May 24, 2025 • 33 mins
Yes, you read that right! We're back together again and this time it's in the Philippines! Currently melting in the country's hot and humid capital city, Manila, we discuss Adam's journey from Queenstown.After two flights, via Sydney, Adam describes his series of unfortunate events, including an overweight carry-on bag and the moment he had his phone stolen, only to have it mysteriously return back into his bag.It's exciting times ahead for Tripology! Come join the adventure!We'd love to hear from you! Send us a message using the contact form on our website: https://www.tripologypodcast.comNeed travel insurance? We recommend SafetyWing! Click here to get started: https://safetywing.com/?referenceID=26035801&utm_source=26035801&utm_medium=AmbassadorRequire an onward flight? Please use this fantastic flight rental service: https://onwardticket.com/tripologypodcastJoin our Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/tripologypodcastFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tripologypodcast/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Tripology's in Manila. Play the theme music.
Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology.
(00:21):
I'm Alan. I'm here with the ever Filipino.
It's Adam. Alan, mate, we've got a bit of a
secret to reveal, haven't we? It's been a long time coming,
but I'm here in the flesh, in the building.
How do you feel? Oh, I feel ever so close to you.
You're. Here right?
Now I can't help but just revealto the audience.
I can't help but reveal to the audience that it's again, we're
(00:45):
in sweltering condition. Yeah, I mean, if it wasn't for
your fabulous editing skills to the audio listeners, they might
just think this sounds like any regular episode of Topology
they've been listening to for the last five months.
Yeah, but I am sitting right next to you.
Yeah, in 75% more perspirationalconditions.
I'm sweaty, I'm hot. I'm in the Philippines.
(01:05):
You're here as well. Yeah, you, you actually left out
just how hot it was when you said, do you fancy coming to
meet me in Manila? And had you said it's unbearably
hot and humid and there are rainstorms absolutely every day,
I might have said, do you mind if we just record remotely for
the next little bit? I told you there was freezing
cold. You've called me just a Parker
and some long Johns facts in your back.
(01:27):
I said it's cold here mate, comehave a nice time.
Yeah, exactly the same temperature as Queenstown.
You've acclimatised. But but yeah, that was it.
I mean, we're absolutely roasting.
It's one of the technical thingsabout recording a podcast that
people don't know is that is that when when you haven't got
control of the temperature, it'sreally, really tough.
We mention it, I feel, every week when we're travelling
(01:49):
together because those are the times where we have forced the
most into specific recording conditions.
But there's a beautiful moment to share with the tripological
audience where we like set up the studio, we make sure it's
all right, We're like, OK, we'reready to go.
OK, turn the fan off, turn the air con off.
And then suddenly the room descends into this sort of like
oven condition, which is like, it's mind blowing, isn't it the
(02:10):
the hate that's rising through the room right now?
Yeah, you, you left out the little bit where you put your
foot in the fridge to try and cool down.
Yeah, I said. To Adam, I was just like,
panicking, looking for some way to cool down.
Can we open the fridge? It's the most quiet form of
coolness in the room. Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's difficult, isn't it?
And I think naturally we are going to try to travel to places
(02:31):
where the weather is agreeable. Yeah, tropical locations.
Here we are in Manila. I've come from somewhere there's
very cold so I'm quite enjoying it, but I've got no doubt the
novelty is going to wear off pretty sharpish.
I hope so, mate. I hope the novelty wears off and
it goes to just a sort of more stable condition that we can
cope with and deal with. I'm looking forward to the
episodes we do from Antarctica one day.
But now we are in the Philippines and we're enjoying
(02:52):
it. Thank you for coming.
Thank you for being a part of the journey here.
We've got some incredible thingsplanned because during your time
here, business decisions are going to be made, tripological
decisions are going to be made, things are going to happen that
will bring the audience along for the ride, and it's just
going to be a real beautiful time.
So over the next few weeks of Tripology, you're going to see
some sort of evolution. And by the end of it, we will be
(03:15):
the biggest travel podcast in the universe, and that's
including all the different galaxies and all the different
dimensions. I'm talking universe, baby.
So if you, that was the perfect time to come along to the right.
Yeah, yeah, AI, we're coming foryou.
You understand, in our way. And I guess we do like to
practice what we preach as well.So if you've got a friend out
there who lives in a really exotic location or somewhere
(03:36):
you're interested in visiting, maybe they've lived there for a
while, or maybe they've just moved there and they pick up the
phone to you and say, hey, I'd really love it if you came to
visit. Pull the trigger, go and do it.
