Week of March 26th, 2023
…And so it begins. Sunday, March 26th, I departed from Atlanta to start the second half of my sabbatical. I enjoyed a 27-hour stopover in Doha before arriving at my final destination, Kuala Lumpur. This marks the first time I’ve left the Americas since March 2020 – I’ll be returning to the last place I visited prior to the pandemic! 🙂
Although six months in Latin America, with questionable Spanish-speaking skills, was anxiety-inducing, leaving for three months in Southeast Asia is far more terrifying to me. Funny enough, I was very confident about this portion of my trip until exactly 24 hours before my flight departed when the reality of it all settled into my brain. Ha! At this point, I’ve been in Kuala Lumpur for almost a week now and it’s still a different feeling than I had previously. For now, I’ll just chalk it up to jetlag, decompressing from a very busy March, and perhaps the isolation that comes with being on the other side of the world from those closest to me.
However, this is my second time in Southeast Asia (and it was my first time in the Middle East) so I’m using my excitement to temper my anxiety. I will spend the next month in Malaysia – a country that I would not have discovered that I loved had I not been deported from Bali and forced to make a 2 am decision to fly to Malaysia instead of back to Atlanta. That experience highlights one reason I love traveling – it really helps you develop your ability to pivot and roll with the punches. Traveling, much like life, isn’t always straightforward but you learn to enjoy the journey and you pick up some skills along the way.
The last time I made a trip to S.E. Asia (ATL-ICN-SIN), I flew on points with Delta and Korean Air for 72,000 Delta Skymiles and $115 RT economy in Feb/Mar 2020. This was actually quite a steal since Delta SkyMiles redemptions can fluctuate greatly, and Korean Air is often hard to get award space on. My birthday trip was the first trip that I really started utilizing the power of points and miles for an entire trip vs casually for a hotel or flight here or there. While that trip was an amazing birthday gift to myself, this go-around, I gave myself the gift of business class because I deserve it!
Not only did I want to try Qatar Airways’ famed Q-suites, but the memory of an older gentleman farting next to me for 14 hours straight on my economy flight from Atlanta to Seoul cemented my decision to splurge, on points of course, for business class. For my one-way flight (ATL-DOH-KUL) I paid 95,000 Avios and $206.50. At the time of my booking, May 2022, there was a 40% Avios bonus when you transfer American Express MR points to British Airways – I subsequently transferred said points directly to Qatar to book. Thanks to this bonus, I only used ~68,000 points which was an amazing value since the flight would have been $5,000+ in cash…that’s a price I’m not willing to pay at this time.
Unfortunately, both legs of my itinerary changed several times between the time I booked and the flight departure, so I no longer had Q-Suites on my flight from Atlanta to Doha. However, I was able to finagle a stopover in Doha, and the new flight from Doha to KL was equipped with Q-Suites so all was not lost.
Prior to my departure from Atlanta, I was able to spend some time with my newly married friends at the “The Club” lounge in Atlanta’s International terminal. They just so happened to be on the same flight as me, although in Economy, on their way to their beautiful honeymoon in Phuket, Thailand. Since my Priority Pass access allows guests, it was a no-brainer to bring them with me. Oddly enough, they received an unbelievably unexpected gesture of kindness from a fellow lounge visitor, but it definitely made the start of their honeymoon more memorable!
Although my flight from Atlanta was in Qatar Airways’ old 2-2-2 business class product, I thoroughly enjoyed it because I did not have a seatmate, and the older seats are very comfortable and much to my liking! The food out of Atlanta was okay – nothing to call home about but certainly still a classy affair. The kind stranger from the lounge was also in business class and I had every intention of going up to him and thanking him for his kindness, but after 12 hours on a plane, I completely forgot to do so. I was able to get a solid 6 hours of sleep on the plane so that was amazing – unfortunately, it’ll be hard for me to fly a flight of this length in economy again because I’ve been properly spoiled. This wasn’t my first time in business class, but this was my longest flight in business class by far.
