Back in America: Part 1 of 3

Greetings from the land of plenty and more!

Yes, after over 24 hours of air travel Will and I have made it back to America! Some of you may remember our somewhat fanciful plans of having lunch in Auckland during our 5 hour stop-over in there on the way to Los Angeles because it “seemed like the most logical thing to do”. Well, after our “luggage” fiasco at the Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne we decided that we’d better not challenge destiny and stay within the confinements of the transit lounge. You can imagine the challenges that one is presented with when attempting to pack ones life belongings into a hiking pack and a suitcase (plus one carry on and a “personal item”). We thought we had the situation under control when we arrived at the airport with 1 and a half hours to spare at 5:30 in the morning, we had planned on having a leisurely breakfast that morning. However, upon stepping up to the check-in counter of the oh-so-not-as-luxurious-as-we-had-imagined of Emirates Air our sugar plum visions of such a breakfast were shattered instantly. Because our journey back to America included travelling on three different airlines, we were subject to the stingiest baggage regulations of the three. Not only were we not permitted to have a personal item as most airlines allow, which required disposing of a newly acquired suitcase, but we were 22 kilos over the permitted baggage allowance. The day before I had spent a good hour on the internet scouring over the baggage regulations of the airlines we were flying with and weighing our bags on our bathroom scale to make sure we did not surpass the 32 kilo per-bag-allowance...despite my efforts everything ended up being overweight and taking my newly acquired $20 suitcase on the flight would have cost $345. So, out with the books, the martini shaker, the jumpers, the Chinese chopsticks and everything else that wasn’t absolutely necessary to begin a new life in El Salvador that would amount to 22 kilos. Somehow during the process of purging and repacking my toiletry kit containing my toothbrush, mascara, SPF face lotion and other necessities, which was apparently worth US$87 after I replaced everything, was “lost” in the shuffle. You can imagine the shock I received in the store when the cashier rang up the last item of my so-called “necessities” and the total amount flashed in red before my eyes. I hadn’t any choice but to hand over my bank card and mutter “That’ll be from the savings account...please”.