Today I went to San Francisco's Ocean Film Festival. I saw some incredible films and learned really disheartening information about the way we, as humans, treat our oceans and their inhabitants. One of films I saw was called, "Save Sharks, Don't Serve Them." One can discern its message from its title, but I encourage everyone to at least check out the trailer to this chilling film.
Sometimes I feel hopeless about our planet's future. But after seeing these films in a sold out theater, knowing that people took the time to create these documentaries and others paid to see them, I know that there are many who care. We can change things for the better. It's not too late, but it is a race against time. In the case of sharks, it is estimated that at their current rate of disappearance, most shark species will be extinct within my lifetime, by 2048.
Besides being aware and making thoughtful decisions when it comes to consumption, there is something local, simple and easy that Californians can do to help. There is a bill in the California Assembly (AB 376) that if passed, would ban the possession, sale, distribution and trade of shark fins. While current federal and California laws ban shark finning, the demand for it does not prevent this practice from happening elsewhere. However by eliminating California's demand, one small step will be made to ensure the survival of sharks and a balanced ocean. Furthermore, it would set precedence for other states and nations to do the same.
Please sign this petition in support AB 376. The hearing for this bill will take place on March 22, 2011.
This is a turning point, the thought of which makes me sick to my stomach. I don't want to talk about it but I have to get it out, so this is where I'll put it. This is, after all, some form of a journal; a record of the traveling aspect of my life. Unfortunately, traveling doesn't consume my life and my life isn't always as sugar-coated as I'd like for it to be. Sometimes things have to be dealt with even when I don't want to deal with them, talk about them. Getting this out this way, writing this into existence, even if only a small amount is extracted from my brain and left here instead, will be something.
Ok. Traveling is fun. Mostly. But it is also A LOT of work. And sometimes a lot of sitting on your butt. I think I tend to write about the fun stuff in my blogs. Because the purpose of my blog is to inspire you, as the reader, to take your own little (or big) adventure and I wouldn’t really be inspirational if I complained all of the time. Nevertheless, I suppose I should share some of the hardships that go along with traveling so you’re not surprised when you have to spend a ridiculous amount of time on a plane, train, car, bus, terminal, etc. to reach your destination. Below is an hour-by-hour recount of my not so adventurous but absolutely necessary journey to reach the Philippines. See end for a few photos.
Hour 1
(7:00)Alarm goes off. Get up. Finish packing and last minute to-do items.
(7:30)Eat breakfast with family: scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and fruit salad thanks to chef Dad.
Hour 2
(8:00) Scheduled departure time. Get dressed.
(8:18)Commence stress-induced bickering and game of “hurry up and wait” while completing puzzle of “fit three largesuitcases, one box and two carry-on bags into back ofPrius”
(8:30) Depart for SFO 30 minutes behind schedule.
Hour 3
En route to SFO. Butt begins hurting in preparation of 15-hour flight to Hong Kong, 2-hour layover and 2-hour connecting flight to Manila.
Hour 4
(10:30)Arrive at SFO. Say goodbyes.
(10:50)Check-in and check bags.
Hour 5
(11:05) Go through thankfully painless security (I ♥ SFO).
(11:20)Arrive at departure gate. Wander terminal. Resist buying “In Defense of Food” and current “National Geographic” magazine.
Hour 6
(12:20)Grand finale to game of “hurry up and wait:” passengersmadly queue to board plane as if seats are limited and not pre-assigned.
(12:25) Two-thirds of queued passengers are told to sit down and wait until they’re boarding group is called. Said passengers complain and reluctantly take a seat.
Hour 7
(13:03) Plane pushes off from gate (two minutes early).
(13:23)Airborne. (Houston, we have lift-off!)
Hour 8
In-flight entertainment begins; Watch “Everybody’s Fine” (Meh.) Snack and beverage service begins.
Hour 9
Lunch served. Vegetarian meal consists of steamed mixed vegetables, cubes of baked potato, bread roll, lettuce salad with no dressing and fruit for dessert.
Hour 10
Continue in-flight entertainment with “Love Happens.” Turbulence begins.
Hour 11
Begin hourly trips to the lavatory. Lights out.
Hour 12
(18:05)Nap.
Hour 13
Nap.
Hour 14
Nap. Develop kink in neck. Turbulence strengthens. (Wee!)
Hour 15
Lights on. Fiddle with netbook. Begin a game of Scrabble with Mom.
