I boarded the plane to Sydney. Oh, if only I had more experience in travel, I would have realized sooner that I could have spent 3 days sightseeing in Sydney on a transit visa! But instead, I flew there just because I couldn't find a direct flight from Guangzhou to Auckland for $1020, and this one with a layover in Australia cost me $1032.

On September 27, I barely made it to 5:00 p.m. at work because all my thoughts were on what was coming up. I spent the next almost 2 days in the sky and in airports, on my way to the other side of the earth - New Zealand. 17,000 kilometers, 36 hours, including 22 hours in the sky… Yeah baby! Jubilant was my pent-up curiosity! And so it flew…