I consider myself a pretty damn good packer. And I have also learned to love and embrace carry-on packing instead of checking a larger bag. What a nightmare it would be to get to another country and not have my luggage there! Since I travel so often for work, I have “go-bags” ready with all my toiletries and chargers. The normal fun stuff. So what do you pack for 8 days in New Zealand? At first I thought it would be easy, a few pairs of hiking shorts, a few shirts, and done. Then I saw the weather. Rain. Ok, switch up time. I wasn’t sure if I packed right but in addition to underwear and socks, I only packed 2 pairs of hiking shorts, one pair hiking pants (that zip off and become shorts), one pair board shorts, one skirt, 3 pairs leggings (yes, 3 is overkill but they don’t take up much room), 2 long sleeve golf pull-overs, 3 athletic tanks, 5 cotton tanks, and a rain jacket. And I managed to squeeze it all into one medium and one large eagle creek packing cubes. If you have not discovered and not used the compression packing cubes you are missing out. I ran to REI to grab one more before I left and discovered that they have expandable ones now! So you can expand, pack, and then zip back up to compress even more! Game changer!
Since I was pretty much staying in a different location every night I wanted to pack in a way where I could easily access pieces without having to unpack more than I need. It worked beautifully! What would I have done differently? Pack less regular cotton tanks and more athletic ones, they dry way quicker and you don’t feel as yucky wearing them in the humidity. I used almost everything I packed, the skirt, two of the leggings, and two of the cotton tanks got zero use but I think everything else did. Being able to do laundry was also key, as was rolling and packing my cubes in a single layer (I had a tops cube, a bottoms, cube, and then a socks/undies/nightwear cube) so I could easily unzip, grab what I needed without disturbing anything else, and zip back up.
On my way home now, I did check my carry-on suitcase. For two reasons, first I had been warned that Air New Zealand has pretty small overhead bins so they could fill quickly, and, well, second and more important, because the travel hiking pack I had originally taken folded down in my bag was now my second carry-on filled with nothing but tea and chocolates, my only souvenirs from New Zealand (save from the yoga mat and umbrella I bought and never used – yes, I was that weirdo straight-up carrying a yoga mat through the airports over my shoulder – and my wooden carvings from Hell’s Gate)!
I wish I could fly Air New Zealand everywhere! So far this flight home is a dream. I upgraded to an economy plus sky couch seat, only something like $50, and so worth it. There is a little leg rest that comes up to either 60* or 90* to elevate your feet and even allow you to make a platform. And the middle seat next to me is empty!!! I deserve this empty seat after being squished in with the psychiatrist from Michigan who diagnosed me with sleep-phobia after a brief chat about sleeping pills (he may be on to something there, after his diagnosis he directed me to some meditation resources and suggested I give that a go, and I shall when I get home). On the window seat, however, is the most amusingly cranky old lady. I’m not sure what her deal is. When I first got on she asked me to trade seats with her. Not a chance in hell lady, I’m keeping my damn aisle seat thank you very much. She grumbled that she didn’t want it either and was upset to be stuck against the window and upset at the pillow/blanket/headphones nicely laid out on each seat, it was cramping her style! At the beginning of the flight the crew came by and handed out our Customs Declaration forms, she insisted she needed three copies of the form. Ok. When they came to serve dinner, the attendant, with his New Zealand accent, asked if she wanted the chicken or the beef. “I can’t understand you, don’t worry about it, I can’t understand you” she kept saying. I interpreted, or really, just repeated. Oh, ok, she wanted the beef. When they came by to offer drinks a minute later, she said she wanted whatever was free. Well, its all free; water, soda, random beverages, coffee, tea, beer, wine, cocktails, all free. Ok, then she wanted wine. Great, the flight attendant started to rattle off the options; sparkling, Sauvignon blanc, Riesling, chardonnay, merlot, Pinot noir. She just stared. He looked at me and I shrugged. He tried another tactic; red or white? I repeated it to her, that worked, she wanted red. Ok, then, what kind? Red. Ok, then, merlot or pinot noir I repeated to her. These options were not acceptable. She sneered, like seriously you’d think he’d just offered her manure and said “merlot” in a voice only worthy of a Disney villain. It’s been quite entertaining. When I got up to use the bathroom a little bit ago the flight attendant asked if I was traveling with her, he’s a bit concerned she has dementia, and I am as well. Of course, he also then asked me if I was from Indiana, we shared a laugh as I explained the braided pigtails is the optimal style for humidity hair.