Hour 16
(22:20)Dinner served. Vegetarian meal consists of penne pasta with mixed vegetables and marinara sauce, dinner roll, lettuce salad with lemon dressing and more fruit for dessert. Begin to think Cathay Pacific Airlines thinks all vegetarians are on diets. (I like apple cheesecake andpassion fruit mousse just as much as the average omnivore…)
(22:40)Begin time-logged journal.
Hour 17
(23:15) Lights out.
(23:17) Turbulence resumes. Fasten seat belt signs turn on andannouncement of turbulence made. In-flight attendants wander aisles reminding passengers to fasten seat belts.
(23:22) Man in next seat begins snoring. Butt still hurts. Watch “Into the Wild.”
Hour 18
“Into the Wild…”
Hour 19
“Into the Wild…”
Hour 20
Nap.
Hour 21
(3:05)Touch down at Hong Kong International. Wander slightly confusing airport looking for departure gate. Figure out departure gates are on the second floor while arrival gatesare on the first.
Hour 22
Find departure gate. Eat vegetable noodle soup and onion cakes at ramen house. (Yum!)
Hour 23
(5:35)Begin boarding flight to Manila.
Hour 24
Fall asleep. Wake up to beverage and snack service. Vegetarian snack: fruit plate (Woo. More fruit.)
Hour 25
(7:55)Touch down at Manila International Airport. (Hooray!)
Hour 26
Go through immigration, retrieve luggage and box and go through customs. Meet family.
Hour 27
(9:05)Arrive at Tita and Tito’s house. In bed and asleep within the hour.
Total time of travel (doorstep to doorstep) = 23.5 hours
I joked with Laura that the only thing I got to unwrap on Christmas morning was my ankle. Halfway through the second day of our five day trek on "The W" in Torres del Paine, Chile, I rolled my right ankle. I can't remember the last time I rolled it prior to that day, however it was an old wound and I used to roll it a lot when I was younger. I knew from previous experiences that having injured it once would make it weak and vulnerable for some time to come.
Our small first aid and emergency kit lacked an ace bandage or a good supply of ibuprofen. I took what we had of ibuprofen to keep the swelling down and slept with my ankle raised at night. The next day, I wrapped it as best I could with gauze and quarter inch tape but ended up rolling it again on our way down from a morning hike to the Frances Valley. Luckily this time, I only had my day pack on. Unluckily, we had a whole day of hiking with our large packs ahead of us to our next destination and another two days after that to reach our final destination.
Even without an injury, "The W" was by no means easy and the weather was definitely a contributing factor. We encountered relentless wind like I had never experienced and rain that made backpacking and sleeping outside not fun. The climate was cold enough to have to wear layers yet the terrain was exhausting enough that we were usually sweating through those layers. It snowed one afternoon and was so warm the next that I was sweating with shorts and a t-shirt.
I felt extremely privileged to be experiencing a beautiful place and accomplishing such a trek. However it was also Christmas and I was feeling a bit homesick. Needless to say, "The W" was challenging and an injury only added to its physical and emotional demands. It was the kindness of others that kept me positive and allowed me to finish the trek. Laura carried extra weight so I wouldn't have to put so much pressure on my ankle, Mike and Erin, a couple we met, gave me their only bandage out of their first aid kit and a few Aussies showed me how to wrap my ankle differently to provide it with more support. Even some of the park staff turned a blind eye and let us use staff facilities to cook and gave us free food and hot chocolate. I guess generosity is more abundant during the holiday season, but I'm pretty sure everyone who helped in some way would have done the same had it not been Christmas.
Below is the video journal Laura and I kept while on our trek through "The W." In less than 5 days, we walked about 45 miles, by far the longest backpacking trip in duration and length I have ever done. Given the above circumstances and knowing what I know now, would I have still done it? Absolutely! And I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
While in Valparaiso, Chile, I found an avocado (o palta en español) under the table of a small restaurant where I was having lunch with Grace and Megan. I happened to look down after eating and saw it sitting on the ground. Strange? Yes. I can't remember exactly why I decided to take it, but I think it had something to do with Grace daring me to. Or maybe it was the thought of putting it in a sandwich at some point. Either way, it's not as if the Palta (the name we gave it and as it shall now be called) were of extreme value (I saw them for as cheap as 8 for the equivalent of US$0.90 in Chile) or I was so poor that I had to resort to picking up random produce items from the ground.
