Yes, Virginia, there is time travel.

You can’t die from re-circulated air. I am now living proof of that after spending 24 hours without any form of fresh outside air. I left Philadelphia around 12:30 in the afternoon Friday, after hanging around the airport for a couple hours, and proceed onto Chicago and then San Francisco. 12 hours after leaving home I boarded the plane for my Auckland, New Zealand flight. I was lucky and slept most of the way. 

13 hours later I walked through customs and out into the first fresh air I had in 24 hours. I also had completely passed from Friday into Sunday without a stop in Saturday.  

Arriving so early in the morning as I did, I wasn’t able to check into my hostel until later in the day. So I checked my bag, bought some Internet time (because internet is rarely free in New Zealand), and then headed out to the Domain to enjoy the fresh air. It was a little bit of a walk, or “a good stretch of the legs,” but worth it being outside. The Domain was also where the Auckland Museum is located.

This building holds a wide variety of exhibits from the Maori culture to natural history. I was impressed with the depth of information located in one building…even if I didn’t read a thing, it was still nice to view the objects and feel like I was learning a little about the locale area.

On my walk back I discovered the street was blocked, bandstands had been erected, and a mass of people were gathered on the street out in front of my hostel. I had no clue why they were there, but was happy to be able to cross the street and get into the building to check in. 

 I later learned it was the annual Santa Parade. Care to compare it to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

After unloading my bag in my new room, I met up with my friend and headed for a tour around Auckland. That;s the Sky Tower behind me to the right, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere and about a block away from my hostel.

Since I did completely skip over Saturday and into Sunday, I was pretty tired and forced myself to stay out and about until after 7pm. It was still light out when I fell asleep, it being summer here and all, but I didn't care, I had been awake since 3am Auckland time and couldn't hold my eyes open another second.

Travel, no matter what kind, is very tiring...