It's an amazing thing. Go and do it both start a
podcast and then quit doing the podcast after 10 episodes and
listen to Tripology instead. Well, thank you for coming mate.
I would love to hear about your sojourn to get here, what you've
(03:57):
been up to over the last few weeks because we've not spoken.
You arrived 24 hours ago. We went immediately to bed and
we barely said anything. We said Savor for the podcast.
Yeah, it's one of those awkward time differences.
So I came from Queenstown via Sydney and we'll go into detail
about that. And then Sydney on to Manila
with a 21 hour delay over a delay over what a lovely
(04:19):
portmanteau that is a T-shirt. Yeah.
So, so yeah, that, that sort of layover spun me out a little
bit. And it's only a four hour time
difference, but that's, that's quite annoying, isn't it?
Because I'm sort of waking up atabout 6:00 AM because for me
it's 10 AM, which is a lion. But but yeah, I mean, we will
talk about the the process to get here because if it wasn't
(04:40):
you I was coming to visit it, the rigmarole that I went
through might might have been the end of me.
I might have turned around in Sydney and just gone back home.
Wouldn't even worth it, no. I don't think so.
I liked the fact that I'm sort of a golden enough carrot on the
end of a horrible stick that youwill persevere with the
nastiness of the sojourn. Oh yeah.
So I mean, it's pretty straightforward.
I managed to get flights that were just one layover.
(05:02):
As I said, I there's nothing direct, obviously, because I'm
in fucking New Zealand and you're lucky to get a direct
flight to Australia. But my flight went from
Queenstown, where I now live. Big shout out to Queenstown and
I I ended up getting the bus to the airport to catch my flight.
Now, unfortunately, I left it a little bit late.
I was having a lazy morning. I'd already packed the night
(05:23):
before because I checked in, checked out of the hostel, so
it's already done by default. My bag's packed and I left it a
little bit late. I thought it's 15 minutes down
the road, the airport in a placecalled Frankton.
I'll just catch the bus because there's buses every 10 minutes
and you know what it's like whenthere's almost too many buses.
You're LAX, aren't you? Here's too many buses.
I hate that if I go to the bus stop and you can barely, you
(05:44):
don't know which bus is yours whizzing past the break, their
speed, I think. Are you all going in the same
direction? So what I want you to do here is
just remember I'm in a fully developed, what you know, quote,
UN quote. If we can still say that first
world country and it's 2025. I'll get on the bus.
I waved my friends goodbye. I'm there with my backpack all
excited like it's my first trip again, going to see my best
mate. And are you laughing because
(06:06):
it's so hot? It's not.
Yeah, it's very. I can see sweat driven down your
lip as you're. Talking amazing.
Honestly. Awful.
Well, the show must go on. That's fine.
This show will turn out probablywith us both completely
drenched. I.
Mean I'm panicking as you're talking about buses.
I'm physically so uncomfortable.But maybe some fans will be into
(06:29):
it, so maybe this will convert some audio fans into video fans.
This is crazy. We have recorded in the desert
of Omar. In the back of the car.
In the back of a car. This is hotter than that.
Yeah, it is it. It is unfair in the fridge.
I don't know what the environmentalists to say about
that. What the heck all?
Right. But yeah.
There's too many buses so. There's too many buses and I was
(06:50):
really relaxed as a result, which is good going into travel
because this is a little thing you might not know about me.
I'm not always totally chill when, when we, I mean, you'd
know that, but I'm not like completely, oh, whatever happens
will happen and I'll deal with it on the way.
Like I'm quite sort of rigid in some.
Cases. I don't think of you as a chill
person, and some of my friends Ido.
Yeah, you're in a category that I have called the Less Chill
(07:14):
Friends. They KA stick up his ass.
No, I think there's a stick up your ass.
But what I do think about you isif there's a stressful situation
and the two of us are involved, I know that I have to assume the
role of the chill one. Sure, because.
You've often like said, oh, you're very, very calm in
airports, all that stuff. That's not always the case, but
that's the case with you becauseI know you're stressing enough
for both of. Us.
(07:35):
Yeah, I'd rather have an icicle at my ass right now.
So got on the bus feeling cold, feeling feeling, feeling pretty
relaxed. Got on the bus and just said to
the bus driver I'd just like an adult single to the airport.
And and then I looked down at the machine and it had the
contactless payment. I had my credit card ready and I
(07:56):
went to tap it and he looked at me.
He was Filipino actually funnilyenough.
And he said it's cash only unless you've got a local
transport card. Disgusting.
And I, I said, but sorry, I don't have any cash.