Soon after eating lunch, we began taking pictures with the Palta. Again, I can't recall exactly why, it just seemed like the thing to do. The following is a series of photographs with the Palta. Each photo, whether obvious or not, contains the Palta. Can you find it?
As mentioned previously, Laura and I kept a video journal while traveling through Patagonia and beyond. I'm in the process of uploading and editing those and will post them when I'm finished.
Until then, I've posted my last video journal entry below. It was taken on the fifth night after coming back from waiting for a standby flight at Santiago International airport.
A lot of people wondered how I became "stuck" in Santiago. Before I left for my trip, I bought a buddy pass from a friend who is a flight attendant for Skywest, a United and Delta Airlines affiliate. A buddy pass is simply a heavily discounted ticket that allows me to fly coach, first or business. The catch is since the buddy pass is considered non-revenue, I had to fly standby. Flying standby means I get a seat only if there are seats available and the plane isn't over its weight restriction for passenger and cargo loads. Sounds easy enough, right? It was definitely easy enough flying to South America so I didn't consider the system in which buddy passes operate under until I had problems flying out.
There is a ranking system for non-revenue standby passengers. Non-revenue passengers include those who work for the airlines, retired airline employees and their friends/family who fly with buddy passes. If there are seats available for non-revenue standby passengers, those seats first go to active employees and then to retired employees. Only after these employees are offered a seat are buddy pass passengers offered seats, assuming there are seats left. Furthermore, buddy pass passengers are ranked according to the start date of when their friend or family member began working for the airlines. Basically because I was a buddy pass passenger and my friend's start date was in late 2006, I was always at the bottom of the standby list. Unfortunately for me, because it was summer in Santiago, it was also peak travel time for Chileans meaning passenger and cargo loads were consistently heavy.
Fortunately for me, I have friends and family friends in high places; They are pilots and former airline employees. (Get it? Friends in high places, airline employees?) I was able to get on as a guest traveler for American Airlines. Their non-revenue passenger system works a little differently. Active and unactive employees still get first priority. However, priority of friends and family guest travelers is determined by how long the guest traveler has been waiting for a flight out. It basically became a waiting game for me on American Airlines.
I won't lie. Repeatedly being denied a seat home wore on me a bit. It was depressing because I had put myself in the mind frame of "I'm going home" so I was ready and prepared to do that. It was also frustrating because everything was absolutely out of my control. The only thing I could do was show up every evening at the airport to wait for a seat. (Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't actually living at the airport. I had a hostel bed and took public transportation to the airport.) After the first night, I put my game face on and did well at not worrying about it. I figured it'll happen when it happens and all I could do was make the most of where I was. It was not until the sixth night when after talking with family and friends who were sure I'd get on that evening that I'd set my hopes high.
I can't remember the last time I cried besides while watching a sappy movie. I am either blessed or cursed with rarely feeling sorry for myself, remembering how insignificant my problems are compared to others and knowing how small I am in this massive universe. But on Sunday, my sixth night, I opened the floodgates and it all came pouring out. I was at a loss. It was the first night I seriously considered forking out the two grand to purchase a one-way ticket home. I also looked into flights to Lima, Peru for $700 where I felt more confident about flying out on a buddy pass because the passenger loads appeared less heavy. After mulling it over, I decided to give Santiago International one more try and on my seventh night, I escaped.
Thanks to everyone who helped, sent words of encouragement or said a prayer on my behalf. I am incredibly lucky to have so many friends and family who care about me!
PS For those who are curious, all 3 bottles of wine made it to Sacramento.
It's day number 8 in the Santiago area. With more energy and cooler weather, I probably would have only needed 5 days here. Unfortunately, my departure date is no longer controlled by me; I am at the mercy of Delta Airlines.
I am experiencing the joys of flying standby. While I am optimistic about being able to fly home tonight, I won't know for sure if I'll get on until less than 30 minutes before my plane is scheduled to leave. It was a madhouse last night at Santiago International. I've never seen so many people with their fingers crossed. The anticipation of getting on the plane was akin to playing BINGO, but instead of waiting for my last number to be called, I was waiting to hear my name. And like BINGO, it never happened.
I guess some people have been trying to fly out of the city for over a week. If I don't get on by tomorrow night, that will be me. Apparently, all major South American cities are experiencing an overload of non-revenue passengers and cargo, so there's not much point in seeking a different departure airport. But like I said, I'm staying optimistic. Perhaps the fates would like me to develop a better attitude about Santiago before I leave. Things can always be worse, right?
