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Yesterday afternoon, while going to the mall which is only a 6-7 minute ride by motorcycle, I was pulled over by a police traffic enforcer at a u-turn area. Ironically, last time I went to this mall, I had turned 3 blocks earlier in a "no u-turn" area, and if I would have done that again (broken the law), I wouldn't have been pulled over at all.

Anyway, apparently the Land Transport Office (LTO) pushed through a law that made it illegal to drive a motorcycle with exposed toes this past January--I was pulled over for wearing sandals on the motorcycle. As I have already experienced (different story that happened in Baguio), in the Philippines the police take your license and replace it with a ticket until you go and pay the fine at which point you get a receipt which you then take to a different office and can finally exchange that for your license. So the officer took my license and after describing what I did wrong, he began to explain what I would need to do to get it back. Similar to the process above, except that I would need to go to my embassy for them to verify that I am here legally (because I was supposed to have my passport), and after that I would need to go to the police station, etc. The problem is that it takes 1-2 hours each way (depending on traffic) to go to the embassy and police station in Makati by bus, and I wouldn't be able to ride the motorcycle because I wouldn't have my license.

After asking if there was any possibility of just getting a warning (because I didn't know that it was illegal) and keeping it off the books, he said that he could give me a warning, let me keep my license, and handle all the processing of the paperwork for me in Makati (therefore saving me the hassle of going there) if I just paid him half of the PhP1,000 (approximately USD 23) fine right now; a not-so-subtle attempt to acquire a bribe.

Because I didn't want to encourage this sort of behavior I really didn't want to pay it, so I decided to act oblivious to the fact that it was a bribe. I agreed, and he gave me back my license.

Then, in front of all the traffic (Commonwealth Ave is very busy, especially at this time) I took out my wallet and began to conspicuously and slowly search for cash. After I found and counted my 500 pesos (approximately 11 USD), I held it out really openly and he sort of walked away from it. And then after I let my arm fall, he started to come back and I raised my arm and tried to hand it to him again. And then he just said something frustrated and told me to go. And I did.

So I ended up paying neither a ticket nor a bribe, and I still have my license. Score.

Kyle +1, Corruption 0.

One day (long before the Motorcycle accident), Say and I made a spur of the moment decision to go to Baguio.

Baguio is famous because it is the city with the highest elevation (1,500m) in the Philippines. This also means that it is the coldest city in the Philippines, having the country's lowest temperature in recorded history--6.3 degrees Celsius (43.34 degrees Farenheit)--on January 18, 1961, and year-round average temperatures between 15 and 23 C (59 to 73.4 F). Because of this, many Pinoys (a common, non-derogatory term for Filipinos) make the trip from Manila to Baguio to escape the intense heat of summer. This is why Baguio is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines."

Today, I went to La Mesa Ecopark. It it beautiful, and--as far as I know--it is the only place within an hour of here where one can go and be surrounded by nature, without a concrete building or road in sight. Plus, I'm lucky enough to live only a 10 minute walk away. I'll definitely go back with my camera and take some pictures to upload here.

This post explains one of the cornerstones of the Life With No Borders philosophy: Limit your baggage--physical and mental baggage.

I'm not using baggage in the what-you-carry-while-traveling sense of the word, but the what-you-own-and-carry-on-your-mind-ALL-the-time sense of the word. Limiting physical baggage and living a minimalist lifestyle is very conducive to a Life With No Borders.

Most people can easily understand how their physical baggage is holding them back and stopping them from going wherever, and doing whatever they want. I'm sure you have thought:

"I would love to travel, but what would I do about my ___(noun)___?"

My stock answer to this question is:

"Do you really need ___(noun)___? If you woke up tomorrow and you suddenly didn't have ___(noun)___, would you really need to replace it within the next five days, or could you live longer without it?"

If you can live more than five days without something, it is likely that you don't really need it. Don't misunderstand me and think that I live my life with only the bare essentials necessary for survival. On the contrary, I have some possessions that I know I do not need, but that I enjoy owning. The important thing is to be mindful of these thing. Always be aware of an items discretionary status, and evaluate whether or not it creates more enjoyment in your life than it does mental baggage. If the item creates more pleasure than baggage, then it creates positive net pleasure (PNP), and may still be worth owning. However, do not consider the amount of money that you spent on it, or the amount of time that you have owned it in your "calculation" of PNP--those things are sunk costs and should be ignored.

Your possessions should ALL fall into one of these two categories:

1. Things that you need
2. Things that increase your PNP.

If you do not need it, and you do not get PNP from your ownership of it, then you have no reason to continue to own it. Get rid of it right now.

Stay tuned for a second post focusing on mental baggage and more about how physical and mental baggage are related.

I look forward to seeing your comments and feedback!

I finally arrived in the Philippines after (only!) 22 hours of traveling.

I was quite worried when my first flight (Minneapolis to Detroit) was originally delayed by 30 minutes due to bad weather in Detroit. Then I felt better after the captain announced that we had been cleared so we took off only 25-30 minutes after the scheduled departure. Then, half way to our destination, the captain announced that Detroit airport was shut down for the weather, and we didn't have enough fuel to maintain a holding pattern indefinitely, so we would return back to Minneapolis. Upon arrival back to Minneapolis (the flight wasn't canceled, just "delayed indefinitely"), I knew that, even though my connection from Detroit would likely be delayed as well, I would probably not be able to make it there in time, and would likely end up spending the night in the Detroit airport.

So I spoke with somebody at Delta who rescheduled me within five minutes to a flight that left in less than one hour and went straight from Minneapolis to Japan. Then, from there, I would catch a connection that would get me to Manila 1 hour earlier than even my original ticket. The woman that I spoke to was very polite, efficient, and effective, and Delta gets many points for this in my book. The only drawback with this arrangement is that Delta would not get my bags from underneath the first plane until my original flight was officially canceled (which didn't end up happening). Thus, I spent 24 hours in Manila without any of my checked bags, and needed to pay for a cab to and from the airport for two days in a row.

The moral of the story is that things can (and often do) happen that are outside your control, but the best thing you can do is try your best to achieve the best outcome. After my second arrival in Minneapolis, I could have sat and waited on the plane (like they recommended) and sulked in self-pity about how my total trip time would now end up being approximately 48 hours, or I could have gotten angry and yelled at the gate agents about all my problems and how they should fix them. But because I was logical and rational, I decided to avoid ceding my freewill to helplessness or anger, and I was able to accomplish what I wanted. Though I believed that it would be too good to be true for me to get on the direct flight, by actively attempting to do so, I succeeded. Of course this wont always be the case, but you should never be too quick to give up when it comes to getting what you want, otherwise you rarely will.

4 days and 22 hours until I am on a plane to the Philippines. 23 hours of travel time later, I will arrive in Manila. Assuming no departures from the flights as they are currently scheduled, I will arrive in Manila at 23:15 on May 26, 2011. This will be the beginning of my lifestyle makeover--a life with no borders.

I'm going to live my life in way that is radically different than most people believe is possible.

Wish me luck.