An Aussie in New York - Getting There - A Survival Guide for a Long Haul Flight from Western Australia to New York

Photos by Maria Ngo

Bunbury to Perth 

After all the months and weeks of planning I was finally going to be on my way to New York! My big trip as a female solo traveller.

A very comfortable bus ride on South West Coach Lines (Photo copyright Maria Ngo)

It was not going to be a straight forward trip because I was coming from a country town in Western Australia. This was not my usual exit point for travels. I was there because of my sister’s 40th birthday celebration. The whole journey, from Bunbury to New York, door to door, would take about 42 hours or more.

In summary, I was going from Bunbury to Perth, Perth to Sydney, Sydney to Los Angeles (LAX), Los Angeles to New York (JFK) and then finally Manhattan.

Trip summary (Photo copyright Maria Ngo)

The drive from home to the bus terminal in Bunbury Bus Depot in the city was about 15 minutes. The bus trip from Bunbury to Perth took nearly 2.5 hours.

South West Coach Lines operate a fleet of very comfortable modern buses. You can check in with the driver with your device or on paper. It was straightforward and hassle free. The storage space under the bus is capacious and sufficient for your 23 kg suitcase. You are allowed 5 kg hand luggage inside the bus. 

The roads between Bunbury and Perth are well graded and smooth. The first part of the bus trip through Australind is quite scenic. After that it is pretty much the kind of view you'd see along major highways. 

Bunbury to Perth on the highway (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

Between bus timetables and flight departures, and allowing for international check in times, I had nearly 7 hours between when I arrived in Perth by bus and when my flight departed from Perth to Sydney. Luckily for me, I had cousins in Perth I could spend some time with. To cut a long story short, as events would have it, due to the kindness of an aunt and an untimely incident, I was able to spend a few very memorable hours catching up with my cousins before proceeding on to the next part of my journey.

In Perth International Airport (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

Perth international airport is quite comfortable to wait in if you have hours to pass. It is clean, modern and well maintained. But at the time of the night, none of the shops were open. The check-in and baggage drop off was smooth and uneventful. I had been stressed the night before because I could not do electronic check-in all the way through. I later found out that this was not uncommon with code-sharing flights. The Virgin app I was using on my phone only allowed me to check in from Perth to Sydney and then LAX but not past that. I did feel a little reassured however because I had a print out of my itinerary to refer to.

Sydney

Arriving at 6.05 AM in Sydney meant that the first item on my agenda was breakfast. I found a crowded busy food space where I was fortunate to be able to find a seat with power plugs to recharge my devices. Sydney International Airport is well set up to cater for the modern traveller's needs. I even found one spot with a shower. Yes, just the one.

Plenty of power for the modern traveller (Photo by Maria Ngo) 

Later as I was walking towards my departure gate, I found another eating area with several options that I could have availed myself of if I had known earlier. This was much quieter and would have been my preference. So if your departure gate is numbered in the high 50s, you might want to check out this food space.

The 4 hour flight to Sydney at close to midnight was not quite sufficient for a proper sleep. But, I did manage to catch a bit of shut eye on the red eye to sustain me sufficiently to get on the correct plane for LAX. This had been one of my worries of travelling alone - being so overcome by my need for sleep and missing my connecting flights.

Sydney to LAX 

There's this fine balance of being caffeinated and staying awake and being too caffeinated that you can't sleep later when you have the opportunity to do so. The next flight was going to be nearly 14 hours long (13 hours 40 minutes) and leaving late morning. This meant that lunch was going to be served a couple of hours into the flight - there was no point sleeping before then.

Sydney airport (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

After a pleasant chat with my travelling companion who was headed for Mexico, I picked a movie to watch while she settled in with a book. There were plenty of movies to pick from but I had intended to make sleep now a priority even if I'd only get broken sleep - better that than no sleep at all. I still had a 5 hour layover in LAX and a 5 hour 30 minutes flight from LAX to JFK and another hour and a bit for cab ride and possibly another 40 minutes or so for immigration security etc.

