If you clicked on this article, it probably means you have considered traveling abroad to watch your favorite artist at a concert. Perhaps, you’ve already done it. In any case, I can tell you that traveling to see my favorite artists was the best thing I have done. Living in the Caribbean island Puerto Rico means that there’s a lot of artists that don’t tour here (even if their tours are so-called “World Tours”). Because of that, if I want to watch them live, I need to go somewhere elseー which I did, twice. And I don’t regret it one bit, but I wish I knew what I was doing in order to make my experience even better. To tell you how impulsive both of the times have been, when I first bought my ticket to see Harry Styles in Orlando, I didn’t tell my mother about it until months later (turns out she already knew about it, yikes!). When I bought tickets to watch BTS in Las Vegas, I had less than a month to get everything sorted out. Yes, the stress was very real. But worry not! Here are all the tips you may need to make the experience smooth and perfect!
1. Research
Doing your research will take you to great places. Usually, when well-known artists are touring, they have activities for fans such as Pop-Ups or places where you can go take pictures. Some fan clubs even organize themed activities in the days preceding the big day, such as Cup Sleeve Events, where K-pop fans meet up in a cafe and celebrate their Idols’ achievements. It’s a wholesome event where you can meet and socialize with people that share your interests. When I was in Las Vegas, there were a lot of discounts because BTS was quite literally taking over the place. We had discounts for Lyft and other food places. There was also a store selling BTS merch that opened for the two weeks BTS was touring in Las Vegas. My friends and I only knew this because we saw a tweet advertising it. If we had done our research beforehand, we could’ve planned to go to the store earlier because, by the time we arrived, the good stuff was gone. It was very sad (and frustrating) because we had visited that mall earlier in the week, but we didn’t know that store was even there! For the Harry show, I didn’t do any research for fan activities. However, when Harry was touring in New York, there were a few places where people could go and take pictures because there were Harry’s House mockups. So now you know, do your research to get discounts, have fun and fully enjoy your concertgoer experience!
2. Make your money worth it
If you’re already paying for airplane tickets and a hotel, the least you could do is make the most of your money. I would recommend going for more than two days because even if your main “attraction” for this trip is the concert, you can use the extra time to explore the city you are staying in. For the Harry show, I stayed in Orlando for five days, which I took full advantage of. I visited Universal, Islands of Adventure, and I even got to enjoy Horror Nights for the first time ever. It was like an impromptu vacation with my cousins who accompanied me for this trip. For BTS, we stayed in Las Vegas for an entire week to enjoy all the activities BTS had in the city. Which leads me to my third tip…
3. Make a schedule
Just like for every vacation, you should make a scheduleーonly this kind of trip requires an even more paramount organization. Unlike my first trip, I didn’t make a schedule for Las Vegas, so, more often than not, we found ourselves with no idea of what to do to spend the day. To be fair, we didn’t have much time to prepare anything for that trip. In reality, this advice goes alongside the “making your money worth it” tip. If you’re prepared for what you’re going to be doing, you’ll have more fun and, most importantly, an idea of how your budget should look. For me, this tip is going to be my priority for the next time I travel to see my favorite artists.
4. Find information about the venue
Usually, the venue sends you emails with information regarding clothing, time, items, bags, food, merch, and parking. Unfortunately, those emails are sent close to the date of your concert, which is not ideal when you’re about to travel and need to prepare beforehand. For this, I recommend searching on the website of the venue or your artist’s social media accounts. You can also search other concerts and venues because, usually, the rules are the same. For BTS, the bags had to be clear. If your bag wasn’t clear and small, you had to pay to put your bag in a locker. They almost didn’t let me in because, even though my bag was clear, it had glitter. I almost had a heart attack in the line, but, luckily, another security guard let me pass, arguing that it was indeed a clear bag. There were also very strict policies about recording the event with professional cameras. For Harry, they sent an email with measurements of the ideal bag you could bring. Regardless of what artists you’re going to see, research the venue’s rules, because it would be a pity to travel all the way there just for the guards to not let you pass.
5. Transportation
If you can spend as little transportation money as possible, that would be ideal. Search if the city you’re visiting provides public transportation, like trains or buses. You can also find out if it’s possible to walk, or it’s economically feasible to rent a car during your stay. Even when you don’t think so, Uber, Lyfts, and Taxis take a lot of your money. So, if it’s safe enough to walk and take public transportation, I would recommend it. It’s also another way to explore the city.
It’s also important to have an idea of how you’re going to get back to the hotel once the concert is over, because there’s going to be thousands of people wanting to grab an Uber as well as you. This is the part where booking a hotel close to the venue comes in handy. For Harry, my cousin dropped me off and picked me up, but it took him over an hour to arrive because the traffic was insane. For BTS, our hotel was 2 minutes away from the venue, so we just walked there after everything was over. Have a plan B if an Uber can’t pick you up. Always stay safe!
6. Save money for merch
You’ll be spending a lot of money on the trip, whether it be for transportation, food, or other stuff you may buy. That being said, it’s important to separate a budget for the merch. You may think that you’re not going to buy merch or say “I will only buy one thing and that’s it”; but I assure you that when you’re there, and you’re riding the adrenaline rush, you’ll want to buy everything in sight. With Harry, I was only interested in buying one shirt, but then I ended up with two shirts and a poster. With BTS, let’s just say my credit card balance took severe damage, and it was quite a struggle to carry everything back to the hotel.
How can you make a budget? By doing your research! Usually, the tour merch that’s sold in the venue tends to have around the same price of the merch sold on the artists’ websites. So, by having an idea of how much they cost, you’ll be able to separate the money that will be spent in merch only. You can also search on social media for previous concert’s merch. It’s pretty common for fans to take pictures of the merch and write or post about the price online, so you can plan what you want to buy beforehand and have your money on hand to make the process go smoothly. The merch is another reminder of that special night, so save that extra money. Trust me, you’re not going to regret it.
7. Don’t make plans for the day of the concert
Believe me, this is the best tip on this list. If you’re going to see your favorite artist for the first time, you’re going to want to enjoy the entire day. That means, no stress, good food, and lots of time to get ready. I made the mistake of having plans on the same day as Harry’s concert. My family and I went to a lot of places that day, including going to Costco and visiting Universal to get something with the tickets sorted out. Everything that could go wrong that day actually went worse. We got lost on the way back to the house, there was heavy traffic, I hadn’t eaten properly, and everything that we had to do took way more time than usual. All of this amounted to me rushing to do my makeup while eating, and then I arrived sharp on time which meant I only took two pictures of myself that day. I felt very pressured and rushed, so I couldn’t really enjoy the butterflies nor the time of getting readyー which is essentially why I made sure I didn’t make that mistake for BTS. For both days, my friends and I didn’t make any plans, which meant we took all day to charge our bodies, get ready, and eat well before arriving at the venue with a lot of time to take pictures. It’s better to take pictures before the concert because the lighting is better and you won’t have to worry about the security guards kicking you out of the venue; which, by the way, has actually happened to me.
I hope you have the best experience if you ever decide to go to a concert abroad. I assure you, it will be the best time of your life!
