Birthday, Bahamas, and Baseball: 2016 In Travel Begins!

After a long winter slumber, Travel Matt begins another year of travel this week! My 2016 travels begin with a whirlwind trip to South Florida to see Spring Training Baseball, and go to Nassau, The Bahamas for the day!  This trip, which was enabled by a number of opportunities/deals lining up nicely, is a three-day action-packed adventure to see the New York Mets, eat Cuban food in Little Havana, and spend the day on Cable Beach in Nassau with an awesome person and her family (who are also awesome as well).

Lots of travel in a short time! But totally worth it!

Originally, I had planned this week (potentially) going on a week-long cruise out of Baltimore this week, but unfortunately this plan did not work out. I still however wanted to do something travel-related, and after some strategic use of Google Flights  (so much better than Kayak) and a number of birthday related coupons and rental car/hotel miles, I was able to plan a trip where I am able to meet up with my lady friend and her family (who are on that cruise) in Nassau while they are in port, and see the New York Mets in Port Saint Lucie, Florida the next.  

Now you would think a trip like this would be crazy expensive, but because of a number of Hilton hotel miles, Hertz rental car miles, Stubhub Rewards points, and a coupon for the resort I'm staying at in the Bahamas overnight, I was able to keep the costs for this trip down to my airline tickets and the cost of the hotel in the Bahamas (which is all-inclusive, whatever that means).  I love a good travel deal and am excited that this deal worked out in my favor!

 My trip beings with a flight down to Miami late Wednesday afternoon, where I'll stay at the Hilton Miami Airport overnight and potentially take a trip over to Little Havana for dinner using some of the ride credits I got for signing up for Lyft last week. (Note: if you sign up for Lyft and use referral code MATT739939, you too can get free rides!)

I'll then get up very early and return to the Miami International Airport to catch a quick international flight to Nassau, The Bahamas, to stay at the Meliá Nassau Beach Resort, located on Cable Beach. My lady friend and her family were able to get Day Passes to the resort to spend the day  with me at the resort. I've been to Nassau before, but stayed last time (a very long time ago) on Paradise Island, so I'm excited to spend the day at a different part of the island pool and oceanside on what is apparently one of the best beaches in the world. Apparently the beach also is great for snorkeling as well, which is always awesome. Expect lots of photos from my day there!

After a day in another country, I'll fly back early the next day to Miami, where I have a nine hour layover before returning home to DC. During that time I'll drive up for the day to Port Saint Lucie, Florida, the winter home of the 2015 National League Champion New York Mets to see their first Spring Training home game. While the drive is a little long, I will have plenty of time to get to and fro the game using a free rental car that I was able to get using some of my Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points I've accrued being the official driver of my family on vacations. 

If you're interested in following my trip (which I admit is crazy, but awesome), check out my Instagram Account (@mattcarnavos), Twitter (@mattcarnavos) or this blog for updates and photos!