One Word to Rule Them All
If you could only choose ‘one’ word to describe season 4 of Bon Voyage, what would it be?
Following the airing of Episode 8: Story Untold, the final installment of “BTS BON 4OYAGE” ARMYs throughout the world took to social media to express their thanks and appreciation for the joy this season had given them. Twittersphere was buzzing with words like ‘healing’, ‘amazing' and ‘heart-warming’. Perhaps most endearing about this particular season though was seeing the seven members reuniting after their month-long vacation.
For the 7 BTS members, this was the first time since their trainee days that they had spent an extended period of time away from each other. While RM, Jimin, and J-Hope used this time to travel overseas the remaining members Jin, SUGA, V, and Jungkook remained closer to home. All of the members choosing “to enjoy the ordinary lives of young people in their 20s” by spending quality time with friends, families, furbabies and themselves. Post-vacation, Bon Voyage 4 became their first scheduled activity, taking them to the wintry and foreign countryside of RM’s childhood memories: New Zealand.
How did they feel after being away from each other for so long?
As Jin so eloquently conveyed during the season’s final ments, “these guys are a part of my daily life. They’re always there, like my cellphone. It felt like my cellphone was broken during this vacation, and I had sent it in to get fixed. Now that I have my phone back in working condition, I feel very much at ease, like I could do anything. It feels like I’ve naturally gone back to my normal life.”
An Adventure of BTS, by BTS, for BTS
The beauty and appeal of the Bon Voyage reality series is that BTS “document themselves visiting and vacationing in a new and unfamiliar country”. Season 4 was highly anticipated by ARMYs across the world, however, it was especially meaningful for New Zealand ARMYs (such as myself) as we tuned in each week to watch BTS road-tripping around the picturesque landscapes of our country’s beautiful South Island. Weverse created a colorful visual diary and every week mapped out the next part of BTS’ journey for viewers, as depicted below.
Precious Memories
From RV driving to grocery shopping, campfire cooking to car karaoke-ing, horse-riding to star-gazing, the 7 members of BTS continued to share precious moments with ARMYs over the course of eight main episodes, accompanied by eight behind-the-scene episodes. Throughout this time we saw how the members coped with the unfamiliar such as driving with the steering wheel on the right-hand side, lighting camp-fires or cuddling lambs. However, we also experienced the members ‘in their elements’, so to speak, with V horseback riding across the meadows, Jin and SUGA salmon fishing, and Jungkook catapulting through the air, upside-down. Jimin revealed how much he loves the snow when we heard that familiar emotional quaver in his voice at Mount Cook and J-Hope gave us the best hidden-camera response when the members jokingly ‘ditched’ him at the petrol station in the small town of Geraldine.
Undoubtedly though, realizing the additional burden that RM carried as the group’s leader, hearing him speak of his concerns and then forego planned activities so that he could focus on work spoke volumes about his leadership, work ethic and overall desire to be a productive member of the team.
Special Mention
It would be a travesty not to ‘highlight’ one of the most unexpected, yet welcomed sights from this season instigated by BTS’ golden maknae, Jungkook. His long, untamed locks may be gone now, but the images captured in this photo collage will be forever imprinted in the hearts and minds of many ARMYs everywhere. Every time Jungkook styled his hair, his hyungs - as well as ARMYs - could not help but ‘uwu’.
Recently, this particular collage has surfaced on twitter, a reminder of the time that Jungkook’s “사과머리(apple hair)” trended #6 in Korea, back in November 2019.
Up Close & Personal
There is something magical about going to sleep at night and waking up the next morning knowing that the BTS members are sleeping under the same moon and stars as you and waking up to the same sun, in the time-zone as you. Their stay in New Zealand was over too soon, but to hear the members saying that they would like to return and stay longer “next time” is music to our NZ_ARMY ears. This has been ‘a season to remember’.
A Few Fun Facts
Fun fact #1: New Zealand is a small country with a small population of just over 4.8 million people.
Fun fact #2: There are more sheep than people, with a ratio of 5:1
Fun fact #3: RM pointed out during the ‘driving in NZ’ video that NZers are often referred to as kiwis in recognition of one of the country’s native birds.
Fun fact #4: When the NZ_ARMY fanbase learned of BTS’ arrival, a very NZ approach to protecting BTS’ privacy was initiated. As a result the “Pineapple Lump Protection Policy” was born, ensuring that BTS’ experience while in NZ remained peaceful and private.
BTS Fanchant
There’s only one OT7 way to finish this blog and that’s by acknowledging the BTS Fanchant ‘Bon Voyage’, created by V during their pre-brief dinner. Episode 3 introduced us to the acoustic version and gave us a taste of an EDM version as well. We all know though that when it comes to BTS whatever version they choose to share is both entertaining and memorable.
DISCLAIMER: We do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.
Written By: Mama Shelley
Edit By: Aury
Aury was right, this is cute🥰