline or hotel program, I highlight the best uses for eco-tourists so this is not the blog you want to read if the Hyatt Regency Paris or Tokyo is your dream.  However, if you want to stay at the world’s cheapest overwater bungalow – read on!

Even if you are not keen about traipsing off into the bush, you may find yourself in a city that has a good walk-in aviary.  I have a new series on Eco-Lite Mini-Trips which highlight these.  They’re great places to take your families on a weekend or get away from the hustle and bustle of a city and spend a few hours communing with nature.  I try to choose places that are contributing to conservation so you know your entrance fee is going to a good cause!

Credit cards are one way of getting miles and points.  I do not have any affiliate relationships with any credit card providers and my content is original and not influenced by any credit card provider.  I have only provided a very basic list of what cards go with what airlines (airline’s websites) with international versions of each and where to find more information on FlyerTalk.  If you are interested in the latest credit card deals, there are other blogs such as Million Mile Secrets that cover this subject in more depth.

Eco-tourism can take you to many exotic lands and you don’t have to spend ALL your time out in the rainforests.  So far I have covered places in Peru, Tasmania, The Cook Islands, Kerala, West Papua and am now in the process of blogging about the Amazon region of Brazil.

Miles to the Wild is not meant to be a one-stop miles and points blog but one that gives an extra dimension to how you can use your miles and points to get back to nature, see some stunning wild birds and animals and contribute to conservation!

I have an RSS feed and you can also subscribe to my posts in the form to the right.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments either here or on a specific post that you would like more information about.

I’ve been meaning to do a custom Word Press theme but just haven’t had time (or money to pay someone to do it).  I still need to figure out the WP theme side but I have the new banner on the MTTW Facebook page.  Now would be a good time to “like” us if you haven’t already.

I’ve been busy swapping an old laptop for a new one and transferring everything over which is taking forever so I will start the Raja Ampat series tomorrow.

MTTW T-shirts will be available soon!

MTTW T-Shirt coming soon!