On June 15 I began my journey to the Philippines, and it has been wrought with ups & downs and has already begun to change my life.., just like I knew it would. This is my first blog entry on how it has gone. Hope you enjoy!

5 days before my trip began I had an appointment with my chiropractor. My lower butt had been hurting quite a bit and had begun to worry me. Also, my sciatica nerve was flaring up badly. Talk about ideal conditions for a 26 hour journey! I had two alignments before I left on Tuesday, June 15 and my chiropractor gave me an ominous look and said, "Good luck."

At around 12 noon I boarded a US Airways flight to S. Carolina with a connecting flight to Los Angeles, CA. From there I was to have a 4 hour layover before boarding my flight on Philippine Airlines to Manila. When traveling, we always hope for an uneventful experience, but of course that wasn't going to happen...

Boarding my flight on US Airways bound for S. Carolina, I found my seat and began to prepare myself for in insanely long day of traveling. If all went as planned, I would be in Manila in about 26 hours. It was a mind-over-matter kind of thing and I was all set. It was time to Zen.

Having done my online preparation, I had set myself up with a neck pillow, eye mask and ear plugs so that I could be nice and comfy. I put my neck in the pillow and tried to relax. The pillow was kind of bulky but once in the air, I would put my seat back and it would be perfect. Well, that was the idea, anyway.

As we sat there getting ready to depart, I noticed there was some thunderstorms overhead and it had begun to rain. Sure enough ~ a minute later the pilot announces we are delayed due to lightening. The ground crew cannot work with lightening so we will be forced to wait out the storm. Great.

After 45 minutes we were finally cleared for takeoff, but my stress had already kicked in. I needed to make my connecting flight to LA and if I missed it, I could really be screwed. Flights from LA to Manila are almost always over-booked so getting on the next days flight would be very difficult. Not good. Still, I tried to maintain my composure and just go with the flow. Besides ~ it was out of my control. Time to Zen.

When landing in S. Carolina, the pilot begins to inform us about which connecting flights had already departed and which ones are still on the ground. To my surprise, my LA flight was still waiting to leave. Joy! Turns out that flight had also been delayed due to weather. Okay, now I have to get off the plane and do a mad-dash through the airport, but of course I'm towards the back of the plane and the crew doesn't allow those with connecting flights to exit first. So.., once I finally get off the plane, I'm hoofin' it! Well, this story wouldn't be as juicy if my departing gate wasn't at the very end of the concourse, now would it? I'm on vacation, going to a place where great comforts potentially awaits, so.., I'm going to have to suffer a bit first.

I finally get to the gate and nope ~ the flight is gone. Damn! I was deflated and a bit in shock. I stood there looking at the empty gate and trying to grasp the situation when I noticed the next gate was also leaving for Los Angeles. Could it be?! Sure enough, the pilot had given the wrong gate number and my flight was waiting for me. I boarded the plane as they closed the plane door behind me. I plopped down in my seat and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Five and half hours later I should be in LA.

The flight was uneventful, although we did hit some strong turbulence. I had a nice conversation with a woman ( <-- that one) who was going to see her ailing sister. She was sweet as tupelo honey. Of course the seat I had didn't recline very much due to its location so, my neck pillow still felt bulky, and when I would doze off, my head would fall forward. Sleep ~ wake, sleep ~ wake.

After we landed in LA, I needed to get to baggage claim and get my luggage. Did it make the connection in S. Carolina? That was the big question. There I was, back in LA (first time in 5 years) looking for my luggage, praying it somehow made the connecting flight. I waited.., I looked, I waited.., until the conveyor belt stopped.

No way.

10 minutes later I was talking with the US Airways baggage claim woman who determined my luggage had not made the connecting flight. It would be arriving at 10pm on the next flight into LA. My flight to Manila was to depart at 10:45pm so, would it be able to make it? She guaranteed me it was impossible.

No way.

I begged her, "Isn't there some way to make it a priority to get on my flight?", I pleaded. "No sir, it is impossible. It must go through customs and it is physically impossible. It will be put on tomorrows flight and you should have it the next day."

Ugh.

