I recently experienced one of the greatest joys of my life. I saw my favorite band, BTS, in Las Vegas with my sister. It was a smooth, fun and safe trip.
As I explained in my last opinion column, I got on a plane for the first time. I told you all I would update you on that experience and whether I would develop a fear so I will do that first.
Airplanes are weird and clouds look funny up close. I think airplanes are weird because the whole process felt unreal: boarding, being in the air, the pilot knowing how to land and where to land. I also think clouds look like I could jump on them and be completely safe, just like in the Peter Pan movies. It also reminded me of cotton candy, and I pondered at one point if clouds could be edible.
I can say flying was a lot smoother than I thought it would be. I think leaving at nighttime helped tremendously. It was scary at first because of the speed during take-off and turbulence made me feel like the plane would eventually turn upside down. Crazy enough, it did not turn upside down. I was very surprised by that. As of right now, I strangely do not have a fear of planes.
Also, side note, airport food is way too expensive.
Now, back to the actual trip. We spent the first day in Vegas attempting to do as many “Vegas” things as possible and became overwhelmed quickly. There is so much to do. Vegas is very vibrant in color, and something is catching your attention every two seconds. We learned breaks were important and paying for an Uber was worth it. A ten-minute walk in Vegas is not the same as a ten-minute walk in Corbin.
Speaking of Uber, I had never used it before going to Vegas. I will say it made the trip easier, and I enjoyed talking to so many different people with stories of their own. One of our Uber drivers gave us a history lesson of Vegas. She asked us if we cared at all in the middle of it and we both immediately said, “Yes. Please keep going.” A feature I really enjoyed on the app was the ability to choose a woman driver. It made me feel a lot more comfortable and safer.
Vegas had multiple BTS-themed events happening and was lit up in red for most of the experience. For reference, red is the ‘Arirang’ album cover. I wanted our trip to center around BTS, and the city helped make it happen.
We went to a BTS themed art museum, and it was incredible. One of the last rooms of the museum had BTS visuals on a wall and music off their new album playing. They had drinks afterwards and I ordered a strawberry drink. It was super delicious. I bought a music box in the gift shop that plays “Spring Day,” by BTS. I wanted to go through it a second time, but tickets were $60.
We also attempted to go on the BTS-wrapped monorail but after we paid for the ticket, we found out it was sitting parked and wasn’t moving any time soon. We did eventually find it and took pictures in front of it. We were forced to ride a normal monorail. Despite the error, we were glad to have rode it. We got to see different parts of Vegas, and we saw the Sphere close-up completely decked out in red with BTS members on it. It was worth it.
We swam and tanned for a couple hours and visited the super loud and chaotic Fremont Experience. A lot of people recommended I go, and I wish they never did. I do see the appeal, but it was extremely overstimulating for me personally.
The next day was prep for the BTS concert. We ate at Crepe Expectations, which was delicious, picked up our light sticks for the concert (these are essential for any K-POP experience), spent over $100 at a K-POP store, and finally received transportation to the concert.
Before the concert started, I got in line for the merch table and spent over $100. I am so thankful I saved up as much money as I did for this concert because I utilized almost all of it.
When I was in my seat at the Allegiant Stadium, and I saw all seven members walk out on stage, I cried so many tears and felt this huge relief. It was happening. I was in the moment and they were right there. It all worked out exactly the way it was supposed to in the best way possible. Their energy on stage was strong, powerful and just simply amazing. I danced and sang my heart out.
The next day, we packed up, cleaned our hotel room and got on a plane back to Kentucky. Due to the time jump, it was nighttime when we arrived back home. I went to sleep around 2 a.m. and am back at work now.
The post-concert depression is real. They will have a total of four concert days in Vegas, and I want so badly to experience all of them, but I have used all of my savings on this concert and that is not realistic. I will simply watch videos of other people’s experience and pretend I am there.
I want to go back so bad. I had the absolute best time. I would highly recommend taking a trip to Vegas if you have the means to do so. The people are friendly and there is something for everyone to enjoy. The only thing I really disliked was the litter and how expensive the trip was. It was sad to see as much trash I did. I think a trip to Vegas is worth it if you keep those things in mind.
