Wait A Minute, You’re Going to Tahiti?

“Wait A Minute, You’re Going to Tahiti?  Weren’t you just in Central America?”

So started the recent conversation with a family member.

Yes, we were in Peru less than two weeks ago, Ecuador 3 weeks ago, and Colombia 5 weeks ago.

And we just spent 5 days in Colorado, USA.

So why are we on our way to Tahiti?

Well, when we planned our world travel in 2008/2009, we decided to first see central and south America, and then work our way west.

Generally speaking, when traveling around the world, the most expensive flights are getting from the Americas to anywhere else.  Going east you generally head to Europe, going west you generally head to either Australia or Asia.

Flights to Europe range from $500-$1500/each, and flights to New Zealand (the flight we priced), ranged from $1400-upwards of $2100/each.

We decided to travel west (Australia/New Zealand) because we both know and feel comfortable in Europe, and thought that Europe would be a great place to end this trip around the world.

But paying that up-front cost of getting to Australia was a big expense.

However, in November 2009 an opportunity presented itself.

Air Tahiti Nui offered a special to fly to New Zealand, from LAX, for $1200/ticket.

Additionally, as a bonus, the flight with Air Tahiti Nui included 3 free nights at a choice of three different hotels on the island of Tahiti.

If you’ve looked at the “top 100” list, visiting Tahiti has been on my list since 2003, and on Carrie’s list nearly as long.

So… Let’s see… Same or lesser cost we were planning on, but including three free nights at one of the premiere island destinations in the world, on an island I’ve wanted to visit for as long as I can remember?

Plus, booking this ticket from LAX would allow Carrie and I to show up and surprise my sister Deanna for her birthday on May 6^th.

Okay, we decided.

And that’s exactly what we’ve done.

My older brother, younger brother, and both of my sisters-in-law also came to surprise Deanna on her birthday.

It was quite the celebration!

And now, we are super excited to be heading to Tahiti, where we’ve booked an additional 3 nights, for 6 nights total, before heading to Auckland, New Zealand.

This means that inside of 5 weeks, we’ll have been in 8 countries on 3 continents.  Crazy and exciting!

Here are some quick fun facts about Tahiti (French Polynesia).

• Tahiti is actually an island of the country called French Polynesia, so from now on I’ll probably refer to the country as French Polynesia, while referring to the island as Tahiti.
• There is another island in French Polynesia called Moorea, where we will be spending our second 3 nights.
• Tahiti is located in the south Pacific.  If you drew a line from Los Angeles, California to Auckland, New Zealand, French Polynesia (and Tahiti – one of the islands of French Polynesia) would be almost be right in the middle of that line, and to the south.
• In terms of size, French Polynesia is the size of Europe, but is made up of islands that are scattered all over.
• Less than 200,000 people are permanent residents of Tahiti.

Looking forward to writing more posts from Tahiti, Moorea, and maybe other parts of French Polynesia as well!

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