Ok, so first off I knew I was going to be travelling for 26 hours. That’s a long time. I knew I was going to be stopping in 3 different time zones, and that I would have to get on to different flights.

I leave Christchurch at almost 3pm in the afternoon (running through the damn airport getting everything in order) and travel to Auckland: travel time a little over an hour.

Ensue waiting in Auckland, killing time after I’ve got to the international terminal and worked out where I’m supposed to be. I leave Auckland around 7.30pm on the long haul flight to LAX. During this flight I will be disappointed to find out the the Air New Zealand long haul service has improved very little since I flew with them two years ago. No personal entertainment, service was ok, dinner was very average, breakfast only marginally better – all in all, not an inspiring experience. About the best thing was some entertaining conversation from the lady sitting next to me and the three hours sleep I got. Arrival time in LAX: 10.15am, the same day I left New Zealand. That’s a long Sunday. Total time so far: about 16 and a half hours.

So I go through customs, I get my bags. The conveyor for Terminal 2 is broken, so I have to lug all my luggage around the entirety of LAX to Terminal 7, where my flight will be leaving later that day. Lines. Oh the lines. Waiting in several queues (some of which I didn’t need to, but didn’t find that out until halfway down the damn things), assuming that basically once I was through the lines I would be on a plane again (or thereabouts) since that was what happened last time. So, I finally get through everything and I ask where I supposed to be. “Go upstairs to gate 70, but check the screens to make sure.” No problem. I go upstairs, I check the screens… there only flight listed going to Denver with my number has a five in front of the number and leaves at 5pm local time from gate 70A. Sweet, right?

Well, that’s still four and half hours away, so I settle in for some crosswordy good times. I call Anastasia a couple of times (man are phone cards in the US a total ripoff) and try to hear her (damn intercom announces every three minutes not to leave your baggage unattended or the police will impound it… oh, and please report suspicioius behaviour as well *rolls eyes*). I go back to my crosswords and wordfinds. Keep the mind entertained and you stay awake. Good to know when you’re waiting for a flight, right? After a while I get a funny feeling, so I go and check with one of the gate attendants that I’m at the right gate. First one says I need to go to gate 72… the next one spends about 10 minutes telling me to wait while he checks it. Is Denver my final destination tonight? No… hm, it appears your flight left over an hour ago, where were you? *sigh* Ok, so after another 5 or 10 minutes of waiting for this guy, he eventually re-routes me through Chicago, leaving that night at 11.20pm. Another 7 hours of waiting in the airport and phonecall to Florida later, I finally get on my next flight. Total time so far: about 28 hours, 45 minutes.

Another flight, this time to Chicago. No sleep, no witty banter with my fellow flyers in the morning. I watch a couple of episodes of anime on my laptop and then sit there, failing to get even one wink, let alone forty. We arrive in Chicago faster than expected (not that it matters), local time 4.20am. My flight out of Chicago leaves at 6.30, so I grab a couple of bagels and a large cup of coffee (from one of the very few places open at 5am, that is) then settle in with my crosswords again at the (right) gate. Total travel time on arrival: about 32 hours.

The final flight now into Tampa. This flight is all crosswords, stuck between a couple of early morning businessmen from Chicago, one with his paper and one with his laptop, working on a presentation. I arrive in Tampa, tired and wired, total travel time: about 36 hours.

After an emotional little while in the lobby, Anastasia and I went and found my baggage which arrived the previous night, then headed home. She had to dash off back to Uni and work, so I sat down on the couch and unpacked my essentials. At this point I’m on whatever ungodly phase of non-sleep, so I’ll try and stay awake to get into the right time zone, and get to sleep tonight. I did finally manage to get my computer working with the internet here and sent off an “I’m safe” email to the family. I had a visit from Jess in the afternoon, it was great to see her again as well. Anastasia got back around 7pm. I lasted a couple of hours more, then stumbled to bed. All in all, barring the nap I managed crossing the Pacific, my ‘day’ had lasted about 48 hours.

Yeesh, what a day.