One Hill of an Adventure
You've found the right place. Here's where to begin.
Most travel resources assume you're already ready to go. We don't. We start from the beginning, including the part where you figure out how to actually afford it.
If you've ever looked at someone's travel photos and thought "that must be nice" — like it's something that happens to other people with more money, more time, or some trick you haven't figured out yet — we're here to help you.
We're Hayden and Colby Hill. We're not travel influencers, and we're not experts in any official sense. We're two people who spent years figuring out every angle we could to make travel work on a real budget. 41 states, 11 countries, and a lot of miles driven in a 2-door Honda Accord later, we want to share how we did it and what actually worked for us.
Our story
We've been close friends since we were 11, and together for 10 years. Both from South Carolina, we went to the same college, and that's where our spark for travel started. From the moment we started dating, it was pretty clear: every break from school was going to become a trip somewhere. Weekend trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains turned into longer stretches up the East Coast, which turned into a summer in Seattle, which turned into 3 months on the road in 2020. No apartment, no real agenda, just an overpacked Honda Accord, 17 states, camping spots, and a lot of good miles.
In 2021 we took our first international trip to Iceland. Something about that trip shifted how we thought about what was actually possible. Canada, a few more cross-country stretches, Portugal, Spain... the list kept growing. Eventually we landed in Salt Lake City, drawn by the mountains, and it became the right home base. We've spent a lot of time exploring Utah itself and get further out when we can.
None of it happened because we had extra money lying around. It happened because we got serious about using the tools available to us, from credit card points to smart booking timing to off the beaten path alternatives to expensive spots. And because we stopped waiting until conditions were perfect.
The big picture
Most travel content focuses on where to go and what to do once you're there. We care about that too, but we start a step earlier.
We believe the biggest barrier to travel isn't logistics. It's the feeling that you can't afford it, or that the planning is too complicated, or that you'd need a different car, a different job, or a different life. We're here to dismantle that, one real example at a time.
Our travel support takes a three-pronged approach:
How to save for travel as a real line item in your budget. How credit card points actually work and how to transfer them for maximum value. How we've gotten business class flights and nicer hotels for a fraction of what they'd normally cost. This is where we start because it's where most people are stuck.
Honest, experience-based guides for the places we've actually been, with real costs, real tradeoffs, and the spots that didn't show up on the popular lists. These aren't AI-generated itineraries. They're built off the actual pre-planning documents we used for our own trips. They're what we'd share with a close friend, and we want them to be practical for your next trip.
If you want to go deeper, we offer 1:1 sessions to help build points strategies, plan specific trips, or just talk through the logistics with someone who's actually done it.
Pick your path
"I want to travel more but can't see how to afford it"
Start with our financial foundations section. We cover budgeting for travel, building the right credit cards, and how to use points to close the gap between what you want to do and what you can afford.
"I'm ready to plan a specific trip"
Head to our destination guides. Every guide includes real costs, where we stayed, what we'd do differently, and the off the beaten path spots worth the extra effort to find.
"I want to understand points and travel hacking"
We break down how credit card points work, how to maximize sign-up bonuses, how to use card perks like lounge access to make the travel experience better without spending more, and how to transfer points to airline and hotel partners for maximum value. We walk through real examples from our own trips, including how we used a combination of sign-up bonuses and point transfers to get to places for far less than we should have.
"I want personalized help planning something specific"
We offer 1:1 planning sessions where we work through your trip together. Points strategy, itinerary, booking logistics, whatever you need. No generic advice.
Stay in the loop
We send occasional emails when we have something actually worth sharing: a deal worth jumping on, a new guide, a tip that changed how we think about something. No filler, no weekly newsletters just to say we sent one.
A note from us
We built this site because the resources we wished existed when we were starting out weren't really there. The ones that began with your actual financial situation and walked you all the way through. So we're building them.
Everything on this site is free to read. We earn small commissions when you apply for credit cards or book through our links, at no cost to you, and we charge for our time when you want 1:1 help. That's the model. No fluff, no hidden agenda.
We're just glad you found us. Now let's find you a trip worth going on.
Hayden & Colby
One Hill of an Adventure