I say this every time - I hate travelling

I’ve said it before and no doubt I will say it again. Travelling is the pits. 

My trip started with a ride to the airport with my great friend Anne. Thanks Anne. 

Checkin had not been completed before hand as I do not have all electronic permit to enter the US and the AirNZ site checks this before issuing a boarding pass.  So after a lot of keying from a delightful staffer I eventually got my boarding pass, my upgrade and my blag slowly made its way along the conveyor. 

A weighty effort on my part this time at 18k but that includes 4 jars of coffee, sleeping linen and towels for my homestay whilst volunteering and 30 exercise books, pens, pencils and souvenirs to leave in Guatemala. 

Next stop a Gorilla Burger, my go to food at the airport. Every bit as yum as I remembered. What a chunk of brisket does to an average burger is indescribable and I had to mop up the dribbles as I went. 

Time to board. Last week when I travelled to Sydney for the day there was a huge delay at international security. I was dreading the same might happen now but we moved along nicely. 

Until, that is, some idiot decided to go run through the arrival gates in the opposite direction causing a security breach with conveyor belts stopping and security guards giving chase. What a dickhead. 

It was’t long before service resumed and we were flagged through security. That was a first for me. The excitement has started. 

I am just going to check. In and someone comes running in my direction with his luggage. Turned out he was travelling with his wife except, without her realising, she was on another flight!!!   

Moving on I hear ‘go back, go back’ from another security guard, directed at a woman who had brushed the security tape aside and was going up the steps to another plane.   She alights and follows the rest of us to our plane. 

Too much excitement and I’m not even on board my first flight. 

Then I was face to face with the idiots who do not understand instructions and are incapable of boarding the way they are told. How hard can that be?  People are going along the aisles in both directions, pushing, shoving and moving luggage between lockers. On the aisle I get a birds eye view. 

6 hours at Auckland Airport wasn’t great but it was uneventful. Fries and a beer for afternoon tea put paid to the weight loss I have been putting so much effort into but at least I have walked heaps. 
Now I have an hour to wait until my long haul to Houston Texas 77200. Pills popped, medi hose successfully donned,  although not with out a struggle, and I’m ready to go. Thanks to a few trips I have done over the past year I scored a free upgrade so can put my feet up and relax. 
Wint be long and I will be in Houston with hopefully no dramas at the airport with my visa status. 
Watch this space.