I consoled myself with the fact that if I had been travelling a century or two ago, I would have taken 3 to 4 months on a dangerous sea voyage. I suffer from travel sickness quite badly and that would have seen the end of me. Speaking of travel sickness, that was another thing I had to manage, the timing of my travel medication as well as my prescription meds.

Another thing that was somewhat related to my sleeping comfort was being vertically challenged. I had been theorising about how to keep my feet elevated. My solution? Fill up my backpack so that it could double up as a footrest as needed. Well, I was very happy that my theory worked in practice. Sure I had to compromise with feet space, but it was a small price to pay to be able to sleep a little more comfortably.

It's not hard to fill it up when you carry a neck pillow, spare long sleeve shirt, water bottles, parka (because it could be 10 C in NY), cameras, an iPad, a few snacks, small toiletry items, small change of essential clothing, as well as a beach towel. Don't laugh about the beach towel because, I was going to be ready for anything including long camp outs at the airport due to cancelled or delayed flights. So thus the neck pillow and beach towel. Remember, I was travelling on my own.

Back pack cum Footrest (Photo copyright Maria Ngo)

Other things I had learnt from previous trips to include in my carry on luggage related to sleep and comfort were an eye mask, ear buds for watching movies (I don't like headsets as I wear glasses and the added pressure against the spectacle arms pressing against my head always makes me very uncomfortable), ear buds plane audio adapter, ear plugs to muffle out the sounds and compression stockings. I also carry a spare spectacle case and spectacles for seeing things close up. My eyes get dry during long flights so I also carry eye drops, and for my dry skin, moisturiser. I recently also added a small spray of breath freshener which claimed to kill over 90% of the bacteria that caused bad breath. I also thought it might be handy for killing sore-throat germs - perhaps.

Another thing I did to take care of myself was to make sure I stayed hydrated with my favourite beverage - tomato juice (!). I also moved my limbs as often as I could when I was awake. The ear buds worked alright up to a certain extent but there were three people to my right across the aisle who were determined to stay awake while others slept.

As the hours rolled on and the view outside got darker and shades began to be drawn and the cabin lights dimmed and a quiet hush settled through the cabin, I settled down to catch a few Zzz-s. The hours ticked slowly along and I eventually heard the captain make the oh so welcomed announcement that we were going to be arriving in LAX soon.

Los Angeles

We arrived in Los Angeles without much ado in good weather. In truth, the whole flight had been very smooth. I was even able to delay taking my usual travel sickness tablet at the "prescribed" time.

I didn't feel rushed or anxious going through customs and immigration in spite of queues of people as I had 5 hours before my next flight. I found the process was quite efficient.

Last time I was at this airport I had encountered people who had not allowed sufficient time for flight transfers and missed their flight. I had no intention of adding to my stress by being one of these. I felt quite relaxed as my lengthy layover gave me plenty of time to go through immigration, pick up my luggage, find the correct place to drop off my bag for the onward flight, get a proper boarding pass for my flight, find some breakfast and wander back to my departure gate wherever that might be. The 5 hours was a little on the generous side, but my options were either that or an earlier flight that gave me just a bit more than an hour with all the potential for all kinds of unwelcomed eventualities.

I arrived at Tom Bradley International terminal and my departure point was Terminal 3. As it turned out the terminals are all within walking distance to each other. So getting from one terminal to the other was a breeze. 

After collecting and dropping off my luggage at the Delta counter, where they were able to print me a proper boarding pass, (finally!) I took my time to work out where I needed to go to next. 

To get to the other terminals, you need to head through the exit doors of the terminal you arrive in to walk a short distance to the next entry of the terminal you want. From the Tom Bradley exit to the furthest terminal entry/exit took me about 10 minutes only along a narrow pathway. However, getting out of Tom Bradley itself  took me a few minutes because it wasn't clear to me that I had to make my way all the way to the exit to get to the other terminal. 

