People Board Plane in 2018 and Land Back in 2017

One of the first flights of 2018 took off from Auckland, New Zealand.  The plane traveled over eight hours and four thousand miles and then landed in Honolulu, Hawaii. What’s so interesting about this particular flight, you ask?  Well, this flight took off at 12:05 a.m. on January 1, 2018 but it landed at 10:15 a.m. on December 31, 2017!  Pretty cool, right?  Here’s why:  If you traveled around the world, you would eventually find yourself in a place where the time is either one day later or one day before.  This place is called the International Dateline.  New Zealand (and some other places) are one day ahead of you. So, when you are playing with friends at school on a Friday, the kids in New Zealand are already home for the weekend! And when you are enjoying a Sunday with friends and family, the kids in New Zealand are playing at recess! How about that?!  Want to learn more about the International Dateline?  You can!  Just conduct your own research at the local library.  Maybe one day YOU will have your own story to tell about time travel!