New Zealand Trip, Day 1 -- SFO

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After four years of dreaming, learning, and planning, Im finally leaving for new zealand. The land of the long white cloud. ...

oh…and a quick side note.. i wil do my best to not mention sheep, or lord of the rings..... but no promises….

Well, I guess it really wouldnt be right if i was on time for the biggest trip of my life so far.. ..
I left my apt in San Francisco around 7:30pm, a full hour later than planned, and somehow thought I’d be able to make it to the airport via BART (train) in an hour. An impossible feat.. which i realized as soon as i walked out of the door. So with that i quickly caught a cab, and I was on my way, feeling incredibly luckily I already checked in online
The cab driver was a really cool dude, from Sudan, and we talked of the ins and out of cab driving which made the 20 minute ride so much easier than sitting there in silence wondering if I had forgotten anything. On the way in the background on the radio i heard "we come from a land down under" sung by Colin Hay and the Men at Work. Yes I know its about Australia, but considering im flying into Sydney first, I thought I was quite fitting, if i do say so myself. I arrived a little after 8pm with over an hour to spare for my boarding time, and promptly made my way through the international terminal. A bit of confusion set in as to where I was supposed to go and which flight I was actually on. When flying multiple stops on two airlines things can get a little difficult when trying to check in. I knew I was flying on United airlines to Australia, and then after a short layover, Air New Zealand to Auckland. With that I assumed I should check in with Air New Zealand since they would be handling me and my bags through the final destination, and one would definitely understand my bit of fear when I walked in to see a sign that said -“Air New Zealand desk :Closed:” . Odd I though and headed over to the United Airlines check in desk hoping they would be able to help me. When I arrived I was relieved to see there was no line and I cheerfully made my way to a counter and presented my passport and check in doc’s I printed at home.
The man behind the counter was cold at first and then raised his eyebrows and looked at me funny when he examined my passport. He then stated that we had the same birth day, October 26, to which I replied, “oh, nice, then you understand what its like to be so incredibly cool”, luckily he laughed, as scarcasm is not always seen as funny now-a-days. Then he asks me who I voted for in the primary elections (which were held that day). Not wanting to get into too deep a political discussion, because A: I was about to go on vacation and get away from all of that and B: I knew where this one was going, because one of the candidates also shared the same birthday. Now I wont name names, but SHE is not who I voted for and I could tell by the way he asked that he did. I Replied I knew we shared a birthday but that wasn’t enough of a reason to give her my vote, and after a bit of comparisons of the candidates he checked my bag and pointed me towards my gate he wished me luck on my long voyage and I was off. As I walked away I wondered how much that discussion was going to come up on this trip, but I threw that into the back of my mind and proceeded on.
Security was quick because it was a Tuesday night and I've learned that the best way to get through it quick is to put everything in your carry-on before you go thru so you don’t have to spend time emptying your pockets before walking thru. I arrived at the gate with a little over an hour to spare, so I headed to the bar to grab a couple of drinks and relax before the long journey.

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Comments

[Yann]

Yes.
good shit, I wish I could be travelling too right now.