ALL of my clothing and toiletries were in that bag. My carry-on was my tech stuff (laptop, camera, etc) but I was going to be forced to live in these clothes for at least 2 days. Such is life. Nothing I can do. Go with the flow. Time to Zen.

Since the flight was delayed out of S. Carolina, my 4 hour layover was only 3 hours so, that should be the perfect amount of time to check in, get a bite to eat, maybe check my email, do some tweeting and relax. Yeah, that will be nice.

Turns out the Tom Bradley  International Terminal is on the other side of the airport (LAX) so, I have to take the airport transport bus. I go upstairs and out to the curb to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. After 40 minutes I'm beginning to get pissed off and then 5 minutes later it finally pulls up. I get on the bus and am immediately surrounded by 5 kids who are jumping all over and screaming. Ah yes ~ the joys of travel. Go with the flow. Time to Zen.

The bus drives for about 3 minutes before coming to the international terminal. 3 minutes! I was told it was a long way and needed to take the bus. I could have walked it in 10 minutes or less. Grrrr...

Getting off the bus, I see the Philippine Airlines terminal and head for the check in area. Ahh ~ the line isn't too long, maybe 10 minutes or so. Uh huh, riiiiiiight. A few seconds later I'm tapped on the shoulder by a security guard who informs me the end of the line is behind me.

No way!!!!!!

I begin to follow the line, out of the terminal and around the building and down the sidewalk. All the way down the sidewalk. It was about 100 yards long! That's a football field in length! What's the deal, people?! Why so insanely long?! I've never seen anything like it. The thing is, Philippine Airlines had a zillion people working to check people in, so it wasn't that. There was just sooo many people.

My wait was well over an hour and it was cold outside. What a drag. I finally get to the attendant and check in and ask if I have time to get a bite to eat ~ I'm starving. He says, "You better hurry". Taking my boarding pass I look to see what my food options are, and it wasn't pretty. I ended up getting a McDonald's chicken sandwich that was horrible, think I ate about 1/2 of it before feeling the stress and deciding I better get my ass to the plane.

Arriving at the back of the line to go through inspection, I realize, to my horror, that the line is HUGE! I'm shocked. Keep in mind this line is not just for Philippine Airlines, it's for all Asian airlines. Another hour long wait and by the time I'm getting scanned by Homeland Security, I'm exhausted and stressed to the max. Will I make the flight? Has it left already? Once through inspection, I'm off running for the second time today. Oh ~ and of course my terminal is the very last one - again. No joke, it was at the very end of the terminal, and this terminal was twice as long as in S. Carolina. Time to run.

To my delight the airline was waiting for me. I was the 2nd to last person to board and, as it turns out, it's the policy of Philippine Airlines to wait for passengers who have a boarding pass. Mabuhay! This was my first taste of the truly beautiful Filipino hospitality.

Ahh ~ but the fun was just beginning! I take my seat and quickly realize that my seat does not recline like all the rest, it only goes about 1/2 as far back as all the others due to it's position on the plane. LOVELY. Looks like it will be more head falling forward for the next 16 hours. Also, I was quickly made aware of a crying child in my section. But wait ~ could it be? Were there 2 crying kids??

No way!!!!!!

To my amazement/horror there were not 2 kids crying.., THERE WERE FOUR! Four crying kids on a 16 hour flight. At one point the flight attendant (a beautiful, warm and kind woman) said to me, "It's like a symphony of crying kids". She was so right. They almost cried in harmony and one kid cried way too much. You know, he was too old for that kind of crying and was working as hard as he could to get attention. I'm guessing I wasn't the only adult thinking the mother should be doing a better job. Again, it was mind over matter and I was determined to go with the flow. Time to Zen.

My ass was killing me and I was knocking back the Advil, which was helping a bit, even though I had just days before saw a news report stating that ibuprofen greatly increases risk of heart attack. I managed to get some sleep once I shook off the anxiety of actually being on the plane that would take me to Asia for the first time. About 5 minutes before the plane left the gate I was struck by the urge to get off and call the whole thing off. But, of course, I said to myself, "Go with the flow, Jay. Time to Zen.