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a 30 minute walk???

no thanks

there's no need for me to get that much exercise 

International terminal at ORD sucks terribly. Same thing - very long walks to customs if you are on a US airline. If you are on a foreign airline, well, they get the better (closer) gates.

Absolutely terrible system there. I strongly disliked coming from international travel into ORD. That being said, it is also the place that someone there did one of the kindest things ever in my life and got me through customs onto my next flight home and I was able to see a family member before they passed a couple hours later. If i would have missed the flight, i wouldn't have made it on time after 23 hours of flights.

I personally also wouldn't touch Europe or anywhere remotely close to the middle east right now. SE Asia is a place incredibly underrated. Long flights, but if people can tackle that, it's worth it.

You've long talked about that region.

Where in particular do you recommend? 

Depends on how much time someone has. If it's just a week or so, I would do Thailand. Fly into bangkok, give that a day or two, then head out to Phuket or Krabi areas.. Also I would go to Railey Beach.. Still one of my favorites and the food in the area was amazingly good, especially the italian restaurant. Can't miss a boat trip to the Phi Phi Island. Still the most beautiful water and area I've ever seen. Makes the carribean look mediocre which is shocking.

If someone had 8-10 days, I'd fit in going up to Chiang Mai and visiting the elephant reserve. The interactions with elephants and the experience of bathing them in a river in such a remote area of the world is unreal.

Now if timeline is a couple weeks lol.. People should fit in Cambodia, go to Siem Reap, Angkor Wat nad Phnom Penh. If budget isn't a factor, then definitely head into Singapore for a couple days. Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos.. All those would be low on the list. Vietnam definitely has some beautiful coastal areas, but still a lot of impact there from the Vietnam war. US passports not loved still in some areas. 

We ended up doing TSA Precheck instead of Global Entry b/c we don't travel international very often, and I think the closest place to do the in-person stuff was Port of Long Beach or LAX. Instead we could do TSA Precheck at the Orange County airport.

Do you know that once you do it, you don't need to go back? Renewals are all on line.

We're slated to head to Paris and London with a symphony group, the maestro is conducting there and wanted some HFA.  We'll fly into Marseille as it's cheaper than Paris, and the step daughter lives there.  I'm not much of a London fan.  I guess I'm not much of a Paris fan either relative to its rep.

We booked a cruise for Japan/SK in March.  The flight will be brutal.  And Hawaii in December, then San Diego.

International terminal at ORD sucks terribly. Same thing - very long walks to customs if you are on a US airline. If you are on a foreign airline, well, they get the better (closer) gates.

It was a long damn walk to customs when we came back from our honeymoon on Lufthansa to ORD. Fortunately, United staff knew our flight was late from Frankfurt and hustled us through customs and the transfer bus so we could make our connection to Detroit. 

Delta at Kennedy is the same way. LONG walk to customs. Also, Precheck gains you nothing at the Delta terminal. Everyone had to wait in the long queue maze. 

Also, don't fly Delta into O'Hare if possible. They go out of the international terminal, and it's a pain in the ass to get into the city from that terminal.