And he said, oh, it's cash only.What, so you can't get on the
bus? I said, I said I don't have any
cash, please. Is there any way I can pay?
(08:18):
Are you sure the contact list doesn't work with my credit
card? You know, like a lot of the
times you can just tap on, tap off public transport, whatever.
And a little smile broke and he said it's cash only and.
Sarcastic, sort of vindictive smile.
Well, I mean, I was looking at him and the 40 people who had
just got on the bus with their local tap on, tap off cards and
(08:39):
I thought do you know what mate?I'm not going to a fucking
garden centre for the morning. I'm going to, I'm going to the
airport to catch a flight. So, you know, time is of the
essence. Are you sure I can't just get
on? And he said.
Did you say the garden centre thing to him?
No, no, it's just happening in my head.
I'm not. Buying a fucking trowel.
I'm going to catch a plane that's going to leave
(09:00):
imminently. Can I just get on?
And he said, no, I I'm sure you can't get on.
It's cash only. You're going to have to get cash
out. And I thought, OK, whatever,
trip hasn't gone to plan, I'm going back to bed, No.
Tropology. Tropology's not going well.
I don't have any cash. I have an.
Agreeable temperature walking around the streets of
(09:21):
Queenstown. I think I'll just stay here.
So I ran into the local supermarket.
So I was, you know, panicking, thinking holy shit, this has
gone wrong already. I'm running around trying to
think, well, where's the nearestcash machine?
I've got my friend on the phone.She's like looking at all the
different ATMs in the local locale and there's nothing in
there. So I just thought, fuck it, I'll
get cash back. Ran into the supermarket, went
(09:42):
straight up to the counter. I said, you know, I'm shaking my
card like this, I've got to get the next bus.
There's another one in 10 minutes.
Please, please, please. I've already left it.
Too late. Can I just get the cash back?
They said yeah, yeah, no problem, just wait there.
So I'm like, there's sweat dripping down my forehead like
usual. And then I went to give them my
card and just said $10.10 dollars.
They said no, you have to buy something first.
You can't just get $10. Yeah, you can't just do cash for
cash, but. You know, I was just like
looking around frantically. I was like, fuck it, peanut
(10:03):
M&M's. That's fine.
Grab, grab those. I don't need peanut M&M's unless
I'm in the cinema like everyone else.
Bought those, gave them to my friend, jumped back over the
road to the bus stop and had the$10 cash.
You know, obviously, you know, you know, the rest of the story
got there in one piece. So I was a little bit flustered.
Got to the airport with my bag with my carry on bag which is 35
(10:25):
liters which as we know is. Well, under carry on size, that
absolutely 40 liters Max Carry on size, yeah, it's 35.
It's easy. Absolutely fine to get on the
plane. So I wasn't too fast.
Went to the kiosk machine to getmy boarding pass because I had
already checked in one of these Qantas things, you know these
like futuristic jobbies with thescreen.
And just as I got through to printing my boarding pass, the
(10:46):
screen just went black and it said, sorry, this kiosk doesn't
work. So I was like, awesome, fucking
brilliant. So I started queuing and then a
guy picked me out the crowd and he said, oh, you know, Sir,
we're just about to open this desk.
Do you need any help at all? I said, look, I've already
checked in. I just need my boarding pass.
I've only got a carry on. And he looked at my bag and he
went, oh, do you mind if we weigh that?
(11:07):
And I was like, I was like, no, that's, that's not a problem
because it's 35 litres. So I wasn't thinking to myself,
because you know what it's like when we travel with carry on.
I, I didn't know necessarily that there was always a weight
limit. I thought it's 35 litres.
It doesn't matter if it weighs 20 kilos or 5 kilos, it's 35
litres. Just let me on.
They don't know if I'm carrying.But you you've.
Seen on like flight, when you book the flight, it says usually
(11:28):
our 8 kilogram limit, 11 kilogram limit.
Yeah, I've seen that before. But I don't know if I've ever
had my and my bag weighed my carry on bag.
I don't think that's something. Rare, actually, people, it's
rarer than people think. I don't know.
Yeah, and also, I know how many airline rules are completely
fucking redundant, so I don't really take them seriously.
And maybe that's my fault, I don't know.
(11:49):
But he picked me out the crowd. We went away the bag and I was,
you know, relaxed again, thankfully, and put it on the
scales and it was 9 kilograms. And he went.
I'm really sorry. So that's 2 kilograms over.
The maximum is 7 sevens. You're very tight, yeah.
You're going to have to either take some things out or leave
some things here, which what I'mamazed is even an option.
(12:11):
Or you can check the whole thingin.
Or you could wear some of the things.
