While I would like to consider myself an experienced traveler, I still make a lot of dumb mistakes. Sarah and I were joking that I should have called my blog “Idiot Abroad” or “Traveling for Dummies.” With each trip, I’d like to think I’ve learned a couple of new things and will be better prepared for the next one. Sarah and I planned this trip in parts, meaning we were only going to go to Korea at first. Then when we found out Jill was going to Malaysia we decided to join her. Then when Sarah saw flights to Ho Chi Minh were only $30 one way we decided to go to Vietnam. Sounds like a cool spontaneous adventure, and it was, but when you are trying to get back home it is the longest journey of your life.

Our first flight (Air Asia) took off from Ho Chi Minh at 9:10 pm on Tuesday (that’s 7:10 am Vegas time). We got into KL after midnight. With our next flight leaving early the next morning we decided to not get a hotel room for 5 hours. Saves us money, but does not save the headache. I decided to work on my blog, while I could use the airport Wi-Fi until my laptop ran out of battery. When it finally did Sarah and I had been up for about 20 hours. We decided to wander around the airport to find a secluded spot to lie down. I don’t know if the KL airport is just a popular spot to stay overnight or what, but there were people laying everywhere. We picked a spot in a corner and tried to get some shuteye. The floor was uncomfortable and I started to feel weird. First I had a headache and then when I couldn’t try to sleep anymore I noticed I was shivering. I went to go change into sweat pants and a hoodie and I just felt gross. I knew I was getting sick and it was from lack of sleep. I did not want to spend my couple days at home in between trips being sick. We checked in our bags and I popped an airborne in hopes that it wouldn’t be too late to help. I took a nap at our gate and I felt a little better. Good thing our 7-hour flight to Seoul was with Air Asia and there was nothing to do so I could sleep the whole time. I almost slept through it all and I woke up feeling better.

We had planned the perfect layover. Get in at Seoul at 3:20 pm and take off on our next flight at 6 pm. Of course, nothing can go perfectly. We took off late from KL and landed at 4:10 in Seoul. Our next flight’s check-in counter closed at 5. That means we had less than an hour to get through customs, get our bags, and check into our next flight. Air Asia didn’t even tell us why our flight had been delayed, but Sarah and I were so done with them. I refused to miss my flight home. As soon as the plane pulled up to the gate Sarah and I were pushing past the first class passengers. Then we were back at it again, running through the airport, our legs aching, and our hearts pounding. I have gotten so much exercise this trip. Thankfully there were no lines in Seoul and we probably ran for nothing, but after our mishap in Seoul when we almost missed our flight I knew better than to take my time. I’d rather be sweaty and on the plane then regretting not rushing.

Finally, we had checked in our bags for the final time. We still had two more flights to take, but at least our bags would carry on over to Las Vegas. Sarah had booked our connecting flight home through Toronto. Neither one of us at the time we had booked it, knew where Toronto was located within Canada. When I found out it was pretty much North of New York I was not pleased. We have to fly over the United States twice just to get to Vegas. Thankfully that 13-hour flight with Air Canada was so much nicer; we had plugs, movies, and food.

Thankfully our final layover was not too long. By that time we were so pumped to get home and be done with planes. Our last plane, which was almost five hours long didn’t even have televisions. That was pretty disappointing considering we were flying across the country. I slept some and watched some episodes of a Netflix show Sarah had downloaded. Finally, we touched down in Vegas at about 11 pm on Wednesday. It was so nice to see those hotel lights after traveling for over 40 hours. While I love taking trips and visiting other cities and countries, there really is no place like home.

Our boyfriends, who obviously missed us a great deal, came to pick us up. Mine took me to In N Out straight from the airport, because what meal is better than that after jumping from airport to airport. After stuffing my face, I took a long shower and crawled into my clean, comfy bed. What a trip it had been (: