Flights Around the World

ATL | Seoul, South Korea | Denpasar, Bali

Some may say that 24 hours of flying, departing on August 5th from Atlanta and arriving August 7th in Denpasar, Bali with a layover in South Korea is far to much flying.

In short, we believe it was the most epic way to begin marriage. Not only because of the flights but because we woke up as a married couple to find a 7.0 earthquake hit the bordering country to Bali, Lombok. My dad calls me to share the news and the Tsunami warnings are being flashed up on Fox News. We look at our options, call our Travel Agent, shoutout to Brownell Travel for being available on a Sunday morning, and decide if planes are still flying in… we are doing this thing!

We flew north from ATL over Canada and Alaska and down to South Korea. This 14 hour flight was filled with crazy food experiences via Korean Air, a lot of Alex watching wedding videos over and over and over again (along with looking at any pictures she had) and Matthew watching movies on movies. The only preparation we did for this flight was buying compression socks and bringing our own snacks and large water bottles. Both were game changers.

We got up frequently and did lunges down the aisle. We would both recommend flying Korean Air, really a great experience. Just bring your own food.

We had to document our short 2 hours in South Korea with finding the priority lounge and sipping on Korean Gatorade, wine out of a machine, and Matthew found himself fascinated with the high tech bathrooms. (I will let you ask him in person about the experience). The virtual reality stops throughout the airport were quite the nice touch along with trees and foliage found in the terminals.

We were quite tired, and ready to be in Denpasar. We boarded on our next 8 hour flight to Bali and landed at 12:30am. This time we had midnight snacks of pizza in a box and ice cream! No disappointment here. We landed in Bali, and the adventures really began!

Tips:

• Use EXO Travel in Bali: they met us before we had to go through customs, we skipped every line. They got our bags and served as a buffer to the many taxi hecklers that eagerly awaited tourists landing late at night.

• Our Travel Guide and driver were waiting for us at the airport and spent the next 13 days with us. They took us across the country of Bali for every adventure and to any new hotel. They were our source of information and liaison’s to the country during our time. It was so nice to not have to worry about a driver or a new guide each day.

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Leaving is NEVER EASY!

We truly were in a utopia of love, beauty, experiences that we did not want to see end, but after 13 days it was time to come back to reality.

We departed Denpasar at 12am in the morning and took the 8 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan. We then started our 8 – hour layover adventure in Tokyo. This included, ramen rice noodles, Coca Cola PLUS and CLEAR?! Yes, that’s right. Priority Pass lounges that won’t let you elevate your feet? Mochi Balls. Need I say more? AND airport exercises.

Shoutout to the Peloton App, for great 10 minute body weight workouts and stretching exercises. I did 1, 10 minute body weight, 1 arms and shoulders and 1 glute and hip opener stretching. This was THE BEST part about Tokyo because I had adrenaline flowing, sweat dripping and the legs were ready to undertake the next 12 hours and 20 minutes back to Atlanta.

Tips: Bring extra underwear to change as well as clothing, you will feel like a new person. I would also suggest packing a toiletry bag to wash your face and brush your teeth. I used this four times!

STAY HYDRATED. The flights are much more enjoyable if your body is not swelling from lack of hydration. It may swell anyway but the more hydration the better when you fly for this long.

The flight to ATL from Toyko was a breeze as we flew Delta. It was our first real western food since we started our adventure and the exhaustion from the trip set in. I slept at least 6 hours and Matthew slept 1-2. He was smart to stay awake as my jet lag is far worse than his acclimation back to Central Time Zone.

Long flights, and short story is they are worth it – do not hesitate to see the world simply because of the flight time. The adventures far pay off the travel woes.