The Seppos Have Landed

 We've made it!  We had quite a successful (albeit long) journey down, we had no lost luggage, our flights were on time (for the most part- late departing Atlanta), and we managed to sleep a bit on our long flight (though we're still walking zombies).


Highlights of the flight and travels include multiple instances of awkward verbiage ("utilized by other patrons," "MAGICAL!," and excessive of use of the word "rubbish," and "the loo.").  Not to mention our Canadian row companion who quietly divulged to Lydia and I that he is currently gaining his Masters in "Infrastructure and Public Security," or in other words, how to be a terrorist (no reason to fear though, he was very nice and intends to work for the Canadian government). The view coming in was beautiful, which included snow-capped mountains, lakes, small towns in valleys, cliff drop-offs into the ocean, and rainbows.
We managed to get all of our luggage from Sydney to Melbourne and from the Melbourne airport to the hotel:

Although we did over-pay the cab driver due to confusion over tips and the currency, we were happy to not have to take two separate cabs to accommodate our luggage.  We checked into our beautiful hotel room at the Westin Melbourne, though have not had much time to enjoy it. As for today, we activated our bank accounts with Australia Commonwealth Bank, purchased a pre-paid mobile from Telstra (we got the super cheapo Telstra T100 prepaid phone, as we are unsure whether or not Accenture's Professional plan will provide us with a handset), purchased Metlink (public transportation) cards, and inspected three properties (one of which was comically inadequate and the real estate agent was entirely unprepared to present the property given his inability to effectively use the myriad of keys required to enter the apartment and the fact that he didn't remember to bring any leaflets).



As for now, we're off to dinner and a beer to celebrate our successful first (half-)day in Melbourne!  We're so excited to be here and love the city already!  Thus far, the city's feel and atmosphere falls somewhere along a combination of Chicago, DC, and San Francisco (more on this later).  

Only Skip and a Jump Left

Lydia and I have successfully completed our first leg of our three-part voyage to Melbourne.  I was blessed with the honor of Delta's business elite upgrade, where I enjoyed the many buttons (7 in all to control the seat) and free scotch, while Lydia slummed it in steerage Economy Comfort.  The flight was relatively uneventful, spare the frigid temperatures up in business class which precluded any legitimate sleep, an evening shower as a result of a leaking water bottle in the overhead compartment, and Lydia's middle seat companion's substantial snoring.

At the moment, we've holed up in the LAX Delta SkyLounge where we're enjoying our Nutella™, hummus, and carrots along with our "Single Serving Friends."  Our next flight departs in two hours, where we will actually be seated adjacent to each other, where we plan to pass the 15 hours playing the "I'm not touching you" game.

Ready for Liftoff

After all is said and done, it looks like I'm going to have to check two bags and carry-on my backpack and roll-aboard, which should make for some entertaining times getting through the airports/cabs/etc.  While the vacuum-seal bags have proven to be an asset, they don't necessarily result in a neatly flattened package as advertised on the box, but more of an irregular emaciated blob- think giant prune filled with t-shirts- resulting in some creative packing.  And while the bags help minimize the volume of the clothes, they obviously cannot do the same for mass.  So I am left with the dilemma of do I leave some stuff behind to meet the weight requirement (but risk the inaccuracy of the family's body-weight scale), or just pack it all in and shell out the extra $90 for overweight luggage?  At this point I'm leaning toward the latter.

As for tasks beyond packing, I'm pretty much all ready to go:

• Turned in laptop and badge for work (will be provided new ones once I start August 9th)
• Sorted banking
• Sold car, cancelled insurance policy
• Ported phone number to Google Voice
• Tested Google Video chat
• Configured VPN server with WakeOnLAN
• Disposed of extraneous/unnecessary "stuff" (still somewhat ongoing)

It's amazing how fast the past two months have flown by as we prepare for our move!  To the friends and family that I had the opportunity to see and say goodbye to, it was great seeing you and thank you for all of the kind wishes and thoughts!  As for those of you that it didn't work out to see due to timing/schedules/geography (Family, Chicago fellas, Atlantan, Roswellian, and Athenian friends out of town, and my bromantic cruise buddy) I wish you all the best of luck and am looking forward to each of you coming to visit in the not-too-distant future!  I'll continue to have my US cell number, so please give me a call or ping me on GChat so we can stay in touch!

Depending upon the availability of free Wifi, we'll be sure to update the blog with photos and notes documenting our voyage along the way. Here's to on-time departures, safe flights, and easy travels.  Until then, "she'll be alright!"

