The first of my four alarms was set for 2.35am. Panicked I would oversleep and miss my flight, I added a fifth alarm at 3am just to be safe. How much time do I need to get to the airport? How long before a flight to Australia do I need to check in? How do we do this international travel thing again?
The last time I had to be up this early was on my final day as a Newstalk ZB breakfast newsreader – a job I finished in January 2020 to take up a full time position in the NZ Herald Travel team. Yep, that's right, I joined the Travel team in The Year Of The Pandemic. Finally, 14 months into the role, I have wiped the dust off my passport, fortunately still valid, last used on a trip to Jordan at the end of 2019.
I'd forgotten about the bubbly buzzy ball of energy of international travel – and the lack of sleep that accompanies an early flight. Turns out I wasn't the only one either, with passengers and cabin crew on NZ101 to Sydney telling me they'd barely slept a wink either.
The departure lounge at Auckland International Airport still felt sleepy compared to The Before Times. As I walked past duty free, staff practically jumped out in front of me with glee as they beckoned travellers to their stalls. For all the nerves I had prior to the flight, it was a bit like riding a bike, where wandering down to the departure gates felt familiar, almost as if no time had passed.