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...