26 December 2016 Hello from the Future!

30 Hours Later…

After four flights and over 30 hours of travel, I’m here. I made it. I’ve arrived. Hello New Zealand!

Greetings from the Christchurch Airport!

None of my flights were delayed, which is pretty remarkable given my luck. Here’s how it went:

• Washington D.C. to Charlotte, NC (~1.5 hour flight)
• Charlotte, NC to Los Angeles, CA (~5 hour flight)
• Los Angeles, CA to Auckland, NZ (~13 hour flight)
• Auckland, NZ to Christchurch, NZ (~1.5 hour flight)

My four boarding passes, representing hours and hours of riding on planes to get to Christchurch.

Counting the layovers between each flight, I really did travel over 30 hours to get here. I’m ready for a shower, a sandwich, and a well-deserved nap!

International Date Line

While on the long plane ride across the Pacific Ocean, I crossed the International Date Line (or IDL for short). This is the imaginary line of longitude, located at about 180 degrees east (or west) of the Meridian, where the date changes by one whole day.

So while families across the U.S. were celebrating Christmas or the first night of Hannukah, I skipped from December 24 to December 26.

And now, in New Zealand, I am 18 hours ahead of my friends who are on Eastern-Standard Time. Today is Monday, December 26 for me, but still Sunday, December 25 for most of you. Hello from the future!

The (Tentative) Plan

For the next two weeks or so I’ll be traveling around the southern island of New Zealand, hiking, eating, and exploring with my boyfriend, Travis.

January 8 & 9 I’ll be back in Christchurch where the United States Antarctic Program headquarters are.

As I walked to my hotel, I passed the United States Antarctic Program building. Behind it I could even see some of the planes with skis instead of wheels!

On January 9 I’ll attend orientation and receive my Extreme Cold Weather gear (read about ECW in my previous journal). January 10 is my “on-ice” date when I’ll fly to Antarctica (assuming everything goes according to plan).

Follow Along!

I hope that you’ll follow along with my adventure! If you haven’t already, look for the “Subscribe” button on the right of this page and enter your email address. You’ll receive an email each time I post a new journal.

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