The Adventure Begins at your Doorstep part 2

...so I'm at security in the airport, a few minutes to boarding time of my flight, frantically emptying my pockets and my bag searching for my passport, which is nowhere to be found. I'm not freaking out, but already starting to plan where I could sleep for the night, how I can change my ticket to one day later, how to get to the passport office, how much of my budget will be sucked away on a new same-day passport.

I walk quickly back to the check-in desk, texting Michelle to wait, she may have my passport! The desk is deserted, but a woman comes running out thinking I'm very late to check in. I ask if anyone's turned in a passport, or if I left it there. She runs to the back to check around for me when suddenly a man in a T-shirt says, "Excuse me! Um, did you maybe lose a passport?!" I say "Yeah!! Did you find it?" He asks my name and nods and says to come with him. He jogs off and I consider telling him about how I don't believe in running, but think better of it.

Suddenly I'm sprinting across the long terminal back to the wrong wing I tried to check in at earlier while this guy is telling me how he found the passport on the ground and turned it in to the staff. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I went there, or when I picked up my water and banana earlier, or something. But I get to teh gate panting while he flags down the staff and tells them I belong to that passport he turned in. I fill out some paperwork claiming it, they match me to my picture, and off I go again, running to the security gate to my now-boarding flight! I thank the man and his family profusely and think about offering a cash reward but realize I have too little to give, so it would seem almost rude to offer $5 for saving my entire trip. Once through security I try to spot him to give him my card and offer to try and discount any future travel, but I didn't see him again.

And that's how I managed to get on a 13.5 hour flight out-of-breath, stinky and drenched in sweat! Next stop, Taipei!

But more on that later...

The Adventure Begins at your Doorstep.

So, here's how this trip started (because my travel adventures begin the second I book a trip, ha!):

I race out of work and walk to the train station, hop on the Amtrak to Richmond, barely staying awake already. Switch to BART and head to downtown San Francisco instead of the airport, as a last minute meeting with Michelle seems possible. Wander the streets a bit, calling and texting John and Sach about things I forgot, and calling and texting to various countries to set up rides and meetings, etc., until Michelle finds me and I hop into her car. We're late (go figure) so after driving towards the show we were going to try and pop into for an hour, we decide to go straight to the airport. We park, thinking of going in for some tea for her and breakfast for me, but that doesn't sound too appealing in an airport terminal. Instead I go check in and grab a coupla waters and a banana (cuz i'm oh-so-healthy)and head back to the parking lot, where we chat and catch up for an hour.

Finally it's time to go and I race into the terminal to get to the gate and wait to board. I went to the wrong wing first, and discovered I get to trek yet again across the airport to check in. Nothing like working up a sweat before boarding a 13.5 hour flight! I pause at the top of security to dump all my pocket stuff into my bag, pull out my boarding pass and my passpor--- um, wait. OK, tickets, boarding pass, notepad, pen, pencil, camera, phone, old passport... NO PASSPORT!!! Hmmm...

(OUT OF TIME... will continue the saga later!)

Day 1

Man have I got a story for you!

But, not yet. I've just arrived in Taiwan, alive and well. It's 8a now and I'm about to board a several hour train to Taichung to meet up with Heidi, but I thought I'd stand at this free internet for a bit to stretch my legs after a 13.5 hour flight and a 6 hour journey to get there.

Just thought I'd leave a quick note announcing my arrival to Asia. You can imagine the horns and fanfare.

Now off to the bus!

Yet Another Rebirth...

To even make a post declaring that I'm revamping and restarting this blog seems trite at this point. For those of you (none of you) that have been following the evolution of SixQ.Net over the past 11 or 12 years, you know that I've launched and relaunched this site almost as many times as I've declared I'd be updating more now (and then never updating). So... let's do this to NO fanfare.

Last update I made in this was from Shanghai in December. As you can imagine and assume, I did make it home from China. I did it penniless, and came home to chaos and drama and after a move and thousands of dollars down the tubes, I'm now fully recovered from all that noise (just in time for the US economy to collapse on me anyway).

But also, after China, I flew home via Hong Kong and LAX, have been to LA 3 times since, Palm Springs/Coachella, San Diego, Lake Shasta, Vegas, Monterrey, etc. etc... Oh, and I went to South Africa for a week and a half or so, and stopped for a day in Frankfurt, Germany. I guess you'll have to wait to read about that in Newsweek or something, or when my autobiography is published, once I find a ghostwriter that can scribble words down as quickly as I can babble travel stories.

Anyway, so... no big relaunch, but I am leaving the country again in less than 24 hours. This time I'm bouncing around Asia a bit more - off to Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Should be good times; a month away is much needed. I'll update as much as I can, put notes on Facebook and MySpace maybe, upload vids to MySpace and photos to Flickr. Got the Google Calendar updated as well. And as always, if you're not reading this on SixQ.Net, you bloody well should be! I've got everything tied together there - contact links, MySpace, Facebook, Google Calendar, Flickr, etc., plus a buncha free mashup mixes for those who don't know.

So... I'm gonna sleep for 3 hours, go work for 10 hours, then train it down to the airport and start another wild ride! Hope you kids drop a note or 10 to keep in touch! :)

Cheers,
6Q