"What do you mean, 22 hours of travel time?!??!"

Well folks, we did it. Late last night after careful calculations and meticulous scheduling, we mapped out our flight(s) to get to Brisbane. With a racing heart and credit card in hand, I hesitated -but ultimately clicked my way into the next exciting chapter of my life! Here is what our journey will look like:

Friday, June 13th (yes, that is Friday the 13th) we will fly Hawaiian Air from Phoenix to Honolulu. (And this flight was free for us! That's how many miles I had on my frequent flyer card for Hawaiian Air!!!)

Once in Hawaii, we are renting a car to cruise around the island for 12 hours. Say hello to grandparents, cousins, try and eat all my favorite foods in that time span, take a quick splash in the beach, and then back to the airport that evening...

Now, from Honolulu, we jump aboard Air New Zealand for our 9 hour flight to Auckland, NZ. Mind you, we fly across the international timeline and show up in NZ on SUNDAY, JUNE 15th!!!! (weird-eh?) Once in NZ, we have a 3 hour layover, a 3 hour flight, and will show up in Brisbane Sunday midday. SIGH.

Now you're thinking, why didn't they just take one of the direct, non-stop flights straight from LA to Aussie? Well, it worked out well with all the connections because:

1. MONEY ($$$$$$$) It costs almost $1,000 less to connect this many times because I had free flights to Hawaii, and Air New Zealand's flight schedule worked out the best (and they are cheapest!)

2. Hawaii- I wanted to stop off there to get a last breath of air there, eat some of my favorite local grub, and say hello to family anyways.

3. And most importantly, all the connections will break up our time in the air. If anyone has flown with me (Summer), you know that as I get older, my anxiety on planes is only getting worse. My hands sweat profusely, my blood pressure rises, and I just feel sick and need to get back on land. I mumble to myself a little prayer during take off and landing, and cry if there is turbulence. I have freaked out in front of many strangers and airline staff when flying alone. One straight shot- to fly for 17 hours- just wasn't an option this time.

And there you have it. There's no going back! T minus 3 months to go. So......who wants to buy all my stuff?