Upon arrival in Doha, I took my friends over to the Al Maha Lounge so that they could rest and relax before their flight from Doha to Phuket. As I did have a stopover in Doha, I had to leave them in the lounge to go collect my luggage and head to my hotel. I was stuffed from the flight so I didn’t actually eat at the lounge, but they said the vegetarian options were good but not spectacular – ha! I spent the night at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha near the airport and was surprisingly upgraded to Regency Club access. However, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even enjoy a single bit of that privilege. I fought a good fight but succumbed to jetlag far too early in the evening – when the sun went down so did I.
The following day I was still exhausted and very hungry because I was too fatigued the night before to even bother going to get food. A very expensive hotel breakfast later, I was still exhausted and it took everything in my spirit to drag myself out of the hotel to explore the city. There was no point in pushing for my stopover just to sleep it away. So I headed out to explore the sights at the Doha Port, including the Museum of Islamic Art, Dhow Harbour, Flag Plaza, and Souq Waqif. My plan was to also go to Katara and The Pearl Qatar or to the National Museum of Qatar but my body simply couldn’t get it together that morning, so I didn’t have enough time or energy.
Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my stopover in Doha especially the Museum of Islamic Art. I would love to come back to Doha when it’s a little cooler (and not Ramadan) so I can truly enjoy the experience. I think 2-3 days with my friends or “bae” would be perfect! The hotel was kind enough to let me check out at 3, so I relaxed there for a bit before heading to the airport. Most don’t actually leave Doha airport, so I didn’t have a lot of points of reference for what the check-in experience would be like. However, let me tell you one, the Qatar Airways business class check-in experience at Doha airport is absolutely top-tier! Even with some minor issues, I was through security and airside very quickly and leisurely.
No business class experience at Doha is complete without a trip to one of the premium Qatar Airways lounges. So, I took the quick journey to Al Mourjan lounge and I was not disappointed. I did not have a full meal here, but instead sampled the items from the buffet along with a non-alcoholic champagne called “So Jennie” (pictured). Doha was an unexpected meeting place for me and my friends, as another couple I’m friends with also had a layover in Doha, so we were able to meet up in the lounge. I met the Ohrns on a Singapore food tour in February 2020 and we’ve stayed in touch since. We immediately bonded over our love of travel, very specifically award travel. They’ve “put me on” to a lot of great tips and tricks in the time we’ve been friends. We actually met up a week prior during my visit to Las Vegas, where they reside, but it was still nice to see them again.
After lagging a bit too long at the lounge chatting, I made a quick getaway to my gate with just enough time to board, get settled, and enjoy a pre-departure lime and mint while watching economy class passengers board from my window. At last, I was finally able to enjoy the “famed” Qatar Airways Q-Suites from Doha to Kuala Lumpur. I enjoyed all of the wonderful on-board services that I had on my flight from Atlanta to Doha, in addition to an elevated menu and the ridiculous privacy that comes with having a door to my seat.
I must say, there were times that I completely forgot that there were other passengers on board. Since I was seated in one of the rear-facing seats (with noise-canceling headphones on), I was often surprised when the flight attendant would come to my seat. The seat certainly lives up to the hype, however, ironically, I prefer the physical seat on the old 2-2-2 business product – it’s more comfortable. Nevertheless, any business class seat is still better than an economy with the rare exception of some economy products that are being marketed as premium. I can already feel the standards for my lifestyle creeping up from this one experience. Oy.
After several days of traveling, I finally arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday morning (Tuesday night Atlanta time). After being pushed back to my commoner reality at customs and immigration, I bypassed the arrivals lounge experience and took the far too long car ride from KUL/KLIA to the city. I enjoyed the next few days lounging at the Alila Bangsar Kuala Lumpur before heading to my Airbnb in the Chow Kit neighborhood to get settled in for my month in Kuala Lumpur. I’m blessed to be able to enjoy some beautiful accommodations with amazing views and amenities for far less than you’d imagine.
One of the reasons I love Kuala Lumpur is that it provides amazing value for your money with all of the conveniences of a world-class city. Although I will spend most of my time getting my routine back together and relaxing, I’m excited to also explore the city. The last few months have been quite hectic and I need more leisurely time now that I’m wrapping up the 7th month of my sabbatical! I’ll discuss it more in the future, but traveling continuously is very different than going on vacation, even for long periods of time, and it can take a toll on you but I have no regrets at all. My spirit needed this break from…everything.
-Deloreen