From Boracay, I took the outrigger back to Panay island and rode South to Iloilo city. The road is well paved and hugs the coastline for the first 50km before turning inland. Midway along the route sugar cane fields appeared. The trucks they used to haul the sugarcane from the field are the old 60’s and 70’s truck. Heavy and overloaded with sugarcane they damaged the road and created many potholes. Mud from the field and sugarcanes felt off from the truck made the road quite dusty and unpleasant to ride. The same condition is repeated in Negros island which has even more sugarcane plantation. During the commodities boom of the late 70’s, the sugar plantation owners wielded considerable political power. Then sugar price collapsed and remained depress for 25 odd years. The towns along the ... read more

After ten months back from a motorcycle trip to Latin America, I quit my job at HP and start to travel again. For the Latin America trip, I felt like a school children on a summer recess. The trip had boundaries: take a leave of absence, travel, and go back to a job. For this trip, the job quitting is the only known boundary. The other boundary is unknown to me: Would I get tired of traveling? When will I stop traveling? Do I have enough money? Can I work again? Would somebody hire me if I want a job again? Should I really do this? Am I irresponsible? What would I do next? I debated with myself and these questions scrambled my brain. I guess, to a caged bird like me, a wide open space ... read more