The more we travel, the better and quicker Ted and I can pack. Not only that, but our luggage keeps getting lighter. As measured by our luggage scale, our suitcases have dropped from 47 pounds to 42 pounds to 39 pounds on our last three overseas trips. Personally, I’d like to get down to 35 pounds. We’re getting better at not packing “just in case” items, and that helps a lot. This time, we both have empty spaces inside our suitcases. That might mean objects may shift during flight.

Our flight schedule says that, with no delays, we will spend 35 hours going from airport to airport–not including the time on each end to arrive at the airport early, and to go through customs, pick up our baggage, and check in at our hotel when we land. We flew business class to Europe in June and I actually slept seven hours on the plane. Compare that to the hour-and-a-half I slept on our previous overseas flight. We’re flying business class again and will have 16 hours in the air between Los Angeles and Hong Kong, so I’m hoping to arrive well rested.

I wonder how hard it will be to adjust to jet lag after crossing the international dateline. That mysterious geographic marker makes our schedule look like we will arrive in Bali two days after leaving home, but will be home two hours after leaving Sydney. Weird!

Things I’m looking forward to on this trip include: (1) crossing the equator and watching water go down the drain the other way; (2) seeing the Southern Cross in the night sky; (3) summer in December; (4) seeing the Great Barrier Reef; (5) taking an off-road trip to Mt. Tamborine near Brisbane; and (6) hearing someone say “G’day, mate.” We have lots of activities planned, so it will be interesting at the end of our trip to see what our favorite memories are.

Question: If we go “Down Under” from the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand, do those folks travel “Up Over” when they visit the U.S.? I’ll ponder that for a moment or two, but for now, g’day mates.