How The Points Diary Started

It all started back in March 2026. I was six months postpartum with my third baby, had just gone back to work as a nurse, and desperately needed something to look forward to.

At the time, traveling with kids still felt incredibly overwhelming to me. I was the mom worrying about the flights, the naps, the meltdowns, the packing lists… honestly, all of it.

But my husband had never been to Hawaii, my kids were obsessed with Disney, and Aulani seemed like the perfect place for our family.So we booked it. 🌺

Our First Big Family Trip

Was planning a trip to Hawaii with three little kids easy? Not even close. I actually booked with a travel agent hoping that would help alleviate some of the researching and stress, it didn’t.

I spent hours researching flights, comparing hotel prices, making packing lists, reading about traveling with babies and toddlers, and trying to figure out what our days would actually look like once we got there.

I searched for every discount I could find. I moved our travel dates around to get better pricing. I compared different flight options over and over again.

And in May, we finally went. It ended up being one of our favorite family vacations. 🤍

The kids had an amazing time. My husband and I had an amazing time, we had never traveled with the kids before where it still truly felt like a vacation for us. When it was time to go home, previously I had always been ready to get back to my bed and my space. Not this time, I was so sad to be going home. We made some of my favorite memories as a family, and I realized something really important:

Traveling with little kids could still be worth it. It didn’t have to be perfect. But I’d rather be in Hawaii dealing with a temper tantrum than my home.

There could be missed naps, chaotic airport moments, way too much luggage, and the occasional meltdown and it could still be an incredible trip.

But there was one pretty big downside.

The $7,000 Problem

We spent more than $7,000 just on our flights and hotel.

And that was after I had spent hours trying to save money.

We weren’t casually clicking “book now” without looking at the price. I had scoured the internet for discounts, changed our dates to find better rates, and tried to make the trip as affordable as possible.

Still, when we got home, I kept thinking about how expensive it had been. But knew we had to find a way to travel more. It was something I had loved doing before I’d had kids. And this first trip with all three was just the tip of the iceberg to me into falling back in love with travel.

Then I started noticing families online who seemed to travel constantly.

Hawaii. Europe. Beautiful resorts. Weekend getaways. Multiple trips every year. And I had one question:

How are they doing this?!

How were families staying at incredible hotels and flying all over the world without spending thousands and thousands of dollars every time? That question sent me down the biggest rabbit hole of my life.

Then I Discovered Points & Miles

In June 2026, I discovered the world of points and miles.

Suddenly I was learning about credit card welcome offers, transfer partners, airline miles, hotel programs, travel credits, booking strategies, and all of these things I had somehow gone my entire adult life without understanding.

And I became completely fascinated. Not because I wanted to become some kind of travel hacking expert overnight.

I just wanted to figure out how our family could travel more without every vacation costing us $7,000. The more I learned, the more I realized there were probably a lot of other parents wondering the exact same thing. Parents who see people talking about transferring points to airlines or booking hotels with rewards and immediately think:

I have no idea what any of that means.

Because that was me. Honestly, sometimes it still is.

And That’s How The Points Diary Started

The Points Diary is exactly what the name sounds like.

It’s my little diary as I figure all of this out. I’m sharing what I learn, the mistakes I make, the things that actually work for our family, and the little wins along the way.

You’ll find points and miles here, but you’ll also find family travel, traveling with little kids, realistic mom life, packing chaos, trip planning, and everything that happens in between.

I’m not pretending I have everything figured out. I’m learning too. And maybe that’s the whole point.

You don’t have to know everything about points and miles before you start. You don’t have to become an expert. You just have to start learning what might work for your family.

Because if points can help us turn some of our everyday spending into more family memories, more weekends away, and more trips that once felt completely out of reach?

I want to learn how. And I want to bring other families along with me.

So if you’re looking at all of this points-and-miles stuff thinking, “Okay…but where do I even start?”

Welcome.

We’re figuring it out together.