Rob and the California George Family

The term Antipodes has a couple of meanings. I had heard the term before, but it became personal this month.

Antipodes meaning # 1 refers to points on the globe that are opposite of each other. For example, the North Pole and the South Pole are antipodes. This can be seen graphically with this website that allows you to find the opposite side of any point on the globe.

Antipodes meaning # 2 refers to either Australia and New Zealand as a group or specifically a small group of islands southeast of New Zealand. This name was given long ago since this area is considered the antipode of Greenwich, England.

This became personal due to some business travel that I conducted during the first half of this month. My first trip was to New Zealand - the Antipodes. I spent a week there working with a customer and returned home on Saturday, August 8th. On Sunday, August 9th, I went to Sweden to visit another customer - almost exactly the antipode of where I was in New Zealand. They are 12 time zones apart. I didn't plan it as an intended antipode visit, it just happened to work out that way.

Surprisingly, I have had very little "jet lag" impact from this travel. It was interesting seeing the opposite ends of the Earth and the opposite seasons between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. However, it was also interesting to see many things that were the same. McDonalds in both places is the prime example that comes to mind.

Labels: Rob, Travel, Work