Flying home from Mexico yesterday I saw this stamp in my passport from when I flew to the Philippines.
[click to enlarge]
Left March 7, 2020. Landed March 8.
What was supposed to be a week+ of team bonding ended up being just a few days.
I barely beat a “30-day” lockdown. Philippines ended up having one of the longest, with some of the final nonsense rules lifted something like just a year ago.
They couldn’t even go from one city to the next. Every household had a card. Only one person could leave the house at a time, and only with that card. Minors, probably who needed to get out the most, couldn’t leave at all.
There were thousands of dollars in unused/rescheduled hotels and flights. But it was 100% worth it for my team’s safety and peace of mind.
The days I had overseas were some of the most unique, beautiful, and amazing scenery of my life. And the team bonding was unbeatable.
Likewise, coming home a few days early and getting squeezes from my wife and kids after never seen before chaos was equally unbeatable.
In those last 48 hours, I went from kayaking an underground river cave considered one of the “new Seven Wonders of the World” in 90-degree beach weather, to being flooded with text messages about the world imploding. Then, cutting the trip short and being on the first of four planes when it wasn’t even a thought in my head just two hours earlier.
That experience gave me a much greater appreciation for the simpler things in life.
Much of which I’ve unfortunately already forgotten. 😆
Grateful for the reminder.