Yeah, I mean, I was already thinking about the 50° in
Manila. I don't want to get off the
other end, you know, feeling even worse and wearing a coat or
whatever. So and ski boots.
So I decided to just rearrange my bag.
I took some stuff out and then stood back in the queue and I
said to him, I'm just going to check the bag in, that's fine.
(12:32):
And I'll carry my electronics because I'm going to do some
editing or, you know, thumbnail,whatever on the plane.
I've got my laptop, my headphones, that should be
enough. But I'm going to check it in
anyway. It doesn't matter.
So I, I got 3, three people to the front until I can check my
bag in. And this lovely girl from
Australia, she turned around, she went, I heard all that.
If you want me, I'm flying to Sydney.
You can just Chuck the extra stuff in, My bag did.
(12:53):
She say that she did say she went.
All right, Mike, I did all of that while you check some shitty
Mopic. It's a euphemism, all right?
So. So yeah, she's really sweet.
And I said, I said, look, it's fine, don't worry about it, I'm
just going to take stuff on the plane.
She goes, oh, it's so it's bollocks, isn't it?
(13:15):
All this? I said, yeah, he's preaching to
the choir sort of thing. And then the guy came back, the
same guy, and he said, excuse me, Sir, would you like to wear
your bag again? And I said why?
And he said because now you've taken things out, it might be
lower than 7 kilos. I had my foot on it before
because. I said, I said, but what's
weighing it going to do? Because I'm taking the stuff
(13:37):
that I've got in my hands on theplane as well.
He said no, no, it's all right. If it's not in your bag and your
bag weighs less than seven, yeah, then you can take it.
Oh. You know this.
Sometimes I think you're baffledby things that people understand
already. You know that if you're carrying
it in your hands, it's not addedto the weight of your pack.
You never thought they were weighing because otherwise they
would weigh you and say you're only allowed 165 kilograms on
(13:58):
the plane or something like that.
I don't care about how much you weigh.
But hang on a minute, this is like a Mandela Effect moment.
We do. We do agree that me holding
whatever was in the bag and the bag, yes, is is still the same
can weight as me putting the things that I'm I'm holding in
the bag, right. It's still a total amount of
weight. I don't.
Care how much you weigh. Otherwise fat people would have
to pay more for airline tickets.They care about how much your
(14:21):
bag weighs so that they can charge you money.
All right, so well, maybe that'syeah, that's kind of where the
story comes to an end. I went over weighed the thing.
It was 6.8 and he went all right, amazing through you go.
And I was like, but I'm but I'm just going to get around that
corner and go straight in the bag.
I'm going to put my electronics back in the bag so I don't have
to fucking carry them like an idiot.
(14:41):
And he was like, that's it, no problem.
It was amazing. So then you know, I got, I
can't, I couldn't believe it. I got onto the plane feeling a
little bit sort of bewildered orwhatever.
I heard all that, mate. There was some resourceful
thinking. It was just so baffling.
I was really, again, incredulous, thinking none of
these airport rules make sense. And less and less usually an old
(15:03):
friend of mine said to me, if something doesn't make sense,
there's usually money involved. Yeah, and I'm pretty sure with
airlines, they're just trying tostiff, stiff us left, right and
centre, aren't they? So, well, I, I got onto the
plane, walked all the way to theback where my seat was with a
bag that was weighing, again, 9 kilos.
And lo and behold, there was a woman in my seat and.
(15:24):
How many kilos was she? She already had my bag.
It was so weird. But no, she was sitting in my
seat and I looked at my ticket and looked at her and looked at
my ticket again. And I was like, this is
definitely my seat. And she had already taken out my
blanket And was she was, she was, she was really, you know,
(15:44):
tucking herself in for the flight.
It was only like 3 1/2 hours or whatever, but it was, it was her
just a disbelief that I was, youknow, I'd confronted her about
it and I was like, oh, hi, sorry, I'm sorry, but this is my
seat. And my blanket.
And she, oh, oh, sorry, are you here?
Are you here? And I was like, yeah.
And she had so many things she'dreally like settled in and I
(16:06):
felt quite bad, But I, I saw her.
I know this is probably going tosort of sort of me in a bad
light or whatever. But I looked at the seat that
she was eyeing towards because she kind of said, you know, oh,
oh, I'm, I'm over there. And I would have said, look,
just don't worry, I'll take yourseat.
And you're more than welcome to have my nice aisle seat that I
selected especially. And I looked at where she was
(16:28):
sitting and the people she was sitting next to.
It was like a middle between twopeople I just really didn't want
to engage with. So I was like, oh, in fact,
yeah, sorry about that. Cheers.
