Sam Anthony

A grandchild of immigrants from Europe and the Caribbean,Sam has always felt pulled to travel and explore other cultures. She flew on a plane for the first time at the tender age of seven (destination: France, inspiring a lifelong castle obsession) and wrote her first travel essay at age 12 (while visiting family in Budapest). In college, she trained as an anthropologist and archaeologist, leading her to work on digs in Spain, analyze artifacts in NYC, and edit college textbooks.

But it was Sam’s move to Madrid, Spain that really ignited her travel career. There, she discovered different ways of living – including nomadism. She then became a fully nomadic house sitter, taking care of people’s pets and homes in exchange for accommodation. She house sat for years, in places like the US Virgin Islands, Scotland, England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and across the U.S. While on the road, she founded two blogs, two podcasts, and published two independent guidebooks. Always a lover of finding a good deal, she also discovered the points and miles game around this time (a decade ago), and the rest is history!

When she’s not traveling, she’s either riding her bike or fixing up her early 20th-century house in Buffalo, NY.

Education

B.A., Anthropology (Concentration: Archaeology; Minor: Spanish), New York University

Expertise

Credit card compliance, eagle-eye editing, helping points-and-miles newbies understand how points strategy can serve their travel goals – whether that’s visiting family or taking a life-changing trip

What is your favorite country or travel experience?

It’s hard to top living in Madrid, Spain for three years! Spain remains a place that’s deeply embedded in my soul, and I return every chance I get. A top travel and life experience from that time remains walking 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage route that snakes across northern Spain. It changed my life trajectory completely!

Do you have a favorite travel hack that you’ve done?

A recent one comes from my last trip to Spain, actually! The morning of my trip (before I even got to the airport) my first flight was delayed so much that I would’ve missed my connecting flight to Barcelona. I could’ve rescheduled for the next day, but I didn’t want to miss a single day on Spanish soil. I quickly found and booked a flight on another airline that was fewer points than my original itinerary! I got all my points back for my original flight too. Booking on points and miles usually* means your trip is more flexible and refundable when compared to booking cash fares. Getting free flights and hotels with points and miles is fun and shiny, but some of the real value lies in the flexibility.

*As a good compliance editor, I must say that all of this depends on the policies of the individual airline, the fare class you booked, and reasons behind the delay.