Well, its officially departure time. Claire is crying pretty badly. Told her I would be back in November for her birthday. If the swine flu does not claim me as another victim as I am on my way home. Sure, the mortality rate is low, but everyone knows how I manage to find bad luck.

Let’s since, between this PI trip and my last, nearly six months has passed. In that time I:

» Had my apartment robbed — got hit hard, cleaned me and my roommate out.
» Wrecked my 2007 GMC Sierra not once but twice, totaling $2,000 in mechanical damages, rims, and wheels (still pending body repair, which will run even more most likely)
» Roommate lost his job due to his company declaring bankruptcy, and we lost our new place, along with my deposit.
» Got laid off from my job at Flextronics, just before another trip to the Philippines.
» Broke the screen on my old phone while doing a side-job for a buddy I never got paid for.
» Bought a new phone, broke it and a nice $250 watch by going four-wheeling through the mud at insane speeds in the middle of the country, at a buddy’s place — both fell off and spent the night in the rain and mud before I could locate them. Total loss again, both.

I know I am leaving something out… But is that not enough?!?

Anyway, so I am leaving. Feel like the odd-man out without a face-mask on. Oh well, don’t want to be one of them. If your going that far, you really should have latex gloves on as well. Think about all the things you are touching that have been touched by all these other people, face-mask or not — check-in counters, railings, hand-bars in the automated trolleys between terminals, door handles, and every surface in the planes, of course!

So yeah I am going to take my chances. Have to say the fact that around 1,000 new cases have been reported daily this past week or so does not exactly make me smile. As of 1 hr 17 mins ago, the count is getting close to 12,000 in 41 countries — basically any of the ones people travel to or through.

And me? Well, I am hitting the big Asia hub on the way home, Taipei, Taiwan, followed by the big US hub, LAX. Hope I pass those thermal scanners I have been hearing about!

And you know what? Everyone is so blatantly aware and takes notice every time anyone coughs; I hear every lil sniffle I feel like. Wow oh wow, what more can I say?

Good luck to me ha ha.

 This post was imported from my old Shibuya Daze Blogger, a drunken, laughable blog intended only for friends that eventually grew and evolved into the HoliDaze, a full-fledged travel site covering over fifty countries all around the world. Our actual travel writing can be found on the main site: theHoliDaze.com. Or jump straight to the newest articles on the Philippines.

About The Author

Derek Freal is a cultural enthusiast and perpetual wanderer, as well as the founder of the HoliDaze travel community. He loves going locations where he does not speak a word of the local language and must communicate with hand gestures, as well as places where he is forced to squat awkwardly to poo (supposedly its healthier and more efficient). If you tell him he cannot go somewhere, well I guarantee that will be the next spot he visits. For more view Derek's bio or stalk him on the social sites below....

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