Its official, today is day 7. That means I’m halfway through this isolation journey and this time next week I’ll be allowed out and about in beautiful NZ.

Some hot tips for those of you that might be doing this journey….

I flew from Miami Via LAX down to Auckland. Leaving Miami it was very quiet but just an internal flight as normal, you don’t get snack though and there is not much open in the airport, so if you get hangry I’d suggest brining some snacks! Once out in LAX I changed terminals and re checked in with Airnz for my boarding pass etc, this is the first time the voucher was really understood and looked at.

• Bring your own Cutlery. I have my Chef knife roll with me, ok maybe a bit excessive but I always travel with them! I also ordered some plates online once I got here as I wanted to play with my food. It does get a bit tiring eating out of the takeaway box all the time. You can order from Countdown or the local supermarket depending on your location. I got some coffee/ yogurt/ biscuits/ NZ chocolate etc. Treat yourself!

• Bring more plugs or a power board… or adapters. I’ve been in the USA for a while (which is 110v) and only have 1 NZ plug these days, a lot of my devices etc work via USB plug so thats been a lifesaver! Something to think about if you use lots of plugged in things!

• Download Netflix or books etc before you get here. The wifi is amazing but once everyone is trying to do that same thing you’ll find the wifi will drop out a bit, the Hotel does give you a SIM card so that helps.

• Get a routine, this has helped me so much in the transition, I’ve been up early around 530am then by 730 dressed and ready for the day, well breakfast arrival!

• Get outside if you can…the first 3 days you can’t do much, until that first test you kinda stay in your room, we did have access to the play pen out the front of the hotel, and a service ramp which we could book for 30min slots. After that first negative test we could go to the rooftop area for 40 mins and take a bus to walk in a field for 45mins every 2nd day.

• Bring a speaker, if your into music its nice to listen via a speaker rather than your device. If you’re into watching Netflix on the TV bring a HDMI cable, I’ve not tried this, don’t know what this is, so can’t offer any more info on this.

• Don’t put too much pressure on yourself….I honestly am not sure how the last 7 days have gone by, I’ve finished one book, watched a lot of Christmas movies on Netflix, had a lot of video calls , chats with friends and family. I had a list of things to do when I was in here, I’m not going to finish that and I’m ok with it as this experience is difficult enough without feeling bad for not learning a new language or writing a book etc!

Any questions please give me a shout. I’m here and have the time to reply.

Follow my instagram for how I’ve been replaying my meals!!

Have a lovely day

with love always

Cupcake xxx