LAX terra firma! (Photo copyright Maria Ngo)

After chatting with a friendly staff near one of the entries/exits, I decided to walk the full length to an open space where share rides were located to get some fresh air. There was nothing particularly exciting about this large parking lot (except for a food truck that sold blueberry smoothies and coffee) but it was very pleasant to be on terra firma, breathing in fresh air rather than recirculated air. It was cool and very pleasant in the morning. I sat there for quite a while delaying returning to the airport terminal as long as I could.

Share ride parking lot at LAX - but the air is fresh (Photo copyright Maria Ngo)

Feeling sufficiently revived, I felt able to tackle the security check for my next terminal. I hear that the whole area is being revamped which is to be welcomed, because the current security check in process needed some serious improvements in efficiency. I have a feeling that the space and set up was pre-9/11 which would explain why it didn’t seem to be coping with the necessary screening that is now required. Just as well, I wasn't dashing for a flight. 

The departure gate that I was at didn't have a lot of power sockets. I found one and parked myself next to it. I had packed my international power adapter and took this out to use along with my multi USB charging adapter.

Los Angeles to JFK New York 

The five and a half hours flight from LAX to JFK was fairly smooth. We taxied down the runway at the scheduled time of 11:05 AM. I settled into my now well developed flight routine.

One thing I observed that time and later on my JFK to San Jose flight, was that those carrying hard cased bags with wheels were being off loaded when space could not be found for them on board the main cabin of the plane. They were being taken to be placed with check in baggage. This would have been a great inconvenience for some people. I was glad I was travelling with a soft backpack that could be squished easily into the over head cabins or under my feet as necessary.

Gate 34, Delta Airlines (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

Finally, I'm here! JFK New York! 

I got more and more excited as the plane got closer to New York. It landed as scheduled after 7:35 PM. There is a time difference of 3 hours between the two cities. 

I could not relax yet though, what if my luggage had gotten lost? What if the pre-loaded SIM card on my phone didn't work? Then how was I to get to my AirBnB? Would the cab/Uber be able to drop me off right at my accommodation? 

Waiting for my suitcase JFK (Photo copyright Maria Ngo)

As it so happened, my luggage came out rather later than other people's so this only increased my worry. And for that reason, I usually carry a small quantity of essential meds with me and my prescription meds in my hand luggage along with essential changes of clothing to get by. 

Eventually I got my luggage and made my way to the exit to catch either a taxi or an Uber. Taxis from JFK to Manhattan charge a fixed rate. There is an additional fee for the toll. I considered the suggested Uber price and the taxi fare and opted for the flat fee option. When it came time to pay for the taxi fare, the sneaky machine added an automatic 20% tip. There is an option to change that before you pay though. The taxi didn't drop me in front of my accommodation as promised (his excuse being that he was unable to turn left after having to go the long way after street closures, although in fact, if he had been on the ball, he would have been preparing for his turn earlier and been in the correct lane rather than being four lanes off to the right), so as you can guess, he didn't get his full tip from me. 

A lengthier than expected ride (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

I was dropped at a street corner and walked the last 100 meters under streetlight to my AirBnB. I had been in contact with my hostess from the time I arrived as my US SIM card had kicked into action the moment I arrived. I was able to keep her updated on my progress and trip and she was ready to greet me on my arrival. (Due to road closures, the last 15 minutes by taxi could have been completed in the same time on foot according to Google Maps. No wonder the taxi driver was keen to drop me off where he thought convenient.) 

I was extremely glad to finally arrive at my destination. Finally! I was in New York! I had been on the go for more than 42 hours.

AirBnB in New York (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

This was my first long haul overseas trip on my own. I was extremely tired, but very pleased with myself. After the plesantries with my hostess, it was around 11 PM by the time I was able to stretch out my tired body horizontally and utter a silent prayer of thanks for the safe smooth trip with no hiccups and good weather.

Sweet dreams (Photo copyright Maria Ngo) 

I had left early Friday 1 Nov in the afternoon from Western Australia and it was now just an hour from being Sunday. As I drifted off to sleep I mulled about what I would do on my first full day in New York.