There's more to travel than flying "The Big 3"

I've got A LOT more flying ahead of me
to make a dent in this list...

While I'm a believer in the old adage, "life is a journey, not a destination", that doesn't apply to airline travel. For me, flights are time in a big aluminum tube that I endure so that I can enjoy more significant adventures once I'm on solid ground.

What follows is a list of travel carriers I have used to save time and money while expanding the new destinations I'm able to visit. Hopefully it inspires readers to think "outside the box" when it comes to planning an adventure.

This year's Thanksgiving menu: Turkey Tagine and Tapas

So Oprah recommends magical-mystery-tours.com, where you provide a budget, answer some questions about travel preferences, and they surprise you with a vacation, details unknown until you arrive at the airport. Cool concept...but I take this as a challenge! (Yes, I have control issues; sue me.)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you eight days in Southwestern Europe and North Africa: Barcelona, Spain tp Marseille, France to Marrakesh, Morocco...with a night in Madrid on the way back stateside thrown in for good measure. On top of that, there's a half day to tool around in New York City before catching the overnight to Spain.

Using frequent flier miles earned through "churning" credit card signup offers, round-trip airfare across the Atlantic is only $61 per person. Low-cost carrier flights between the four cities is another $450 per person, and eight nights in some pretty nice, centrally located 3 and 4 star hotels can be had for about $500 per person (double-occupancy) during the off-season. Throw in cab/metro fare, meals and incidentals, and it still comes in under $190 per day!

Top that, Oprah.