Destination Revealed: Where I’m Going

I’ll describe how the process went once I finally decided that traveling would need to be done solo this time.

1. Ask readers where I should go.
2. Contemplate super expensive European destinations.
3. Look over super expensive group tours.
4. Ask your dad to go with you. (He said, “No.”)
5. Sit on the decision for many weeks as life gets hectic.
6. Remind yourself that you have plenty of miles and points to make this cheap.
7. Remind yourself that you have girlfriends going to Australia in December.
8. Contemplate wanting to travel alone vs. with friends.
9. Remind yourself you can have the best of both worlds!
10. Book a flight to meet up with said friends and stop somewhere solo on the way back.

Boom. Nailed it.

I will be traveling to meet up with some awesome gal pals who already had their destinations chosen and arranged. These are the same floozies I went with to Spain and Portugal last year. Term of endearment, I swear.

I’ll meet them in Australia and from there, we’ll go to New Zealand. On my way home, I’m going to make a small stopover in Hong Kong. No biggie.

 

Australia

I’m flying into Sydney a day before the girls get there. Since it’s on the edge of high-season in Australia, it was one of the last few days that week where I could snag a good deal with miles. I’m flying business class on Virgin Australia all by my lonesome. (I know, woe is me.) But I really wanted my first lie-flat international experience to be with the hubster. That sounded way more naughty than I intended. But, such is the lack of flexibility with that minor thing called med school.

I’ll spend the first day exploring Sydney. Read: Taking multiple selfies in front of the Sydney Opera House. Once the girls arrive the next day, we’ll cause trouble around Sydney for a few days.

 

New Zealand

I used an agency to help me find the rest of the flights using miles and points because 1) I was spending too much time on my own without many respectable options and 2) The use of my points was ending up to be a poor value because it was around the holidays and high-season in Australia. Meaning, I wasn’t about to drop 150,000 miles for a one-way ticket somewhere when I knew there were better deals.

Cue to New Zealand.

I mentioned to the agency (I’ll write about the experience in another post — highly recommend) that my girlfriends were also going to New Zealand as well and if there were better options from there, I can adjust my sails for New Zealand. I wasn’t necessarily planning on going to New Zealand at all.

Well, they found an awesome deal out of Auckland, New Zealand that I couldn’t pass up and hence, I’m going to New Zealand with the gals. My girlfriends are awesome and flexible and also didn’t have anything planned…so they hadn’t even chosen when they’d be in NZ yet. With a good deal on my flight, they gave me the thumbs up and said we could set out for NZ after a few days in Sydney. We’ll be in Auckland for a few days.

I’m flying out of Auckland in Cathay Pacific business class on a 10 hour flight for a solo trip to…

 

Hong Kong

I ultimately knew wanted to get to back to Asia and now is my opportunity. I explored options in Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Tokyo before ultimately deciding on Hong Kong. The fact that it will still be relatively warm in Hong Kong is what sealed the deal for me.

Oh and dumplings. *omgicantwaitfordumplings*

I’m staying at a hotel on points near where all the action is, based off the advice of a coworker that used to live there. I’m both excited and scared to explore alone. I know I’ll be fine. Hong Kong used to be a British Commonwealth, so, from what I heard, it’s relatively easy to get around only knowing English. Perfect for my first truly solo trip.

I’m flying back to the states, via Seoul, South Korea, in business class on Asiana airlines. Again, all on miles and points.

I am so excited that I can hardly contain myself! Traveling is all about prioritizing and leveraging what you want to do, so you can make it happen. And I am! I can’t wait to share more with you guys.

(Also, a big congratulations to Kim and Katie who were the first to guess correctly about where I’m going on this trip. I’ll be bringing back something fun for you gals!)

What do you think?
Have you ever been to Australia, New Zealand or Hong Kong?
Any suggestions for me? I’m all ears!