On April 16th at 5:30 a.m. I packed up my bags and left boring Missouri for Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s wasn’t my first time visiting, certainly not. But something was special about this trip. I was going to see the band BTS at Allegiant Stadium. 

I’ve been an Army (a member of the BTS fandom) for a while now. And I’ve always wanted to see them perform live. When my mom bought me the tickets about two months ago, I almost died from happiness and had been excited ever since. We flew from St. Louis to Denver and then into Vegas. When we arrived we got our rental car then grabbed lunch. 

Throughout the day I saw so many fellow Army. I saw them in my hotel or just around the Vegas strip. I saw them everywhere. We waited in our hotel for a while then we walked outside. As we waited for the valet to bring us our car, an Army came up to me. She offered me a freebie and then told me I looked pretty. It was so cool. We then drove to the concert. As I went up the escalator, I saw the most attractive guy I’ve ever seen. I almost peed myself in all honesty. In fact, all of the Armies were absolutely gorgeous and handsome. I met my cousin and we sat together in the 400 row.  

After an hour of being there the concert started. When BTS came out on stage, it was so surreal that I cried a little. It was amazing that they were there in the same room as me, us breathing the same air, occupying the same space. Their performance was phenomenal.  There’s no other way to describe it. When they danced it was magical. As they sang it was angelic. On the songs that didn’t have choreography, they interacted with the crowd. Jin was injured so he sat during many of the dances but his vocals were perfect as usual. His presence was more than enough. He joined in on dancing when he could. The way they talked and joked with each other and us was so good to see. They acted just as they do online. It wasn’t fake at all. This was their true personalities, their true selves.  At the end they had the most inspiring speeches, specifically RM. He’s always been an inspiration to me. Jimin told us “we are happy because you make us happy.’’ The words they told us were so heartfelt that you could tell that they truly do love and appreciate their fans.  The pure comfort of their presence made me happier than I’ve been since 2020. 

When the concert ended we were all sad to go. But Jungkook told us “this is not the end.” Getting out of the stadium was an ordeal. The place was packed. When we finally got outside we saw police cars and tour buses. It was very chaotic. People stood on the streets waiting for Ubers and police directed people to exits. I saw black vans drive by us. I’m sure it was the BTS members. My cousin’s dad picked us up and drove me back to my hotel. I passed out asleep in my hotel room. It was the best night ever.

The next day I ate breakfast with my cousin at Tuscany casino. She then left to drive back to L A. My mom took me to the popup store in Area 15. There was a BTS exhibit there and merchandise that was severely overpriced. It was $100 for a shirt. It was also scorching hot outside. But I got cute pictures so it was okay.

After that we left to get lunch. I tried a Filipino dessert called Halo halo. It was pretty good.

We relaxed in our hotel then went out to The Strip. Our hotel was close by. We saw the Gucci store and MGM. We also saw the Bellagio hotel.

We didn’t make it to the fountain though. We just walked around seeing the sights. Of course we did get lost. We had to get an Uber back to our hotel because we left our car with the hotel’s valet. We got back to the hotel then retrieved our car. My mom got us dinner then we passed out in the hotel. 

The next morning my mom dropped me off at a K-pop store while she went to get a massage. The place was so crowded. There was a line out of the door. Once I finally got inside, I just stood in awe. The store had so many albums of many different groups. They had posters and apparel it was so satisfying to see. I saw BT21 merchandise and lightsticks also. It was so much fun. I ended up buying a BT21 notebook and pen. I saw other things I wanted but the BTS season’s greeting photo album was $80 and I didn’t want to spend all my cash on some pics I could easily find online. After that we left and went to the hotel. I watched Netflix on a TV. It was great. Then mom dropped me off at a Korean BBQ place while she took my sister to Domino’s. I ate so well. I tried pulled pork belly and bulgogi. I also had many side dishes like rice and seaweed. It was so delicious but I became very full and couldn’t finish it all. Then my mom picked me back up and went inside our hotel rooms. My sister asked for ice cream so we used a Grub Hub. We ate ice cream at 12 a.m. And it was perfect. The next morning we got ready to leave. We placed everything up and got on a connecting flight to Colorado. From there we flew home. 

I miss Vegas terribly but I know I’ll be back soon.