Bringing an umbrella

It will take 26 hours from take-off to final landing. The first leg of my trip takes me from Dulles to Los Angeles, departing at 5:50 Eastern on Saturday, May 9. I then fly from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, and then onto Queenstown where I land at 11:50am on Monday morning. That's 7:50pm Eastern on Sunday.

After customs, I will head to my hostel, Deco Backpackers, where I will take advantage of the free wi-fi to announce my arrival before exploring Queenstown.

Weather.com is forecasting rain, so I've got my umbrella. I've also packed a flashlight (slightly smaller than the Sleeping Beauty flashlight my dad bought), bandaids, Neosporin to go (both courtesy of my mother), Tide to Go, a sleeping eye mask (thanks Taylor), and plenty of books to get my through my 20 hours of flying and 5.5 hours of layovers. Though Air New Zealand allows 2 bags of up to 70 lbs each, my first leg, operated by United, limits the bags to 50 lbs. Mine are approximately 49.8 and 49.7 lbs.

I feel prepared, and I'm excited! See you on the other side.