A blog about travelling with a Filipino passport, and life overseas
Last Monday, 2nd of May, I celebrated my seventh year in the US. Over half a decade ago, I flew from Taiwan — which had been my home for 3.5 years — to LAX in Los Angeles (an experience that triggered my distaste for that airport and its hassles), and then took a domestic flight to the San Jose airport. Back then it had only been my second trip to the US.
It was a lightning-fast move. The interval between the initial hint that I would be transferred to the US office, and receipt of the actual travel order to move was measured in days. My wife and I couldn’t believe it, and it rapidly became a lesson against procrastination. We had been putting off going around Taiwan, and visiting neighboring countries because we figured they’d always be around. Alas, easy access to all these places was history.
However, we can’t really complain about what we received in exchange for that loss of access:
Amusement parks in SoCal . . . crab-fishing in San Francisco bay . . . a GreyHound bus ride from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia . . . a stroll in Central Park and in Brooklyn neighborhoods reminiscent of what you’d see on Sesame Street . . . crossing paths with a wild Bear in Juneau, Alaska . . . a submarine and helicopter ride in Maui, Hawaii . . . first DUKW tour in Boston harbor . . . a white-knuckle drive to a world-renowned observatory on top of Mt. Hamilton . . . cheap buffets off the Las Vegas strip . . . to-die-for Cioppino in Moss Landing, CA . . . first snowball . . . discovery of dry-aged steak . . . handpicking Cherries and Strawberries in the central California valley . . .
Can’t complain at all.
Looking forward to the coming seasons.