Neither Here nor There

As Lydia and I make our final preparations and finish packing (I'm about 85% complete, as although nearly all of my clothes are packed, I am sure I will have to repack at least once before we leave), we're also preparing for the long series of flights, totaling to 29 hours of travel time (21 hours 15 minutes in-air) from Atlanta to Melbourne (tack on an additional 5 hours for Lydia since she's originating from Richmond and laying-over in Atlanta to meet up with yours truly).  Our flight times are as follows:

Depart ATL to LAX at 5:45 EST: 4 hours 45 minute flight time
Layover 3 hours 20 minutes in LA
Depart LAX to SYD at 10:50pm PST: 15 hours
Layover 4 hours 45 minutes in Sydney
Depart SYD to MEL at 11:15am EDT: 1 hour 30 minutes
Arrive in Melbourne at 12:45pm EDT

And our flight path (from Atlanta) looks something like this:

Even as frequent travelers, neither she nor I can sleep very well on planes, so we can't say we're highly anticipating the experience.  Fear not, however, because Lydia and I will be traveling in comfort.  Not First Class you see, as she and I would have to sell a kidney or other vital organ, or perhaps volunteer as drug mules to fund our tickets, but in Delta's new Economy Comfort cabin (when booking, a first-class ticket was in the order of $8000 one-way, and to even be eligible to use my Delta Skymiles to upgrade to first class [its 25,000 miles] I would have had to buy an M-fare ticket or higher, which ran roughly $4000 one-way).

  Yes, we will be privy to 4 additional inches of leg room (oh Delta, you pamper us), recline an additional 50% (shoot dang we're bonefied now!) and free beer, wine, and liquor for the whole journey (okay, so that's actually pretty awesome), all for an additional $160 (I get it for free, as I am Platinum Medallion).  With our extra 4 inches of leg room, free liquor, and maybe some Advil PM™ or Benadryl™, we're hoping we can overcome our recumbent-sleeping malaise, and catch some rest.

We are afforded two checked bags free, not to exceed 62 inches in combined length, width, or height, or 50lbs, one carry-on, and one "personal item".  My goal is to pack efficiently enough to fit everything into one large suitcase and one small roll-aboard suit case (which will be checked) and one backpack, however I do have the option to bring one more additional roll-aboard suitcase should I require it... although having to cart around three rolling suitcases could prove difficult (albeit amusing) to traverse an international airport.

*1950s-era Chinese Housewife not included

Packing itself has proven a bit complex, given that I'm using those "As-Seen-On-TV" space-saver clothes bags, as we must have warm-weather clothes available at least this week for the summer weather here, but cold-weather clothes readily accessible once we reach Melbourne, as it is winter.  While the vacuum bags have proven useful (they reduce my winter sweaters/sweat shirts to about 50% their normal volume), I have to make sure I don't pack all of my winter clothes in them.  Furthermore, should Australian Immigration/Customs like to take a closer look in any of the vacuum-sealed bags, unless they have a spare vacuum cleaner with detachable hose readily available, post-inspection packing will prove quite difficult.

One rather interesting caveat about the flight is that Lydia and I will depart on Monday July 25th and not arrive until Wednesday, July 27th, never experiencing Tuesday.  Thanks to the magic of crossing the international date line, Lydia and I will cease to exist (in terms of time anyway) for the entirety of Tuesday, July 26th.  We won't have to drink ourselves into oblivion (although why not with free booz?), we simply just have to sit there, along with our Delta flight compatriots.
   
In contrast, when we return to the States, we will have a 48-hour day.  Last time I undertook the voyage, I saw the sun rise in Fiji, I saw it set on the flight back to LA, again saw it rise in LA, then saw it set in Atlanta, all in the same day.

All in all, we're hoping for otherwise uneventful travels and smooth flights.  As for catching up on the Lost series, I do think that I'm going to wait until after we're firmly on Australia soil...

Matt + Moving + Internet

Courtesy of XKCD, This is what I'm envisioning the first few days with Matt without our smart phone hotspot/tethering or an internet provider will be like:

Confronting T-minus 2 weeks

Looking through my upcoming travel plans, I realized what little time I have left in the states. By realize, I mean that I was forced to confront what I've been pushing off as happening some time vaguely soon in the sort of near future. Sure, I've weeded through my clothes (my sister will have an entire new wardrobe), found somebody to take over my lease (thank you random white house economist), and switched banks to one with no ATM fees internationally (goodbye fee charging Wachovia!). I just haven't really addressed the whole "leaving (almost) everybody I've ever known behind" thing. For another country. On the opposite side of the planet.

I've always loved a good adventure. Even as a child I was bewildered when other kids got homesick at sleepover parties. "Um, you can go home tomorrow," I always thought. But, Australia isn't as easy to return from as a sleepover.

Making the whole thing more complicated is my recent traveling work life. Traveling to New York Mon-Thursday has really put a damper on seeing friends and family on a regular basis. Mainly I wish I had more weekends to spend visiting friends and family before I leave.

Luckily this bittersweet aspect of moving is contrasted by all the wonderful aspects of Australia (see Matt's post for examples). It doesn't *quite* seem real yet (I'll be leaving in two weeks? Really?). But I'm assuming that once there, the adventures will be worthy of many, many blog posts (Sorry I've been slacking at posting so far).

Nerves about the relocation have continued to keep me up at night. All I could think about when my head hit the pillow were things I had left to figure out and plan and get rid of and pack and etc etc etc. Finally, as "the takeoff" nears, I have changed from  having "Did I leave the stove on"-esque stress to more positive "I can't wait to cook this new recipe!" anticipation. (Matt will roll his eyes at this analogy since I've never cooked him a meal. Hey, there's another adventure...)

Today's Aussie Eye Candy

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

The footage shot for this time-lapse video was shot in Victoria, Australia (the state to which we are moving).  It's 30 hours of footage which took Alex Cherney over a year to compile.  The result is absolutely amazing!