Epilogue: Reflections
Firstly a few awards to hand out from this trip
Most enjoyable flight: AKL to HKG - comfortable seat, great service, crew remembered my name, best plane on the market.
Least enjoyable flight: LHR to GRU - poor breakfast stock and shockingly bad IFE
Best meal - On the ground One Tree Grill and La Pulperia even steven. None stood out in flight, I liked Air NZ's lounge curry!
Best airport experience: MVD
Worst airport experience: SCL
Worst experience overall: Waiting in limbo at first after AR cancelled the flight
Best lounge: Air NZ Koru AKL International
Best tourist experience: On top of World Trade Centre Montevideo (although a tourist wouldn't be able to get up there unless he was connected)
Most unexpected experience: Sunday/Funday Bolivians beers and football tournament
Best hotel: Hilton Auckland
I made it through Thursday and Friday in the office, going through the motions and answering the emails. On Friday night I fell asleep at 8:30pm, woke up and 12:30am and then went into another coma till about 9:40am. I haven't slept for 12 hours since probably I was back in university. I think the big jumps in time difference just eventually caught up to me. When I checked my fitbit on my return I had an average on 4hrs 50 minutes of sleep per night on the trip, I didn't quite believe it at first but on reflection it's probably not far off. That figure didn't include being 'restless' which when sleeping on a plane is mostly restless sleep.
Overall I think this trip will become fruitful but it's more long term. I've learnt that Latin American business is done on a more personal level and you have to develop this, however once your in, you are in. I am looking at another visit but I don't think until 2019 and I hope to have some sales going by then to justify it.
New Zealand will progress quicker and I may be going back in March, if other plans happen and I can get it to fit with my schedule, if not a trip then, again at some point in 2018. Besides a few nights out in the UK I'm off to Germany but not until end of October so I have about a month to recover and remember the happy feeling I had 3 weeks ago when I'm about to go travel.
I quite enjoyed writing the TR, perhaps I should of taken more photos but I didn't want to take the same pictures that everyone else takes. Also Im a little ashamed to say but I'm a little embarrassed of taking pictures in a review style. I don't know how people like Sam Chui do it.