And she was like, oh, you would you like to?
And I was like, no, no, yeah, this is my scene.
Sorry. But I really had to quickly read
the room because I was worried that the person she was sitting
next to might have been her daughter and I wouldn't have
broken them up. But yeah, there was no
(16:49):
interaction between them whilst I was standing there.
So I thought, go fuck yourself. I.
Tend to be quite unforgiving with that sort of thing.
Yeah, I tend to think like, oh, do you know what I'll do?
Actually, I won't bother with seat selection unless I'm in a
scenario where I've got my seat and someone asks me to switch.
In that situation, I'm like, I'mhappy where I am.
Yeah, yeah, I will just sort of sit wherever.
(17:11):
If if people are already sat, ifsomeone else is sat in my seat,
I'll tend to just go around and.Yeah, I mean quickly before we
go to the Med break, I will justsay one thing and it is about
seat selection. Just be really, really careful
when you're booking seats onlinebecause I booked my flights
through a third party and when Iwas selecting seats, I'm I think
usually if you don't select a seat and you just skip through
(17:31):
to the next round when you're booking, it never charges you a
fee, right? Because some, sometimes you can
select a seat and it will chargeyou an extra.
Never pay that fee a begrudge it.
Yeah, no, of course. I mean choosing a seat for for a
flight is a waste of money I think.
And even first class, I mean, and that's maybe a talk for a
different day, but I was on thisthird party booking website and
(17:53):
I was selecting other seats thatwere in a better position, but
they were available and free of charge.
So I, I didn't even think that they would charge me at all
because the price of the seat change was free.
And then when I got to the end of the flight, because I had
technically four flights, 2 on the way there, 2 on the way
back, I thought, you know, I'm pretty, pretty handsome here.
Pretty, pretty handsome. I'm pretty happy with my seat
(18:16):
choices. The news?
Flight bookings going very well.Fresh air, no.
So anyway, when I got to the final price, I thought, oh,
that's weird. It's a little bit more expensive
than I remember the figure beingat the beginning.
So I went through and, you know,in detail and tried to work out
what was costing the extra and the the third party booking
website had charged me a $6 service fee for just selecting a
(18:39):
different free seat. So just be super careful that
none of that, because I'm absolutely certain beyond any
reasonable doubt that people have paid extra for nothing.
OK, so we've had baggage weight and some of you see, I'm looking
forward to hearing what else went wrong on your way here, but
we'll deal with that after a brief meditation break.
(19:00):
Sometimes when traveling, accidents happen.
Oh, I've fallen off a helicopterand broken my nose.
That's why it's always so important to have travel
insurance and for. When you do need insurance, we
recommend safety. Wing, there's a link in the
description. Click it.
Support the podcast. Like a man physically dying in a
(19:21):
Filipino Airbnb. Like a conscious mind to return
to your brain. At Full disclosure, I asked Adam
in the meditation break if we could stop recording because I'm
so painfully hot. Yeah, and be like a slave
driver, I said. Alan, I've just flown 36 hours
to get here. Come on mate, stick your foot in
(19:41):
the fridge. Adam says.
I don't care how much you're sweating, I'm not telling that
story again. So I'd rather carry on or lose
something else. So I've persevered.
So if I feel vaguely catatonic to the listener, it's because
I'm my cells are dying. Yeah, I mean, luckily it's
another story from my journey because there was a bit of a
doozy by you last week. And and this one was a bit of a
(20:03):
doozy by me. You know, sometimes when you're
travelling, things happen and itmakes you check yourself and you
think, God, if that had, if thathad really been the case, a full
body check, a full body check, Iwould have been incredibly
embarrassed. So there I was in Sydney.
I got to Sydney in one piece andI deliberately chose Sydney as
my layover. Obviously I had a a load of
(20:23):
different options to get here, but I chose Sydney because one
of my best mates from back home,I was actually best man at his
wedding in 20. I shouldn't have started that
because I don't know the exact year it might have.
Been 20, I got this hard in thisroom.
I think it's 2019. Very, very good friend of mine,
he took the plunge and and movedto Sydney, Australia about a
year ago and he's there with hisfamily.
(20:44):
Absolutely amazing couple, Super, super couple and he's a
lovely guy and I text him after booking the flight actually
before you because you know initially it was going to be a
surprise, but. Bizarrely, Adam decided to try
and surprise me by coming to thePhilippines, even though on an
episode of Tripology just three weeks earlier, we explicitly
said in the Patreon section, so you'll definitely come to the
Philippines. Yeah.
