Itinerary and trip highlights: My run took me from LAX to Auckland, New Zealand, then on to Melbourne, Australia, with the same route on the return. Total cost was $600 for 7 days. When I met the courier rep at LAX he handed me the airline tickets and said I had nothing to carry either going or returning. He told me all I had to do was get on the plane and enjoy the long flight, since the paperwork was included in the freight shipment.

I have traveled a great deal prior to my first-time courier run. I will be retiring this year from a long teaching career and this was a test run for me to see how I like participating as a courier. All went well, so I plan to make many more runs in the future. In fact, several of my teacher friends are considering joing the ranks of couriers.