My Trip to New Zealand and How it Almost Didn’t Happen: Part One

Whew! I have to say that these last two weeks have FLOWN by! It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago I was walking around New Zealand, visiting with people from all over the world, and seeing cars drive on the left side of the road (I still feel funny driving right now). The most unbelievable part of the whole trip though? The very beginning. The fact that this trip almost didn’t happen. Guys, I was almost in tears at the Nashville airport.

Anyone who really knows me will tell you that I am an early bird. I HATE to be late. It makes me all panicky and nervous. So, naturally, I planned to get to the airport nice and early. Driving down from Clarksville, it’s hard to plan on what traffic will be like. The whole way down my mom just kept saying, “Christy, you’re going to get there so early. You’ll just end up sitting around.” “It’s fine,” I told her, “I don’t mind.” So we make our way through stop-and-go traffic, say our goodbyes, and walk up to the little check-in kiosk. And then the kiosk tells us there’s an issue and we need to see a representative at the counter. No problem, right? Probably just a bug from the kiosk. So we go up to the counter, the lady there takes our tickets and then says, “Well, it looks like there is a delay out of San Francisco. We can fly you out tomorrow. Will that be ok?” I’m sure my face said it all. Tomorrow? TOMORROW?! No. No no no no. So, after a little problem solving, we not only changed flights but we changed airlines entirely. How long until this new flight? One hour.  One hour, people. That’s one hour to get checked in with the new airline, get through security, and make our way to the gate. I. Was. A. Wreck. We eventually made our way through the chaos, got to the gate, and boarded our first flight of the trip. The coast is clear now, right? Crisis averted? Right?

Well, then we’re sitting on the tarmac waiting for take off and the captain gets on the overhead speaker to tell us that takeoff is delayed because the plane is too heavy from being over-fueled. Then a few minutes pass by. Captain gets back on the speaker. Delayed again due to a break problem. A few more minutes go by. Flight attendant gets on the speaker. Medical emergency. All medical personnel on board go to the back of the plane. This plane is never going to leave!!! Since we changed airlines AND flights, we were only going to have an hour once we landed in Los Angeles to get to our connecting flight to New Zealand. SUPER DOUBLE EXTRA FREAKING OUT NOW!

Needless to say, it all worked out in the end. Everything else went super smoothly. But the beginning? That was rough. After I told my mom everything that happened she said, “Well, you’ll definitely have a lot to blog about.” Boy, was she right! But now? Now it’s time to get to the good stuff!

Check back in with me next week to see the places I visited, the adventures I went on, and to learn a little bit more about the awesome New Zealand culture I was fortunate enough to experience. 🙂