STT-STX via the World: A Fairytale Non-Rev Story

The Standby Sojourners Origin Story

On a hot and humid July day in 2009, I nervously watched the screen overhead a gate in the E terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL). It was to be my first non-rev flight – although it was my second day sitting at the gate watching, waiting, and desperately hoping seats would open up. We were in luck, as this day there were seats and – even better news – one of us could sit up front. Still trying to woo me after just two months of dating, Rufio didn’t hesitate to instruct the gate agent to assign the first class seat to me. I was quickly learning the highs and lows of non-rev travel.

Soon we were on-board, I with a glass of champagne in my hand as we made our way to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. We spent a lazy holiday weekend celebrating with locals, drinking painkillers, lounging on the beach of a secluded bay, stargazing, and fully enjoying each other’s company. That trip would go on to live in infamy in our hearts and minds. We both considered it the real start of our love affair – with each other and with non-rev travel.

From 2009 to the beginning of 2022, we would go on to visit more than 60 destinations around the country and the globe via our airline flight perks. We took advantage of the perks as often as we possibly could, traveling from Iceland to South Africa, Latin America to Asia, and as many places as we could fit in between. We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and random days all over the world – sometimes traveling with old friends, often making new ones along the way. We enjoyed hiking, diving, abseiling, camping, skiing, and even golf in far-flung locations all over the globe. We feasted on everything from “weird” street foods to fine dining in some of the world’s best restaurants, we tasted the world’s best wines. We celebrated Spain’s La Tomatina and San Fermín festivals, Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day, Munich’s Oktoberfest, and New Years Eve in Singapore, Costa Rica, Las Vegas, Argentina, and finally USVI. Our lives sometimes felt like a fairytale, one I hoped would never end.

Check out this slideshow of us in (nearly) every destination we’ve visited on standby!

The Final Standby Sojourn

As it were, in late 2021 an offer too good to refuse came Rufio’s way. It would mean leaving the airline he was devoted to for 14 years, the city we’ve grown to love and build a home in, and our precious flight perks. Realizing we had little time left to take advantage of our remaining free flights, we made plans to go diving in Bonaire over the New Year holiday.

However, the pandemic was still raging going into its third year, and the threat of a spiking Omicron surge made us concerned about abrupt border closures coming back from an international destination. We floated a few mainland ideas until a lightbulb went off in Rufio’s brain. Looking up from his phone he said to me, “Hey, we just started direct flights to St. Croix…”

He didn’t need to say anything else, it was the perfect plan. We would bookend our twelve year non-rev travel adventure in the U.S. Virgin Islands; the standby sojourner story would begin and end on the same little specks of land drifting warmly in the Caribbean Sea.

On the flight over I thought back to that July day so many years ago, and how much had changed in our lives. Back then we were capricious young adults in our mid-twenties, with entry level jobs, living in small apartments shared with roommates. We lived for kickball on Thursday, the pool on Saturday, and bottomless mimosa brunches on Sunday. Our futures were uncertain, but bright.

Now we were in our mid-thirties, married homeowners, with two pets* and advancements in our academic and professional careers. In the intervening years we had both suffered the monumental loss of a parent, as well as others we loved. We had celebrated as our friends married and had babies, but were saddened when they slowly all moved out of the city. We became involved in our community, and made new intown friends. We grew and changed, as the world changed around us. We had learned so much from our non-rev travels – about history, politics, religion, and most of all how much more we have in common with our fellow man despite the differences in our cultures. Our futures still felt uncertain, but ever more bright.

We landed in St. Croix without much of a plan, just as it had been more than a decade earlier in St. John. We had each other, and that’s really all we’ve ever needed.

We went diving on New Year’s Eve, had a lovely dinner in Christiansted, and rang in the New Year with a bottle of champagne alone on the Carambola beach, watching a meteor shower. On New Year’s Day we hiked to tide pools, and visited the easternmost point in the United States. Though lowkey, it was just as memorable as any of the more exotic and adventurous trips we’ve taken over the last twelve years together. It was the perfect end to our non-rev travel story.

The Future of Standby Sojourners

Losing the flight perks is a bummer, but the opportunities the new job opens up is exciting. We have the travel bug, and anyone afflicted knows there is no cure. We have already started plotting out how we will continue to travel internationally every year using points and miles.

I considered whether to change the name of the blog, or even shut it down, but I decided to leave it just as it is. I have many travel stories and tips from our past travels that haven’t been shared yet, not to mention those to come. Though we won’t be on standby anymore, the name reflects the part of our lives that inspired so much of who we are today. I’m keeping it in homage to this chapter of our lives, while I’m looking ever forward to the next chapter.

2023: A New Chapter

As part of that next chapter, I’ve decided to use my extensive non-rev travel experiences to help new sojourners achieve their travel goals. I’ve joined a travel host agency, and have trained to be a travel advisor. If you are ready to travel the world – but need some help getting started – I have experience planning trips to over 50 international destinations – and have access to great discounts to boot! My travel advising and booking services are just what you need to make your dreams a reality. Click the link to get started today!

*Fun fact: Our pets are named Maho and Sabi, after special places from our travels. Maho, our 10 year old German Shepherd, is named for Maho Bay, St. John – after that fateful first non-rev trip. Sabi, the COVID kitten, is named for the Sabi-Sand river region in South Africa, where we went on safari for our honeymoon. Coincidentally, both are named after bodies of water.