After eighteen days abroad in the South Pacific, traveling to Tahiti to Australia, it was finally time for Ann Taylor and I to return home. Going into the trip, we knew that our return voyage would be incredibly long, but we had hoped that the rest of the vacation would make it worthwhile to spend more than eighteen hours in the air. Looking back, I can confidently say that every moment on the ship – and at the amazing ports that we explored – was worth every minute in the air.
Today’s timeline gets pretty confusing as we gained a full day traveling east across the International Date Line. Despite assurances from the concierge, I was still a little nervous about the St. Patrick’s Day parade disrupting our early morning travel plans; fortunately, we had absolutely no issues catching a cab around 7:45am local time in Sydney. At the airport, there was a long line for the Qantas check-in, but, like any good Shaw, I had left plenty of time to account for any delays. We did learn that we would need to pick up our bags in Los Angeles and re-check them for the second leg to New York. The flight number was actually the same for both flights, although we had a different plane (with a different crew) for each segment. Despite the crowds, the Sydney airport was very easy to navigate, and we gradually made our way to the food court for a quick breakfast before we started boarding. Of course, we also loaded up on snacks at the Hudson News – or whatever they call the airport bookstores in Australia – in preparation for a long flight.
The boarding process was smooth, and it was not long before we were in our seats. I had booked early – of course! – and arranged for a bulkhead row at the front of the economy cabin. Not only did we have unlimited legroom, but no one sat in the window seat (in a 3-4-3 arrangement), so we had plenty of room to store things during the flight. The A380 is a beautiful plane, and to the extent that any 13 ½ hour trans-Pacific flight can be considered smooth, our flight was smooth. The flight attendant never went more than an hour without offering a meal, snack, or drink, and everything was pretty tasty, at least by in-flight standards. We passed the time by watching a great selection of in-flight movies (e.g., Interstellar, The Imitation Game), reading our Kindles, and trying to rest. I say trying because even though we would have liked to sleep, especially later during the flight, we took off around 11:30am local time, so it still felt mid-day, even when the window shades were closed to darken the cabin. We tried to remember to stand up and stretch every couple of hours, which also provided an opportunity to visit the self-service snack galley (!) in the middle of the economy cabin. This was definitely not flying on a regional jet from Atlanta to Mobile.
When we touched down in Los Angeles around 6:30am local time on Sunday – yes, earlier than when we had taken off in Sydney – we were pretty tired, but we were glad to be among the first off the plane. Fortunately, we had no issues with locating either of our checked bags at the baggage carousel, and U.S. customs and passport control were slow, but smooth. LAX had a kiosk for U.S. citizens to answer the standard customs questions and take our photos; however, the paper printout did not seem to help us to save any steps or time. Maybe this is still a work-in-progress. Throughout our time at LAX, we were relieved that we were never in danger of missing our connection, as Qantas operates both flights, and almost all of the LAX-JFK passengers were coming from our SYD-LAX segment. After refreshing our snack backpack at an authentic Hudson News – at least I think it was … we were pretty zoned out at this point – we arrived at the gate in time to learn that one of the runways at JFK had been shut down due to high winds. Boarding started about twenty minutes late, but, again, was quite smooth, and we were settled into our seats in no time. We were in the middle of the 3-4-3 cabin, but there was no one seated next to me, so we still had a bit of extra room. Before the cabin door closed, the pilot let us know that we would be delayed – possibly up to five hours (!) – due to the JFK runway situation. Fortunately, they were able to negotiate a window for the poor jetlagged Australian passengers, and we were in the air around 10:00am local time, only a half-hour or so after our scheduled departure.
Compared to 13 ½ hours from Sydney to Los Angeles, 4 ¾ hours from Los Angeles to New York was a breeze. Physically, we still felt that we were on Australian Eastern Time, around 4am at take-off, and it was difficult to keep our eyes open during the flight. Having filled up on snacks during the first flight, we only picked at our domestic lunch, although we continued to drink as much water as possible. Neither Ann Taylor nor I is a great sleeper on airplanes, but we did our best to catch up on rest, knowing that we would need to start acclimating back to Eastern Time. We landed around 6pm local time on Sunday – the same day that had welcomed us back in Sydney, close to 24 hours earlier. There was a delay for our aircraft to pull into our gate, but we were both too tired to care. When we finally deplaned, we made our way to the JFK baggage claim, and we were again very relieved that both of our checked bags had arrived safely. After climbing into a cab, we checked our cell phones to find that Princess had already emailed a “welcome home – how was your cruise?” survey. I was diligent about not checking my work email while on vacation, but I had used the second flight and the cab ride to start catching up so that I would not be overwhelmed at work tomorrow morning. There are few fire drills in user experience design, but it was a relief to read that everything had gone smoothly while I was away. Ann Taylor did her best to continue to power through the cab ride, once again demonstrating that she is the best travel partner that a guy could ask for. We were both exhausted, but I know that “flying for two” – especially for more than eighteen hours – is a lot to ask.
Pulling up to our building at almost 8pm, we were so glad to finally be home. At this point, we were approaching 30 hours without sleep, and more than ready to go to bed. After almost three weeks of gourmet meals on the ship, our final vacation dinner consisted of nachos and cereal on our couch. It may not have been lobster or kangaroo, but it was exactly what we needed. And, looking back, I think that this vacation was exactly what we needed, too. At the tail end of Winter, it felt great to exchange snow and ice for the sun and sand of the South Pacific. We met a lot of pleasant and interesting people on the ship, yet we also had a lot of time just to ourselves. I really enjoyed all of the new places that we visited, and I think that our itinerary was full of fun and memorable excursions on shore. Naturally, I think that the visit to Hobbiton ranks at the top of my list, although snorkeling with sharks in Bora Bora is a close second. As our family grows, I have no idea when we will next have the opportunity to take a nearly three week vacation, or to see any of the same ports in the South Pacific, so I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to explore the world with Ann Taylor. This has been a more restful and more rewarding vacation that I could have hoped for, and, without a doubt, my favorite babymoon ever!