(21:05):
And he went, yeah, yeah, I am. So I was expecting him to come.
I texted him saying, mate, when are you arriving?
And he was like, it's supposed to be a surprise.
Yeah, I mean, I would have needed your address obviously,
but but yeah. So I was in the Philippines with
my mate and I told him straight away, obviously I wasn't in the
Philippines yet. I was in Sydney with my mate and
(21:27):
I texted him. I said look, I'm coming there,
I'm only going to be for here for one night.
Is it OK if I come in and see you?
Because we've not seen each other for a very long time.
Last time I was in the UK when Iwas last there, what, over a
year ago and it'd be an awesome thing if I could just, you know,
sleep on your couch and we'll have dinner together and all
this sort of stuff. He said absolutely, get over
here, love to see you. So pretty easy train ride into
(21:51):
the city. He was at a conference and he
said, look, why don't we just goout before we go home for
dinner? Why don't we go out for a couple
of drinks in a bar? I said, yeah, sounds great.
So we went to this place called the Sydney Cidery.
If anyone, if anyone, what do they sell there?
Cider and beer. Actually, that was a requirement
of me because I don't drink muchcider.
And we walked in and the bar waspretty empty.
(22:12):
Actually. It was sort of, sort of a rainy
Thursday night and we. A rainy Thursday night.
Yeah. And we, we, we popped ourselves
at the bar, stood there and had a couple of beers Now at the
bar, and I know this is going tosound like the beginning of a
joke, but there was an English woman, a Brazilian woman and a
Dutch woman, OK. And and they were just working
(22:33):
at the bar. And we stood there and we, we
were chatting to them for a verylong time.
It was a really nice conversation.
We ended up having 1-2 couple ofpackets of crisps chips for our
American listeners came out and we stayed there for a lot longer
than I thought we were going to.And we ended up having a few
beers, having a good old catch up, as you'd expect.
And we, we were talking to this English lady quite young and
(22:56):
she'd just started her first working holiday visa.
So Ollie, my mate, big shout outto you mate.
He he said, oh working holiday visa Adam you you travel full
time. You know a lot about that.
You've. Never had you carry on bag
weight before? And I, I sort of went into my
shell in a little bit and he's like, no, no, tell her about,
tell her about the podcast. Go on, go tell her, tell her if
(23:17):
you want to know anything about travelling, you know, you'll ask
this guy and all that sort of stuff.
We're all shy. So we started talking about it
and I, you know, eventually got my phone out, started showing
this girl the Instagram and thatsort of stuff.
And we're also using out my phone to take photos of us,
which I'll, you know, probably post on the ground next week or
whatever. And then I sort of thought
nothing of it. We had a really nice chat and I
(23:38):
was very encouraging. I said, you know, you can travel
forever if you do it this way. I think you're doing a really
great thing, really supportive and stuff.
Put my phone on the bar and thencarried on having a little chat
with Ollie. Now roughly at that time a guy
who was quite young, I'd say it's probably in his 9/19/20,
something like that late teens was.
In his 1920. He, he looked amazing.
(23:58):
He had brilliant hair, a really thin moustache, suited and
booted with a little cravat. OK, he's about 1920 years old.
And he was just behaving a little bit strangely.
So he walked up to the bar. He walked up to the side that
Ollie was on to his right hand side.
Then it looked like he came sortof in the middle of us to sort
of peer over us and ask a question.
And, you know, we're all a little bit wary about of him.
And then he walked around the other side and he started
(24:20):
chatting to the bar manager and he just asked about a football
match, whether they would be showing a football game.
And when they said no, we're notshowing it, he then left.
Now, he didn't buy a beer. He didn't stay there.
The bar wasn't busy. And it was just a little bit of
a strange interaction because ofhow much attention he was he was
taking. And then he left, didn't think
anything of it. It was used to prohibition, so
he probably didn't think you'd get a beer.
(24:43):
Yeah, and then and then it came to the point where Ollie and I
were running and worrying about whether we should leave or not.
And I said, look, mate, let me send you those photos, you know,
get your phone out and we'll do an AirDrop type thing.
And I looked at the bar and my phone wasn't there.
And I thought, Oh my goodness, pretty sure my phone was there,
(25:03):
Ollie. And he was like, yeah, he was
just on the bar. You were just showing the
Instagram and all this sort of stuff.
I was like, OK, wow. This 1920s Big Bopper still
your. Phone this very where he'd never
seen one before. Had he never seen a mobile
phone. What is this cellular device you
know? So I was immediately panicking
but trying to keep my call actually don't have a meltdown.
