Time Gaps

Travel Ban

My neurologist banned me from traveling by air or sea. Most preferably I should travel by train. The platinum ball coiled around my aneurysm should always be in a stable position in my brain. The coiled platinum is preventing my aneurysm from rupturing. Turbulence in a plane or big waves in the sea might shake the metal ball in my cerebellum. Aneurysm survivors are at high risk for a second aneurysm attack so I am scared to travel far away from Inha University Hospital. As much as possible I should not leave Incheon.

Someone once asked me if I have moles on the soles of my feet. Actually I do have two moles on the sole of my right foot.

"That's why you're a lakwatsera."

Lakwatsera means someone who is not a home buddy. Someone who is always out of the house traveling somewhere.

My best childhood memories include field trips and retreats outside our school. I loved going to different malls, bar hopping in high school, visiting relatives and friends' houses, grocery shopping (most particularly in Guadalupe Market, Makati) and just being outdoors.

Mama used to be a Catholic Charismatic preacher. She was invited to lecture in different cities around the Philippines. I traveled with Mama on weekends. My last class in high school finished at 3:40pm so every Friday, I would take the bus to go to Mama's office in Quezon City and we would head off to her speaking assignment. We visited churches in Laguna, Batangas, Bataan, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Tarlac and other provinces in Luzon Island. I enjoyed seeing new places, meeting people and listening to different Filipino dialects and accents. I was a choir member in Loved Flock Catholic Charismatic Church and we would be invited to sing in weddings and masses in different locations. We had outreach programs in city jails, home for the aged and even leprosariums.

I feel most alive when I change my environment. That is why I walk my dogs around different parks in Incheon. It's the reason behind I do my Starbucks Tour since 1997 adding store names to the 3,000 plus Starbucks stores I have visited around the world.

When the neurologist told me I am not allowed to travel by air or sea, I felt like I am being shackled around the ankles on house arrest. I have been traveling abroad yearly since 1999. Twenty years of traveling, mostly alone, gave me the best education after my college graduation. I was indecisive about what to major in university. Our high school guidance counsellor asked me what I want to do most. Traveling. That's why I studied BS Tourism. I worked for Japan Airlines and Continental Airlines for a few years before I got married. Since I started teaching in Korea in 1999, I would save money, quit my job, travel 2-3 months, return to Korea, find a job and teach again.

Friends and family now call me a living miracle. I know I have unfinished businesses to attend to. Procrastination is something I am obligated to conquer on a daily basis. Life is extremely short. I refused to die at 43 ergo I should make each day as productive and significant as my last day on Earth. Reading and writing will be replacing traveling this 2020. I will reread my favorite books and write write write. I have to finish my stories on Wattpad so ciao for now.