Oh PLEASE, don't let this be any indication...

I spent a week back in the Bay Area getting some work wrapped up, running errands, visiting with friends and trying to figure out how I am going to take ONE backpack for almost 2 months. I finally had my bag packed and was ready to go!

I have been staying in San Ramon with my mom. From her place, the easiest way to get to SFO is to take the local bus to BART and take BART all the way around the bay to the airport. My flight plan was SFO to LA, a 3 hour layover and LA to Auckland, New Zealand. I was transferring on BART when I realized - HOLY SHXX..I am going to miss my flight! I don't know what happened. I think I looked at the schedule wrong or calculated the timing wrong or both. There was no way I was going to make the flight to LA. I was panicing because of course, I bought a non-refundable ticket. Any changes would pretty much be equivalent to buying a new ticket. I wanted to throw up. I went to the Quantas desk and there were no staff available for 15 minutes when the next flight was open for ticketing. I was on the phone holding for their customer service and they were not answering. I headed over to the Southwest desk because I thought if I could get to LA, I could still make the flight to Auckland. I finally got a hold of the Quantas office and they wanted my ticket number which was in my email and I couldn't get it while on the phone with them. She told me that depending on my ticket, my seat would not be held from LA. It was a nightmare. I ran back to the Quantas desk and I started crying. The guy was so nice (he probably can't stand it when females cry). They didn't have any flights to get me to LA in time but if I could get on the Southwest flight then they would hold my place from LA. There I go again, over to the Southwest desk...keep in mind, Quantas is in the International terminal and Southwest is in Terminal 3. Luckily, I had a free Southwest voucher so the flight to LA only cost $2.50 and I was going to arrive 45 minutes before the flight to Auckland. I had to pick up my bag and get to the Internationl terminal in LA, check my bag and get through security in a damn hurry!

Thank the travel gods, it all worked out. The flight from LA was delayed by 30 minutes and my missing the first leg did not lead to additional charges. Amen! I really hope this is not an indication of how this trip is going to go for me. Let this be the one snafoo I encounter!

I boarded the plane - an over night flight of approximately 15 hours. First request on the plane - WINE please. I watched "Life as we know it" and slept pretty well considering how worked up I was. I was exhausted - mentally and physically...