Sydney to Vancouver via Los Angeles

Today was an early start, although not a stressful one, as our flight to Los Angeles is confirmed. This means we didn't have the stress of staff travel! Our friend Damien let us keep our car in his garage, so after driving there, we only needed to hire an Uber for the rest of the journey to the airport.

Fortunately for us, our flight on United Airlines was great. The aeroplane was only half full, meaning the majority of passengers had plenty of room to stretch out. We befriended the crew, who were good enough to give us champagne, pyjamas and comfort packs. This included the incredible Elisabeth - 84 years old, and has worked at United Airlines for 57 years.

Due to our diabetes and vegetarianism, Ted and I got our meals early, but the second meal service seemed to take forever! Maybe it was because it was a day flight, but I was ready to eat my own arm off by the time they arrived. I managed to pass the time watching A Quiet Place, Black Panther and the third Maze Runner before we arrived in Los Angeles. Another one of the Flight Attendants, Vlad, offered to help us if we though about returning home on United as well (seriously considering it)!

When we went through the LAX customs area, the queue was incredibly long but fortunately moved pretty quickly. Ted saw his friend Gaeton in the airport (another frequent traveller!) before we went outside to find our shuttle bus.

We had booked the use of a day room before our late flight to Vancouver, but since we couldn't check in until 9am, we had a coffee and muffin in the bistro until then. Even though it was still early morning in LA, we had a well deserved sleep and shower. The flight times had changed, so we ended up leaving sooner than planned for the airport.

I was starving by this time, so I bought a vegetarian burger before our Air Canada flight. The crew were similarly friendly, and fortunately our flight was not too long. Once we arrived in Vancouver, there was a long taxi queue before we could head off to our accommodation.

We booked the place through the Mister B&B website and it ended up being wonderful. It is a converted room beneath a residence complete with kitchenette and bathroom. The hosts were not there, but it didn't matter as we had our own entryway. Ted and I were not very tired, so we walked down to the nearby eat street to see if anything was open.

Fortunately for us there was a pizzeria still open which was just what we felt like. Despite the fact it was so late, we weren't really that tired and decided to go grocery shopping as well! Around 1.30am, we figured we should try to sleep since we had a full day in Vancouver the next day.Read more