I am thankful to have my wonderful family of travelers with me to celebrate Thanksgiving at our home. My husband and I will be married 29 years next month. I am so thankful to have married a sweet kind man with a passion for travel.

My two wonderful sons are now in their 20s. I am thankful that this year they both found good jobs in their chosen fields of computer networking and accounting. We have a ski trip together booked for January to Utah and we are talking about all going to Maui in the fall. I am so thankful of all of the trips we have taken together and that we all want to continue traveling with each other.

I am thankful my mother made yearly vacations a priority when I was a child. It did not matter if we got away for only a few days as long as we were together as a family. She gave me the zest for travel, never imaging that I would be traveling every month. My first airline flight was with my parents when I was 10 years old. I was all dressed up in a new pretty dress, a cute hat and white gloves. Yes, I traveled back in the day when everyone dressed up to fly.

My parents 79 and 81 years old will be vacationing in Florida with my husband and me in a couple of weeks. My mother is beginning to move slower and my father has Alzheimer’s which does present some issues when going through security. I am so thankful that my husband is willing to travel with my parents and that even with their health issues we are all vacationing together again this year. Of course I manage my parent’s airline and hotel accounts. They are flying to Florida for free on Southwest from the VISA promotion and since they need to check a bag or two, they like Southwest’s free baggage fee policy.

I am thankful to have a loving and caring sister and that I have great memories of the all vacations we have taken together. My sister is doing less traveling now, so she is willing to give me the holiday gift of travel by applying for a Southwest credit card and letting me use her points for our trips.

My life is filled with wonderful friends both new and old, those that have the love of travel and others that prefer to stay at home. I am so thankful to have been away with my friends this year, traveling with them again soon and planning more trips with my friends for next year.

I am thankful for this wonderful life I have.

Wishing all of you safe travels this holiday season and a warm Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends!