I am stretched out on a flat bed, reclined farther than I have ever been on a plane, just a few hours into my flight to Kuala Lumpur. This holiday came together out of the blue two months ago.

Let’s go back a few months. I was at work when an airfare alert appeared on my phone: an AirAsia sale from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur. I had vowed never to fly AirAsia again after having my water confiscated less than five metres from the gate, even though I had purchased it inside the airport, after going through security. Worse, I had spent the rest of my Malaysian currency on the water, so I did not have enough money to buy another bottle on the flight. Regardless, I read the alert and started to consider a quick trip: $234 return to Kuala Lumpur, taxes included, in “business” class. I forwarded it and immediately received a reply: “I already know. I’m buying my tickets.” A few hours later, with leave forms submitted and tickets purchased, I was ready for another impromptu holiday.

So, why would I decide to go to Myanmar? It was going to be summer, and Myanmar is hot. I had about eight days to fly somewhere from KL but had already travelled to most nearby countries. My travel companion joked that I needed to do some analysis: which countries had I not visited that were experiencing winter? I immediately replied, “I had that data!”

The data came from NASA measurements covering the entire globe in grids of roughly 50 square kilometres, each showing the average temperature for a month, with data going back ten years. I contemplated writing a small Python script to tell me the best place to go, but instead opened the data in a specialised tool and plotted it on the globe. The best options were Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, or Russia. As I had been to Nepal, I ruled it out. Airfares to Mongolia and Russia were quite expensive. Bhutan required a special visa that cost several hundred US dollars per day. I considered northern Myanmar, but it was reported to be somewhat unsafe. So, despite the analysis, I opted to accept the warmer weather.

Trying to organise parts of the trip before departure had been quite difficult. I investigated taking the train, as I really enjoy train travel, but kept reading reviews describing how uncomfortable the trip was. About the only positive review came from the founder of Seat61, a rail enthusiast website, but I doubt there is a train journey he would not enjoy. Everybody else commented that it was so shaky you could wake up with bruises, if you slept at all. I tried to book a flight.

I successfully ordered my tickets on the VisitMM website, but just one day later I was informed that the flight had been cancelled for technical reasons. I suspected it was because only seven seats were booked, but either way, I had to secure a new route from Yangon to Mandalay. To make matters worse, the entire country was celebrating its New Year festivities, so I expected transport to be busy. My hotel graciously called one of the bus companies and organised two seats for us on the night we wanted, in the back row.

Fast-forward to today, and I am quickly approaching KL. I estimate that I am somewhere over western Queensland. I am lying almost completely flat in my business-class bed. I cautiously look around to see who else might have scored these seats, apparently because of a pricing error intended for Economy. What I like most about the seats is that they all have power, so my phones will last the trip. I brought an extra battery, but it is still nice not to have to charge it as soon as I arrive. The food was probably the same as in Economy, but I quite liked it: simple rice with vegetables that hit the spot.

I had plenty of material prepared for the trip: one leisure book to finish (“Bad Pharma”), a book to finish for a new certification (PRINCE2), some video lessons (also PRINCE2), study material for a second exam (VMware Certified Professional), and finally a fun Coursera course (Understanding Irrationality). This should keep me occupied until I arrive and check into my hotel, which is just a few blocks from my first destination: my favourite curry shop in the whole world.