Getting There

Apologies--this should have been posted a week ago so I tweaked it and will post again shortly.

This go around I changed the title of this blog.  Mel's Travel Blog was just too "blah". I was jealous of all the great names out there.  My favorite for the name and also all of Shannon's wealth of information is "a little adrift". I highly recommend reading through the information pages because she really covers it all there. She's sensible and helpful, especially if you're thinking about volunteering abroad.

So now I have a blog named after a Hilary Duff song. Yes, she's still producing music and you should go buy it. But it's more than my affection for this Disney pop star that got me interested. Most people I know in the US right now are dealing with the dreary gray of winter and because of my westward travels , I am quite literally chasing the sun. I had lunch this week with a woman who mentioned that New Zealand is where the sun first rises on the day, super cool. 

I caught my first glimpse of the sun in South Korea--although it was still chilly there.  I had a day layover in the fine city of Seoul where I made arrangements the week prior to stay at the airport spa for the night. When I arrived, the sleeping areas were full…hmmm. So okay, I'll just go use the sauna I said. Not thinking that I'm a sheepish American and being naked in front of a whole host of strangers isn't really part of my regular day. But for all these Korean women, it was. So of course I kept on a tshirt and shorts while steaming but after a while and hearing some of the girls laugh at my silliness, I said "Screw it" either I do this or I leave. After a very long flight it was nice to relax a bit, but also a little frustrating since I had nowhere to sleep. And I think I discovered the miracle Dr. Bronner's soap isn't my favorite shampoo, my hair smells like hemp (since it is really Hemp oil no matter how it's scented).

From the time I left the US, I was able to remove eight films from my Netflix queue with inflight entertainment. I'd been strategic with my sleep and not slept on the plane longer than an hour so I would really hit the pillow when we landed. Plan foiled. So I waited in the ticketing area till I could check in for my next flight. Mom calls me a "vagrant", but in Madison I would be an NPA (no permanent address). I had lots of company though and my fleece blanket, pillow, and downloaded movies were helpful (Beverly Hills Cop restores even the most far gone sense of humor). Once 6:30 rolled around I could get in to Korean Air's Prestige Lounge for some snacks and a nap in a more comfortable chair. The sun came out and I got to see the gorgeous landscape. Flying to Auckland allowed for some sleep, but when travelling business class they keep trying to feed you, I'm pretty sure I upset the flight attendant when I refused the last few  courses though. 


I finally landed in Auckland, and ran to the domestic terminal to catch a flight to Queenstown. All in all as flying experiences go, this was fantastic. People were actively looking to help me. I would stand at a kiosk to check in and someone would greet me and personally take care of it for me. This is also how I discovered that Air New Zealand has the coolest uniforms.  Though I suspect at the end of this trip I'll have a full evaluation on that topic since I just saw some more awesome ones today and Korean Air had very cool hair accessories.

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