Home(bound)

Leaving Auckland on time - just a bit bumpy - to fly back in the past and actually arriving back in North America before I left is less spectacular than it might sound.

What was spectacular was my experience at Vancouver airport. And not in a fun way. It turns out that if you arrive from NZ / with Air NZ, you need to do the full immigration into Canada, collect your luggage, get back to the checkin counter, check in again and once again through security. This is not the case of you arrive from DE - so I certainly did not expect that - and in particular not all the queues related to that.
I had two hours - luckily we were on time… 45min for CA immigration and customs, 25min to drag my luggage from the carrousel to check in (unlike in Seattle, there is no counter anywhere closer to the carousel!), and another 25min through security and US immigration (yes, you can do that already in Canada).

At security, I ended up setting off some alarms because I was slightly covered in sweat. My TSA pre and global entry did not work either… and all I wanted was to get home…

Well - good thing, the airport staff was nice (well - almost all) and it was kind of nice when the TSA agent said ‘welcome home’ after doing all the paperwork.

I eventually had 5min before boarding - treating myself with a ‘Stress Down’ juice.

And now I’m home - bags unpacked, laundry almost done, showered, something in the fridge again and kicked off my fight with Jetstar on my expenses for the Tasmania flight cancellation.

Back to work tomorrow - but I know it will take some time not only to get back to normality, but also to process all these experiences, adventures and the amazing time…

Sad it’s over - but grateful I had this opportunity and that it all worked out fine…Read more