I've Arrived

Oh the joys of walking off a plane after over 12 hours in the air and feeling as though you smell like the morning breath of the other 200 passengers on board (or perhaps it was my own morning breath I smelled – yuck!).  The flight actually wasn’t too bothersome and thankfully, you don’t really notice the smell of morning breath until after you get off the plane and take a whiff of fresh air.  Checking in on the other hand is quite the ordeal!  I always thought getting INTO other countries was the hard part.  Oh no, it’s getting OUT of the U.S.  We make it super easy for other people to control their boarders and keep the Americans out unless they’ve jumped through hoops of fire and performed circus acts (I supposed jumping through hoops of fire is a circus act… hmmm… anyways).  After two hours at check in and an extra $700 spent, I was on my way.  Yes, I dare say breathing morning breath for 12 hours is far more pleasant than my stressful 2 hour check in.

Flight 1 Los Angeles, USA to Auckland, New Zealand – I watched Silver Lining Playbook and enjoyed every second of it.  I really like Jennifer Lawrence and am now a big fan of Bradley Cooper.  If you haven’t seen it yet, do!  The story line is good, but the acting is excellent! After breakfast I tried to watch Life of Pi and made it maybe 10 minutes into the movie before falling asleep.  I woke up somewhere in the middle and turned it off.  Then, for some reason of which I’m not sure, I thought it was a good idea to watch The Hobbit.  After about 20 minutes of that I fell back asleep until breakfast time.  I had an aisle seat and unfortunately on Air New Zealand when the person in front of you lays their seat back they're laying in your lap… “Oh, hello stranger!”   Even when you lay back into someone else’s lap there’s still little room because the bottom of the seat moves forward… weird.  I’ve never been more grateful to have short stubby legs than I was in the moment my knees hit the back of the seat in front of me and I thought “Damn, I’ve actually got it good compared to someone who is, say 5’5” as opposed to my 5’4”.  Bless the person’s knees who is over 6’.”  Thankfully I have the gift of sleep.  I can sleep just about anywhere if I’m tired enough and sleep is what I did with someone’s head in my lap, my head in another’s lap, and my knees pressed again the seat back.

Flight 2 Auckland, New Zealand to Brisbane, Australia – Uneventful, which is absolutely perfect after all the events leading up to flight 1.  After a nice catnap I finished watching The Hobbit.  It was good, but I like The Lord of the Rings better.

Flight 3 Brisbane, Australia to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – By the time I boarded this flight I realized what an excellent checked luggage packer and a terrible carry-on luggage packer I am.  I’m a meticulous packer and can fit things in places you didn’t even know existed in your suitcase.  When it comes to carry-on luggage though I packed only a laptop, iPod, camera, and several books.  This is all good and well, but after 36 hours without brushing your teeth or applying deodorant you start to develop a stench and one that’s not too pleasant when combined with the morning breath smell I acquired on the first flight.  So here I sit using a napkin to “brush” my teeth and a piece of Extra to give that fresh breath smell (or so I hope).  Also, all my power converters made their way into my checked luggage.  This is all fine and well until you find out you’ll be stuck in a foreign city in a foreign country for 6 days and your only source of communication is a laptop and an iPod both of which have batteries that are nearly drained.  Thankfully, my message about being stuck in Port Moresby was received and a ride from the airport to a house was arranged as well as getting me on a flight out the next day.  The people I stayed with were lovely and provided a much needed shower, bed, and food.  I know people who know people and this turned out to be a very, very good thing.

NOTE TO SELF (and everyone else): When taking international flights pack essentials in your carry-on… toothbrush, tooth paste, deodorant, and power converters!

Flgiht 4 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to Kavieng, Papua New Guinea – This was the shortest flight of all (about 2 hours) and seemed like the longest.  At this point I was beyond ready to be at my destination and 2 hours seemed like an eternity.  I do believe part of that was because I spent the entire flight holding back a retch that would most likely put me on bad terms with the passenger sitting next to me.  Lucky for me (and him) I did not vomit, but continued to feel terrible for the remainder of the evening.  I think all the traveling/flying/no sleep/airplane food finally caught up to me.

Annnnnnnd after approximately 42 hours in transit, I have arrived!  YAY