Harnessing the Power of Time Zones

I have always found travel logistics very fun to figure out. Flights, hotels, tours and transfers are all just pieces of an intricate puzzle that must be constructed in a logical manner. And I love puzzles. I rarely use travel agents, because I enjoy constructing my own trips.

Building my trips from the ground up is a way for me to use my creative side. The most creative travel idea that I have ever come up with, came to me just as I was falling asleep one night at the start of 2019. An idea so good, that I leapt out of bed, in a mad panic to locate my phone or a notepad, in the dark. I made the note and went back to bed, excited for morning, when I could share my idea with Jesse.

I was in the office early the next morning and anxiously waited for Jesse to arrive. When he came into the office I said, “Sit down. I’ve got the best idea ever!” His look said that he thought it was just another adventure, throughout New Zealand, that I was fixated on. It was much more than that. I had figured out how to time travel…

New Zealand is located immediately west of the international date line. Rarotonga (Cook Islands) is located immediately east of the international date line and only a four-hour flight separates the two countries. New Zealand is one the first countries to welcome each day and the Rarotonga is the last to bid farewell to those same days. While they are in close proximity to each other, their local time is different by about 23 hours.

From this, I figured out that I could take off from New Zealand in one day, fly four hours across the Pacific Ocean, and land in Rarotonga yesterday. This led me to planning my 30^th birthday in 2020. The plan, that I laid out for Jesse, included partying in Auckland for my birthday and then waking up the following day and hopping on a plane bound for Rarotonga. The plane would land back on my birthday and then we would celebrate my turning 30 all over again. You only turn 30 twice.

When I got through my elevator pitch, Jesse paused, looked at me, and then enthusiastically said, “Yup, that’s an awesome idea!” The next year was devoted to planning this birthday. I had my two best mates from Canada, Dave and Branden, lined up for another wild adventure. Their plan was to come and tour around New Zealand for a week before heading to Rarotonga. We had a solid crew from New Zealand booked in for the trip as well and I already had a villa booked for our arrival. Fishing, scuba diving, driving scooters and exploring the island were just a few of the activities that we had planned.

All this changed in an instant, thanks to COVID-19. In March, the world went in to lock down to fight the virus and time travelling was unfortunately not on the essential services list. We all had to kiss this trip goodbye for 2020, but mark my words, we will make this happen one day!

While it seemed that fate was not going to allow me to time travel, I did manage to use time zones to my advantage on one other occasion. This is the story of what I accomplished during my 42-hour day.

Sometimes we use the expression “Will this day ever end?” We usually use this to express how the day appears to be taking forever due to the occurrence of multiple bad events. For me, the day actually wouldn’t end. On 12^th September, I started my day in New Plymouth and ended in Las Vegas. This timeline shows what I was able to pack into a single day, which included a bucket list item.

Elapsed Time	Local Time	City	Activity
0:00 hours	12:00 am	New Plymouth	Sleeping like a baby
6:00 hours	6:00 am	New Plymouth	Start work
14:30 hours	2:30 pm	New Plymouth	Leave work, 8-hour day
15:45 hours	3:45 pm	New Plymouth	Fly to Auckland
16:35 hours	4:35 pm	Auckland	Arrive in Auckland
17:47 hours	5:47 pm	Auckland	Tacos for dinner

Elapsed Time	Local Time	City	Activity
19:30 hours	7:30 pm	Auckland	Fly to Los Angeles
30:45 hours	12:45 pm	Los Angeles	Arrive in Los Angeles (time travel)
33:18 hours	3:18 pm	Los Angeles	Uber to Hollywood Blvd
33:27 hours	3:27 pm	Los Angeles	#70 See the Hollywood Stars on the Sidewalk

Elapsed Time	Local Time	City	Activity
33:48 hours	3:48 pm	Los Angeles	Hooters for a beer and deep-fried pickles

Elapsed Time	Local Time	City	Activity
35:43 hours	5:43 pm	Los Angeles	Uber down to Santa Monica pier
36:25 hours	6:25 pm	Los Angeles	Walk along Muscle Beach

Elapsed Time	Local Time	City	Activity
37:10 hours	7:10 pm	Los Angeles	Uber back to the airport
37:57 hours	7:57 pm	Los Angeles	MORE tacos for dinner
40:00 hours	10:00 pm	Los Angeles	Fly to Las Vegas

Elapsed Time	Local Time	City	Activity
41:17 hours	11:17 pm	Las Vegas	Arrive in Las Vegas
41:51 hours	11:51 pm	Las Vegas	Uber to the hotel
42:03 hours	12:03 am	Las Vegas	Check into room and crash

It was one hell of a day and I had lots of fun, but when my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

When have you used time zones to your advantage? Let me know in the comments below.

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