Floating Phil

Trying to stay in touch with the world while sharing my adventure, posting some photographs and recording my thoughts.

A very loooong day and the start of a new adventure.

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Phil

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Here we go, actually… here I go, 

 
Today was a very loooong day.  I started it, waking up at 02:15[am] NZ standard time.  Making sure my bedding goes through the laundry, dry and ready for when I get back.  Checking the final things, packing the last of my stuff and waiting for Clint to give me a ride to the airport.  I am glad he offered to take me to the airport… a last minute, quiet moment before the chaos start.
The first flight of this leg: Christchurch to Auckland.  A little delayed taking off because of all the fog that covered NZ during the past few days, but all in all okay.  Once again, the Air New Zealand staff were great with administration, adding my extra checked luggage and ensuring it is marked as priority… in an attempt to make my future connections faster.  Thank you.  This was the “easy” flight, short in duration and still in familiar territory.
The second flight of this leg: Auckland to San Francisco.  It was an estimated 12 hour flight that turned out to be a little shorter thanks to weather conditions and/or perhaps the pilots bumping the throttle.  It was great to arrive in San Francisco 40 minutes earlier than scheduled, but to be honest… the flight was still 6 hours too long if you ask me.  I didn’t have too much time here, just focused on making my connection to Denver while being sleep deprived and exhausted.  (Walking dead)  I stepped outside the terminal briefly to smell the “fresh air” and take a photo, but you can argue this could be anywhere.  I am sorry that I am not spending more time here to go see the “sites”, but I am on a different mission.
The third and final flight of this leg: San Francisco to Denver.  “Lets finish this” was the thought that came to mind…  After collecting my bags, passing through immigration and passport control and re-checking my bags, I had a quick moment for breakfast.  Strange that it is still the 18th of July, and the Haaikie is still being fed breakfast for the third time in a row.  The flight was okay, not to long and I think the Hamster pulled the shutters for a brief moment to catch some zzzz’s.
Arrived at Denver airport on time, just after noon and I could almost “smell” the end of the travel for this leg.  Collected ALL of my luggage (thank you universe) and took an Uber to the hotel.  It is ~2pm, sunny and 30 degrees Celsius and my my whole “zoo” was exhausted.
 
I made it to the hotel, all checked-in and in my lovely room around 2pm (local “Denver” time).  Time to unpack, shower, clean up and maybe take a rest.  After all that, and a “nana-nap” I did a little exploring of the hotel and the ground I am staying at/on.  This place is huge on a scale that I am not use to… wow.
All in all, I think it was a great and successful start to my trip.  I always knew this day was going to be tough, but tomorrow is another day… for exploring and getting ready for the meditation retreat.  In the grey small letters following every blog post is information about my location, date of the post and the post number… to help the WordPress search engine amongst other things.  It is great that the location where I sleep tonight has changed, signaling to more unknowns in the future.   
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-39.8175 – -104.7509
18 July 2024
FP-189

4 responses to “A very loooong day and the start of a new adventure.”

  1. I guess the overall contrast with the switch from small town South Island to San Fran and then Denver is immense and a bit like waking up on a different planet, but my recollection of such journeys is always welcoming the return to the relative peace and tranquility of home.
    Now it’s time to open up and have a blast in one of the most advanced vast countries in the world.
    Starting this journey of a lifetime with a week of meditation is a bit of a masterstroke, and something most people will be envious of.
    Now I’m looking forward to seeing who emerges at the end of your retreat and seeing who turns up when we meet in Cape Town at the end of September.
    This whole ‘gig’ will undoubtedly be truly life changing for you. WELL DONE FOR HAVING THE COURAGE TO DO IT!

    • Wow, thanks Clint. Yes, time to truly embrace the unknown and “dive” in. Thank you for the support and it will be good to see you in Cape Town… whoever I might be.

    • Yes, between all the fog and computer problems, I picked a pretty good date to fly. Looks like the universe is on my side.