Points Addiction Reaches New Heights

I never realized just how addicted I am to airline miles and hotel points until this past weekend at the American Way Road Warrior photo shoot in Phoenix. I used to think that there were limits to my addiction. Apparently, I was wrong.

What will I do for 1 million AA miles and 2 million Hilton points? Apparently, I will hike to the top of Squaw Peak Mountain for a photo shoot that has me dressed in a green fleece vest, brown hiking shoes and brown baggy hiking pants. I will not mind that approximately 300,000 readers of American Way, 50,000 colleagues at ABC Consulting, clients, friends, family, ex-boyfriends, neighbors, acquaintances, enemies, stalkers, Columbia alum, LHS alum, LSE alum, American Semester alum, campers from Jeff Lakes/Anawana/American Trails West, Hebrew school friends, former teachers, the sisters of Sigma Delta Tau, my doormen, Road Friends and Road Boyfriends, tennis players and brothers of tennis players, Sunny at Victoria Nail, politicians, actors, athletes, Adam Duritz, the TP girl gang and MJ, among others, all will be reading this magazine and seeing me as a wilderness girl. I will hike the mountain carrying my 15lb laptop bag, sit on a rock ledge with my carry-ons and laptop, pretend to type on my laptop, gaze out into the distance, look into the camera and look above the camera, smile big, smile small, look serious, stand up straight and suck in my stomach for over an hour. I will do this with a positive attitude. I fear that they will take away my grand prize if I utter even one little complaint. I will break a sweat and start to lose my breathe about 10 minutes into the 45 minute hike, but silently repeat “1 million AA miles, 2 million Hilton points” with each step that I take toward the peak.

In the end though, the miles and points will be well worth it, but so will the entire photo shoot experience. Having your own hair and make-up artist, clothing stylist, set designer, photographer and photographer’s assistant on top of a mountain in Arizona is pretty bad-ass.

Make sure to check out the 1/15 edition of American Way to see Jammahs on top of a mountain and dressed in hiking boots and fleece—it’s quite a look. In case you can’t recognize me dressed in outdoor gear, I’ll be the girl in the glam shot on the cover of the magazine. Hopefully I won't be dead in the eyes and will look totally fierce.