In a few days I will be heading off on my next vacay and this one is a long one. I will be heading to the US for about 5 weeks.

It’s been about 4 years since my last visit and before the pandemic I was heading there almost every year. Why so often? Well because my best friend lives in the US and it’s a lot easier for me to visit her than her to come home for a visit (she’s originally from Singapore) as she would come with her family.

Whenever I fly to the US I try to avoid the major airports even if it means not being about to take a direct flight. Currently only Singapore Airlines has non stop flights from Singapore to LAX, SFO and JFK – three airports I would prefer to avoid because of the crowds and lengthy immigration queues.

About 10 years ago I was making a trip to the US and was going to pay a visit to friends in Atlanta and found that Korean Air flies to Atlanta. I loved the break in between the two legs and also found the airline to be very comfortable. I had plenty of legroom in economy. I also love their loyalty plan as the miles earned are valid for 10 years – Singapore Airlines miles are only valid for 2 years. Ever since then I have been taking Korean Air to the US.

I’ll be taking my usual route which is a late morning flight from Singapore to Seoul followed by a 2 hr layover (enough time to hit the lounge and grab a bite and a shower) and then it’s on to Vegas. As I’ll arrive in Vegas in the late afternoon, I usually opt to stay the night and catch either a morning or afternoon domestic flight to Kansas (where my bestie lives) the next day. I find that having a good night’s sleep in Vegas helps me get over any jet lag I might have.

This year however there will be one slight difference – I’ve opted to splurge on a business class ticket so here’s hoping I’ll be able to get more sleep than I typically would in economy. I’m one of those people who just can’t sleep well on a plane because of the somewhat upright position so I’m looking forward to being in a seat that reclines 180 degrees.

What I love about flying into an airport like the one at Vegas is that there are very limited international flights at the international terminal and usually when I land, my flight is the only one at immigration and baggage claim. I think the fastest it’s ever taken me from getting off the plane to checking into my hotel room is like 1 hr! And that includes going through immigration, waiting for my baggage, going through customs, waiting for the shuttle bus to take me to my hotel.

The same applies to when I land in Atlanta…only international flight at immigration and the baggage claim so I can get through it pretty fast. I think the last time I went through Atlanta I was outside with my friends in like 20 mins.

I leave next Wednesday (9 August) so that means I have 5 more days to go and I haven’t even started packing and I have a friend coming in from out of town tomorrow and I still have 2 days of work. Thankfully I will be working from home on those two days so I’ll try and do some packing in between work.

I’m excited and nervous because it’s been a few years since I’ve traveled and unlike my recent trip to Bangkok, I will be travelling alone but I’m sure everything will be fine as this is a familiar route.