But let’s now unravel some of that. The crew on Air New Zealand, so far so friendly and funny, save for one bitchy lady but the four others I’ve talked with make up for her. At the beginning of the flight when they introduced the pilots they even said to let an attendant know if you were interested in having a word with them and at some point during the flight a pilot would come say hi! I’m tempted to try this just to see if they actually do. And the food and drinks. Wow. I’m not sure if it’s because of the upgraded cabin I’m in but all cocktails free. I’m not partaking because I don’t want to end up with a headache on the long flight. And the food, when they served dinner I was skeptical. Honest to god, it looked like dog food. But I gave it a go and it was good! Like really good! Beef casserole with mashed potatoes and green beans, pasta salad, a roll, cheese and crackers, and a freaking delicious ice cream for dessert. One of the best meals I’ve had on this trip. Go figure! The seatback entertainment unit is far superior to United as well. I played with the map feature, reading about different cities while I enjoyed my meal. There’s no wifi on this plane but that’s perfectly fine with me. Except that I did want to google Richard Branson. There’s a gent in first class that I swear looks just like him.
If you get a chance to fly Air New Zealand, do it.
It’s morning now, roughly 10 hours have elapsed and we’re a mere 75 minutes from landing at SFO. I took a couple Tylenol PMs and tried to get some sleep, I thought the sleep would come easier than it did as I was exhausted and my eyes were starting to close as I wrote. Plus, I had the little footrest thingy and an empty seat next to me! Getting comfortable was a pain, I was hot, then cold, then restless, then I finally fell asleep and the entire right side of my body went numb from being curled up on my side. The nasty old lady in the window seat was leaning against the window sleeping so, yes, at one point I did try to use the vacant seat between us to lay down, it didn’t last long. In the end, I managed to get about 2 hours of good solid sleep before they flipped on the cabin lights and cheerily wished us all a good morning, announcing it was time for breakfast! There were two breakfast options, the hot option of eggs with chicken sausage and baked beans and the cold cereal option. When they stopped at our row the old lady just stared so I did as I had the night before, explained to her the options and asked which she wanted. Cereal, but by god she was sharp and rude in how she responded. We got our breakfast trays and I opened the seatback tray between us to use for our extra trash and to give us extra room. Who wouldn’t?! As she fumbled with her tray her dish of fruit fell to the ground, “It’s fine she barked, I’m not going to touch it!” Not going to touch it? It’s a few pieces of fruit for crying out loud. I was NOT going to have fruit rolling around my feet so I put the middle tray up, reached down myself and cleaned up the mess. I was polite about it, very much so, I didn’t seem bothered at all because it wasn’t that big of a deal and I already knew what a piece of work this lady was. “I wasn’t going to cross into you’re domain” she rudely snapped at me. My domain? I looked at her confused and kindly said, “It’s not my domain, it’s shared space.” She made a grunting noise and said “No! It’s not!” Whatever lady. I am certainly not taking up the entire seat. It still has on it the pillow and blanket it came with and I have my pillow and the airline provided blanket resting on it as well, against me, I’m not even taking up half the chair. Yes, my bottle of water and tiny shoulder purse are on the floor under the seat, but again, right against my leg. This lady is a bonafide bitch. And no, I don’t feel bad calling a little old lady a bitch. She’s nasty. I feel sorry for her. It can’t be easy to be so miserable.
Anyways, the breakfast again resembled dog food. But again was surprisingly good! I devoured it all. Between writing and attempting to sleep this flight has passed really quickly. I don’t even have time to watch a movie! Just a short couple hours to layover in SFO, a quick commuter flight to SMF, and I’ll be home.
FYI – Global Entry – totally worth it! And customs in SFO, way easier than LAX!
Taking On the World 
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