Start of Something Big

Kia ora (hello) from Auckland, New Zealand. This is the start of an incredible journey as we embark on a ten-week circumnavigation of the globe. Along the way, we’ll be exploring New Zealand, Australia, Bali, India, the Seychelles, and South Africa.

A Little Background on This Adventure

We’ve been discussing this trip for years, and in June, we finally booked our flights. We’re using ANA Airlines’ Around the World ticket, which allows up to eight stops on Star Alliance airlines. Booking the flights was an adventure in itself—balancing logistics, flexibility, and availability took several hours of planning and a long call with an ANA customer service rep. Since the inventory for these tickets is tight, we had to adjust some routes, like our flight into Auckland.

We used American Express Membership Reward points, transferring them to ANA frequent flyer accounts to secure the award tickets. In addition to the ANA flights, we purchased additional flights, so our total itinerary looks like this:

Future Flights:

• Auckland → Christchurch

• Queenstown → Melbourne

• Melbourne → Sydney

• Brisbane → Denpasar, Bali (via Singapore)

• Denpasar → Delhi (via Singapore)

• Delhi → Mahé Island, Seychelles (with a stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

• Mahé Island → Cape Town (via Addis Ababa)

• Cape Town → Newark

The Journey Begins

Our adventure officially started on Wednesday morning when we flew American Airlines from Philadelphia to Phoenix, then onward to San Francisco. During a seven-hour layover at SFO, our friend Ed picked us up for dinner. It was great catching up after a couple of years, and Ed was still basking in Michigan’s recent victory over Ohio State.

One downside of the ANA award ticket is that it doesn’t allow upgrades. On the United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Christchurch, we flew Economy Plus. Fortunately, we had an open middle seat, so Jane stretched out, using my lap as a footrest. I took an Ambien, and we both managed to sleep on the long flight. Since we couldn’t secure a nonstop flight to Auckland, we had a layover in Christchurch, where we relaxed in the Air New Zealand Lounge before our final leg.

Welcome to Auckland

Upon arriving in Auckland, we took an Uber to the Sheraton Four Points and had a bit of downtime so we watched the Lions vs. Packers game on Thursday Night Football. Later, we strolled down to the waterfront and enjoyed dinner at Brothers Beer Brewery, along with a couple of IPAs.

One of the perks of being in the Southern Hemisphere at this time of year is that we get to enjoy Summer. The sunny, 70-degree weather made for a perfect start to our trip.

Follow Along!

As we make our way around the world, we’d love for you to join us on this adventure. You can subscribe to our travel journal at the bottom right of our blog: http://travelingwalters.com (always a marketer).

Spotify Wrapped 2024

Unrelated to travel, but I just got my Spotify Wrapped for 2024 and couldn’t resist sharing it If you’re a fan of Wrapped like I am, feel free to share yours—I’d love to see what you’ve been listening to.

Looking forward to sharing more updates soon. Let the adventure begin!