Matt Long, Attorney and Travel Blogger

06/12/2024

Founded in 2014, Bowen Ten Long & Bal, PC is a Tier 1 Family Law Firm in Richmond, VA, as rated by US News. Our commitment to excellence has been acknowledged with numerous awards, including Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, AV Ratings, and Legal Elite. Virginia Lawyers Weekly has also recognized two of our lawyers as Leaders in the Law.

Bowen Ten Long & Bal, PC, seeks a dynamic, experienced Family Law Litigation Attorney with at least three years of experience. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to manage complex family law cases involving divorce, equitable distribution, child custody, and support issues. We pride ourselves on our firm's culture, which promotes flexibility, autonomy, and a healthy work-life balance.

For more information visit us at https://www.btclawva.com/careers/.

10/07/2023

Emirates Upgrade from Biz to First. 30,000 Amex Membership Rewards. Rewards.

10/06/2023

Been a great week in and . Nafplio is the most beautiful town I have ever seen. Rewards.

09/15/2023

Birthday trip to Keswick Hall. $2,000 a night for room for 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards a night. Rewards.

08/17/2023

First Full Day! Day 1. 🇬🇷🏛️Walked around Oia where we are staying. Found some fun cufflinks. Those who know me know that I collect cufflinks, wear them every day at work, and have over 60 pair. Took the Buggy to Thira which is the main town in Santorini. Walked around and had some Gyros and French Fries 🍟 for lunch. In Greece literally everything you order comes with French Fries. Buggy back to Oia for pool time in our Suite and a late dinner. Fried cheese 🧀, Risotto, and Ouzo. Great Day 1 in what is our favorite place of everywhere we have visted. Lots of Caldera views today. 🌋. Rewards.

08/17/2023

Experienced, compassionate and effective advocacy.

08/16/2023

Made it to Canaves Oia, Luxury Resorts and Villas, Santorini in Santorini. $2,000 a night for five nights, or $10,000, but totally free for us. 45,000 Hyatt/Chase Points a night earned by just throwing our Debit Cards in the trash can, opening Credit Cards, putting our normal everyday spending on the cards (groceries, gas, etc.) and getting Sign Up Bonus after Sign Up Bonus. No interest. No fees. Something anyone can do. Rewards.

08/02/2023

I had a recent case published in Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Thank you to EvenUp Law for helping me get this case resolved quickly and for limits.

Type of action: Personal Injury Injuries alleged: Clavicle dislocation, deformity (prominence of AC joint) Date resolved: 10/15/2022 Special damages: $31,241.68 Verdict or settlement: Settlement Amount: $100,000 Attorney for plaintiff: K. Matthew Long, Richmond Description of case: The plaintiff had...

06/15/2023

Big change coming 7-1-23 in Virginia. 🚘🚙🚗

Warning! Nerdy 🤓 (but Very Important) Insurance Post about a letter you are about to get from your Car Insurance Carrier. 📪✉️

Underinsurance coverage (“UIM”), how boring does that sound! 🥱🥱🥱

Well, it is pretty boring, for almost everyone on planet earth other than lawyers and insurance people. 👨‍💼👩‍💼 With that said, you might get a letter in the mail from your insurance company talking about some UIM changes, and options, that will make absolutely no sense to you! Isn’t that just wonderful!!! Let me try and explain it.

You've got great insurance for your car worth $250,000. One day, Jake, who has insurance of only $100,000, crashes into you. 💥Your expenses for the accident add up to $350,000. 🩻🩺👨‍⚕️

Jake's insurance pays you $100,000, which is all they can pay. Now your insurance (your “UIM”) comes in to cover the rest. But before July 1st 2023, your insurance would only pay an additional $150,000. So, you could only get a total of $250,000, not enough to cover all your expenses. We call this the “UIM Offset”.

After July 1st 2023, the rules will change. The UIM Offset is eliminated. Now, your insurance can give you your full $250,000, plus Jake's $100,000, so you can get the full $350,000 to cover your expenses. 💵😊This is a major change years in the making.🥳🎉👏🎊🙌

But there's a small catch! The change in rules makes your insurance a bit more expensive. UIM is already very cheap. I pay only $70 a YEAR for $250,000 in coverage. 😱That amount will be going up just a little bit.

You may get a letter alerting you of this change and asking if you want to pay more to keep your current coverage, or pay less for lower coverage. Don’t fall for the trap! 🪤 Keep your current coverage. It's better to keep your full coverage, even if it costs a bit more. We are talking a few dollars a year most likely. With the few letters I have seen already, they will only change your plan if you ask them to. Otherwise, everything stays the same. Not sure if this will be the standard. Keep your policy the same.

05/27/2023

Gwynn’s Island for Weekend. 🇺🇸🐠🦀🌊

05/22/2023

Back at work for the first time since April 26th.

16 Day Trip to Italy 🇮🇹 🍕🍝 with No Work.

$40,224 Cash Cost of Trip

Our out of pocket cost was $253.20 in airport taxes and burning 807,500 Miles.

Got got those miles by opening credit cards with Sign Up Bonuses (SUBs) and using them for my everyday expenses. Mostly Cat Litter 🐈🐱and groceries 🛒🥦🥩. Paid off every month so no interest.

First Class Emirates Flight from JFK to Milan in my own apartment.

5 Star Hotel in Como

5 Star Hotel in Venice

5 Star Hotel in Rome

5 Star Hotel in Positano

5 Star Hotel in Milan

Emirates First class back to the US

All free. Priceless memories. Then, at the end, ‘Rona. 🦠😷 First time getting it.

Out of work for a week. First time getting COVID. Just sleep 🛌😴 and crazy 😜 dreams and tons of Fatigue.

I’m at about 60% but back to work for the first time in a month. Got my work uniform on 👨‍💼👔, some fancy Italian Cufflinks 🇮🇹, and ready to get back at it for my clients.

TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF. Get away. Enjoy the world.

05/06/2023

Been in Italy for close to a week! Here is how the first week played out in the points and miles department.

Departure from JFK. Originally last year we booked Emirates Business Class from Emirates to Milan nonstop for 145,000 miles. We earned those points via Chase Sign Up Bonuses, mostly by paying for every day expenses like cat litter, groceries, and all the stuff people buy on Amazon. 🐈 🐱

We were able to upgrade to First Class apartments at the airport for another 60,000 points. 🎉🎈😆✈️. Whoo hoo!!

Total cash cost of the flight for the two of us was $25,000. We paid $150 in taxes.

Now to the hotel details. 🏨 Stop one was Lake Como. Last summer we booked 3 nights at the Vista Palazzo Lago di Como which is part of the Hyatt Umbrella under the Small Luxury Hotels brand. We booked three nights for 130,000 Hyatt Points we transferred from Chase. Cash cost at the time was $1,500 a night, so that’s a savings of $4,500. Totally free five star hotel on Lake Como in the town of Como. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🏞️ Took a day trip to Lugano, Switzerland 🇨🇭 which was amazing!

Then off to Venice! 🚤🛶Stayed at the Ca’ Sagredo which is part of the Hyatt SLH Brand. 65,000 Hyatt Points for two nights when we booked last year. At the time the cash cost was $850 per night so that is $1,700 saved. Five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So that’s $31,200 saved. We spent $150 in taxes. That’s it. Anyone can do this. Literally anyone. It is truly that easy.

Fino alla prossima volta! 🇮🇹🇮🇹