After months of preparation I finally took the plunge on Friday, January 28, 2011 on my journey around the world. After only a few hours of sleep, I boarded a Jet Blue flight from snowy Boston, MA and flew to beautiful and sunny Los Angeles, California. Having Direct TV in the seat in front of me definitely helped the flight go by as well as tune out the incessant ramblings of a lonely woman accross from me desperate for some company after her third bloody mary. I then proceeded to wait in LAX for ten hours due to my ridiculous layover, but as I said before I left, I better get used to waiting in airports because I am sure to be experienced in that area by the end of this trip. The flight to Auckland, New Zealand was actually much more enjoyable than I anticipated. The plane was a brand new 777 with ample legroom for my lanky body and an inbedded entertainment system in every seat that put Jet Blue to shame. The flight took twelve hours total and I was able to watch "the Social Network", which made me hate Mark Zuckerburg even more than I had previously, and one of my favorite movies of all time which I could not believe they had, "Raising Arizona". The entertainment system also included a large amount of albums you could listen to on-demand, so I was able to sleep to the sounds of the XX for a few hours which was quite pleasant, but only after a few complementary cocktails were consumed because it is virtually impossible for me to sleep on planes. I finally arrived in Auckland at 8 AM local time on Sunday. It is a seventeen hour time difference with the East Coast forward. My first impressions of New Zealand are that the weather is perfect, 75 degrees and sunny because it is summer here. The people for the most part are extremely friendly and helpful. I have not seen many Americans yet, mostly Europeans and Asians, but virtually everyone speaks English. The hostel I am staying at is literally a beehive of activity with easily over a hundred backpackers here. I will be spending the next three days here and hopefully that will give me enough time to plan my next move. As soon as I get some experiences under my belt I will be sure to update this blog.
Just a short update about how small a world this is, right after typing this blog I noticed a guy walking past with a URI shirt on. I stopped him and he and his friend are from Portsmouth, RI, which is the next town over from where I grew up. Literally a five minute drive from my house. We knew a few of the same people which was very strange and we were all the same age. They had just graduated from UNH and were traveling around New Zealand for a few months. Strange world.
Cheers
