​Kelsey's Travel Blog!​
I travel not to escape life, but to be sure that life will not escape me! Come join me!
24 Hours of Flying
Time: 10:30 pm Pacific Standard Time December 17, 2011
Location: Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, but near LA still
Tis the first of hopefully many blog updates throughout this crazy trip of mine. Currently, I am located in Row 60, seat C on the Air Pacific Flight from LAX to Nadi, Fiji. The flight attendant, dressed in festive yet very cliché Hawaiian shirts, just rolled by with his cart of wine, as it seems that are preparing to serve the first in flight meal. Not that stir fried chicken or beef curry airplane food actually sounds that great, but if there is a full cart of red and white wine coming down the isle, then this is a guy I might need to befriend.
About 30 minutes ago, I took off from the United States for the last time until I will touch back down 8 months from now, so it was an emotional take off to say the least. I have spend majority of the day traveling: 10:30 we left for the Denver International Airport, 1:30 was our flight to LAX, and then we had the pleasure of being stuck in a wifi-less airport for a total of 6 hours. Note to anyone who is going to the Los Angeles International airport, they DO NOT have any accessible wifi (that you don’t have to pay 15 dollars for, of course) and so I am currently bookless, and movie-less (accept for the horrible 1990’s TV screen on the front of my seat. ) I am unsure as to how I am going to survive this 11 hour flight to Fiji, but I guess in a few hours, we will see.
Nevertheless, I am becoming more and more excited to be on this adventure. I am especially glad that I’m here with my sister, since without her, I can’t possibly imagine I would have survived this emotional ordeal. So all we can say is: Look out New Zealand!!
Time: 4:10 New Zealand Time December 19, 2011
Location: Somewhere closer to Fiji, but still over the Pacific Ocean
I have gone through quite a bit in the last…. 9 or so hours; Near death experiences, cultural realizations, and personal triumphs.
Ok, each of those are a bit over exaggerated, but this flight has been decently interesting for being unable to watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies like we initially intended.
There are a few things that I have learned in the last 9 hours of my life that I would like to share with the class
1.Yes, they do serve FIJI water on a flight going to Fiji.
2.There are still planes in existence that only take the two pronged, headband looking, headphones for inflight entertainment from the 1990’s, instead of the generic headphone jacks.
3.Drinking a glass of red wine really helps you get some good sleep on an International flight.
4.Turbulence over the ocean is absolutely terrifying, especially when you can see the lightning in the cloud next to you.
5.Even Fijian airplane food is not good airplane food.
6.The last Pirates of the Caribbean really is NOT a great movie… you made a very disappointed Kelsey, Jonny Depp…. Very disappointed.
As of right now, I have about 1.5 hours left in this flight from LA to Fiji, then a 3 hour layover in Nadi, and then another 4 hour flight to Auckland. Our sleep schedule is already quite screwed up, so it is going to take all of the training that I have been through in the last week during finals to make it through this.
Good thing Temple University has given me the proper tools to survive and function on near 0 hours sleep.
More updates to come!
Time: 6:00am Fiji time December 19, 2011
Location: Nadi, Fiji
I’m not quite sure what time it is, what day it is, and I am even a bit confused as to where I am… not really, but the day and the time change is really actually throwing me off. It is currently 6am in Nadi and 7am in Auckland on December 19th, yet it is 11am in Denver and 1pm in Philadelphia on the 18th of December. So, for those of you who understand what I am trying to explain, I have officially lost the day of December 18, 2011 for the rest of my life. I left on December 17th at 9:30pm from LA, and I will be arriving on the December 19th in Auckland…
Weirdest.concept.ever!!!!!
Yet here I am, Nadi Fiji! Fiji has never exactly been on my radar in terms of a vacation destination, but in the 3 hours I have in this city, I am pretty sure my opinion is going to change. Although I am confined to the airport, the airport is small enough as to where I can see some pretty cool things around it. Yes, they even sell Fiji water in the cafés. I’m not sure if they actually drink it here, or if they are actually trying to be cliché, regardless, we’ll just go with it. They are playing the latest rap, hiphop, and pop songs that were popular in the states about 6 months ago. I never thought that I would see the day I would hear Kesha in Fiji, but I guess her high quality music is notorious across the globe (sarcasm!).
I have no internet, no books, and my phone is about to die, so I’m not sure how I will survive the final 4.5 hour leg of my journey and FINALLY get to New Zealand… this lack of entertainment is the precise reason I am blogging now. Be thankful for my lack of entertainment people!
There’s not much more interesting here. Next stop? Auckland!
Time: 12:30pm New Zealand Time
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
We Finally made it into Auckland and began the uphill battle of trying to stay awake until it was actually time to sleep. We have been up for nearly 24 hours, but the vew coming into Auckland was worth the wait!
We will be heading to the South Island tomorrow. Today, Katelyn and I got into Auckland about 5 hours before Dad and Trish did, so we had a chance to explore, do some shopping, and check into the hotel. From the looks of things, I already love New Zealand!
This is going to be one hell of a trip!!