(25:24):
It's only your phone. It's a chill guy.
It's only, it's only your entirelife, Adam, don't worry.
What could have possibly have happened to your phone?
That was just on the bar? And then there was a guy there.
So Ollie was like, well, what doyou think happened?
And I said there was that guy who wasn't there.
I'm, I mean, he was right next to me and it was there.
We were chatting, I was preoccupied.
(25:44):
There's absolutely every every chance he could have stolen it.
And we were, you know, really sort of panicking a little bit.
He was like, oh, I can't believeyou've come here for one night
and is the bar that I've taken you to and this is will happen
and you know. He was stressed about.
It he was really worried. He's really, really concerned.
And I said, look, let's not panic just yet.
Let me check all my pockets. He was like, yeah, go on, check,
check your, you know, coaching me through it back pocket.
(26:07):
I was like, yeah, I've checked that five times.
My lost chain from Budapest. So yeah, I was patting myself
down, checking all my pockets. I went through my bum bag, my
Fanny pack for our American listeners, and then our.
Sleeve for our Venezuelan listeners.
And I, I couldn't, it was, I checked all the places that it
(26:27):
would have been also the top pocket of my bag, which is I
don't know why I would have put it there but but I didn't.
And I was slowly coming to the realisation that my phone had
been robbed and I hadn't even got here yet.
Well, you were. Slowly coming to that
realization. What like at?
First you thought what? Well, no, because I jumped to
that conclusion as soon as it happened.
I thought, don't panic. And then I was sort of looking
(26:48):
terrible. You jumped to the conclusion and
then slowly came to the realization after the fact.
Well, it was it was because I was, I was accepting.
OK, this has now happened. You're.
Oh my God, my phone's been robbed.
No, no, my phone's been robbed. I thought this is this is going
to be a mess, but don't you know, don't worry about what
(27:08):
hasn't happened yet, just involve the staff.
I had already spotted a securitycamera behind the bar and it was
facing directly at us. So I thought if if we have to
get the police involved or something like that, it is going
to be a massive spanner in the works.
But hopefully you can get your phone back and everything that
we do goes through our phone. I thought, I can't come to
Manila to meet you and not have a phone, but that is going to be
(27:30):
an absolute nightmare. And my mate was feeling really
bad. So we got the staff over.
We told them the story and they were, oh, do you think it was
that guy that we. Yeah, we're pretty sure it was
that guy. Like it was just there.
Oh yeah, you had your phone, allthis kind of stuff.
And then the security came and we had to like give him a sort
of little statement thing. And he was like, OK, well, now
that we're involved, we can check the security cameras, try
and have a look. And we, we were just like really
(27:51):
down in the dumps about it. And I was, I just didn't know
what what to do. And I thought, what?
Just check, Just just don't losehope.
Don't lose hope. Just don't lose hope.
So I did one more scan of my body.
I was like, Ollie, mate, Are yousure you just pick it up?
Like I was really clutching at straws here.
And then I looked in my top pocket of my bag again.
(28:12):
I thought, fuck it, just check everything.
Just get everything out. So I opened the top because my
bag's a top loader. I know you disagree with that,
but my backpack's a top loader. I took the I took.
The for new back people who listen to topology to get advice
on being a backpacking like aficionado, top loaded
backpacks. They're like, sort of, I mean,
(28:33):
they're sort of like what softball is to baseball, aren't
they? No, I mean mine has a very big
pocket at the front as well, so I can open it up somewhat like a
suitcase, but it's nowhere near as wide as yours.
That's not good. But anyway, I decided to take
the top off and not my T-shirt easy.
And then unzip my bag and that sort of stuff.
And then I took out my scarf andthen my coat and the things that
(28:55):
were on top of my bag and my phone was just fucking laying
there. It was absolutely mental.
And I don't have any recollection of putting it
there. I never would have put it there
in my life, but there it was, like a a shining diamond in the
rough. So what do you think had
happened? That guy had taken it and put it
in your bag. That's the only explanation
because I I know me and I know even sometimes I do things in
(29:18):
autopilot. Do you think someone stolen it,
felt guilty, and then returned? It somewhere that I wouldn't put
it. Yeah, I do think that I probably
just being distracted and talking to my mate for the first
time in a very long time, probably just put it in the top
of my bag somewhere. I would never put it.
But I don't want to believe that's true, because that means
I had a severe memory lapse and then did something that I
(29:40):
wouldn't normally do. So I did something subconscious
that, you know, you didn't really make a mental note of.
