21 Day Birthday Adventure

Throughout all my travels, I had yet to set foot on the continent of Asia. Therefore, I decided that, for my 49th birthday, I was going to take a trip to Asia with the goal of visiting at least four countries and using 95% of points/miles to pay for the journey. This post would be excessively long if I attempted to cover the entire trip, so I’m breaking it down into destinations.

After countless hours of planning and a few tips from Ronnie, the creator of The Tricks to Travel System, my trip was all set. If you haven’t heard of The Tricks to Travel System by Ronnie, I highly recommend checking it out. As usual, I invited everyone to join me on this trip, but it ended up being a solo adventure. The destinations I booked were South Korea, Bangkok, Malaysia, Singapore, and Bali. Now, my challenge was to pack for winter in Korea and hot weather in the other destinations without incurring extra baggage fees.

The first stop on this birthday adventure was Korea. One of my best friends, Jae, was currently stationed there, giving me the opportunity to see a new country and visit my friend. I used American Airlines miles to get a one-way first-class ticket to Seoul. In addition to the miles, I think I had to pay $34 in taxes for the ticket. The flight from San Antonio to Dallas was 45 minutes and then Dallas to Seoul, was a 14-hour journey. Thankfully, I was in first class with a full lie-down seat—or so I thought. It turned out to be one of my worst flights ever, with my seat moving every time the person behind me adjusted. The purser realized I wasn’t exaggerating after experiencing it herself. Unfortunately, the flight was full, so there was no alternative seating for me.

Fourteen hours later, with about 2 hours of sleep, I finally arrived in Seoul. With bags in tow and after clearing customs, I headed for the exit. My friend Jae was right there waiting, and we exchanged big hugs. We hadn’t seen each other in over a year. Afterward, we headed to the bus waiting area. The military has a bus that runs back and forth from the airport to the base for only $20. About 30 minutes later, we boarded the bus and off we went. After arriving at the Air Force base, we loaded my luggage in her car and headed to her house. We talked for a while and then headed to bed.

The next day, while Jae was at work, I caught up on some sleep and adjusted to the time zone. Later that day, I wrote an email to the CEO of American Airlines about my flight experience. In the evening, we went out for dinner at a traditional Korean restaurant where you cook the food yourself. Normally, I wouldn’t go to a restaurant and pay to cook my own food, but Terry did all the cooking for us. The food was delicious, and I had my first shot of soju. To end the night, we hung out at one of their local spots and had some drinks.

The snow had melted, but it was still freezing outside the next day. I couldn’t leave Korea without seeing Seoul, so we bundled up and braved the cold. Our first stop was the N Seoul Tower, located in Namsan Mountain. After a few misleads from the GPS, we purchased roundtrip tram tickets. The tram ride was about 3 minutes. We walked around, enjoying the space and taking in the views. Jae and Trish added a lock with their initials to the collection of others. We decided to go up in the tower in hopes of warming up a little. After a little help from one of the locals, we purchased our tickets and headed up. What a great view of the city! We walked around for a while, did some souvenir shopping, and then headed back down.

Next, we decided to get dressed in hanbok and do our own photoshoots. Hanbok is traditional Korean clothing. After finding a parking spot, we headed to the shops to check out the rental prices. The average price was about $14. The ladies in the shop assisted us with our selections and getting dressed. Since it was so cold outside, we wore the hanbok over our clothes. We then walked across the street to Gyeongbokgun Palace to explore and take pictures. If you’re wearing hanbok, you do not have to pay to get into the Palace. While we were there, a group of teenagers wanted to take a picture with me, and they finally got the courage to ask. They were too excited for me to say no so I posed for a few pictures with them. We continued with our pictures and then had to hurry back to the shop before it closed.

Freezing and hungry, we headed to Chang Coex Mall next. This gave me the opportunity to purchase my Korean Pandora charm. We did a little shopping and then chose to eat at PF Changs. The food was good, but the highlight was my Asian pear mojito. It was absolutely delicious. Thawed out but worn out, we headed home after dinner.

The next day, it was snowing outside, so I didn’t feel like going anywhere. We chilled at the house all day. I repacked my suitcases in preparation to leave the next day, leaving all of my winter clothing behind. Later that evening, we ordered take-out from Jae’s favorite local restaurant, Ceviche. We stayed up late talking, laughing, and just catching up.

It’s time to head to my next destination. However, it wouldn’t be Jae if she didn’t have me cook something. They were having a military exercise, which meant long hours for her, so she asked me to fix some chili for her Airmen. Before heading to the airport, I made a large pot of chili for them.

Off to the airport I go. Next destination: Bangkok!

BTW: I did hear back from someone at American Airlines and was compensated for my horrible flying experience.