I think, well, I'd much rather believe that the guy stole the
phone and then when he got outside, he thought, actually,
that's really out of order. And that that guy, it might be
the first time those two have seen each other in a really long
time. And they they might even be best
(30:01):
mates. And maybe he was best man at his
wedding. And maybe he's on the way to the
Philippines to meet his businesspartner and they run a podcast
together. So I probably should just go
back in and return the phone. Well, there you go.
Yeah. You learn a lot on this trip.
I feel like you learn that sometimes they weigh carry on
baggage. They're just weighing the bag
and not you, so you can hold some of the things.
That's the top tip. Yeah.
Always kick a woman out of her seat if she's in there and it's
(30:21):
a preferable area or. Well, if it's your seat, yeah, I
mean, that's the important thing.
It's principle. And make a mental note when
you're shifting your phone about.
Yeah, I just, what it really highlighted is how important my
phone is to me. And that's not something I'm
proud to admit, actually. But.
We just spent quite a lot of time on it.
Anyway, I want to talk about something really quickly.
(30:42):
The reason why this episode's all crazy is because it's
swelteringly hot and really difficult to record.
We're doing this in trying circumstances.
Tripology is, as far as I know, the only travel podcast that
takes place on the road, and we are just loving having you guys
supporting the show. Please continue to support
because over the next few weeks we're going to have some amazing
(31:03):
things planned that are going toskyrocket this show to really
the next level. We have a growing Patreon
community that we'd love you to be a part of.
People that support the show because they love it.
Go to patreon.com/tribology podcast.
It's a pound to supporters or a dollar or whatever your currency
is. You get the show 24 hours early.
You get behind the scenes stuff.In this episode of our Patreon
(31:24):
section, The Lost and Found, I'mgoing to talk about eggs and
Adam's going to try and crack one.
You can. So that's the sort of compelling
content that you have to pay forover here.
But basically we're doing a really interesting thing with
Tropology. It's like an amazing community
and it's the only podcast that travels full time.
So please support it, send it toyour friends, rate it if you're
watching it on Apple, rate it ifyou're watching it on Spotify.
(31:45):
Give it a rating. Yeah, and you know, go over to
Instagram at Tropology Podcast, see some little clips and stuff.
There's some cool things going on there, but we are putting a
lot on the line. Of course I've come all the way
up to Philippines to see you mate, and it is lovely to spend
so much time with you, but it isalmost effectively sort of a two
week workshop with some really big things ahead.
So I'm super, super excited, especially now that I've got my
phone. Yeah, we're doing some crazy
(32:07):
stuff. So all that is to say, thank you
for supporting us. Keep on supporting us everywhere
you can, and we will see you next week.
Right now though, after the Patreon section where I have a
theory about an egg that we're going to damn well test.
I'm going to crack it. I'm going to crack the code.
We'll see you there. Bye.
(32:29):
Can you show me what is true? In my heart of know what is
true. In my heart of know.
Tripology's in Manila. Play the theme music.
Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology.
(00:21):
I'm Alan. I'm here with the ever Filipino.
It's Adam. Alan, mate, we've got a bit of a
secret to reveal, haven't we? It's been a long time coming,
but I'm here in the flesh, in the building.
How do you feel? Oh, I feel ever so close to you.
You're. Here right?
Now I can't help but just revealto the audience.
I can't help but reveal to the audience that it's again, we're
(00:45):
in sweltering condition. Yeah, I mean, if it wasn't for
your fabulous editing skills to the audio listeners, they might
just think this sounds like any regular episode of Topology
they've been listening to for the last five months.
Yeah, but I am sitting right next to you.
Yeah, in 75% more perspirationalconditions.
I'm sweaty, I'm hot. I'm in the Philippines.
(01:05):
You're here as well. Yeah, you, you actually left out
just how hot it was when you said, do you fancy coming to
meet me in Manila? And had you said it's unbearably
hot and humid and there are rainstorms absolutely every day,
I might have said, do you mind if we just record remotely for
the next little bit? I told you there was freezing
cold. You've called me just a Parker
and some long Johns facts in your back.
(01:27):
I said it's cold here mate, comehave a nice time.
Yeah, exactly the same temperature as Queenstown.
You've acclimatised. But but yeah, that was it.
I mean, we're absolutely roasting.
It's one of the technical thingsabout recording a podcast that
people don't know is that is that when when you haven't got
control of the temperature, it'sreally, really tough.
We mention it, I feel, every week when we're travelling
(01:49):
together because those are the times where we have forced the
most into specific recording conditions.
But there's a beautiful moment to share with the tripological
audience where we like set up the studio, we make sure it's
all right, We're like, OK, we'reready to go.
OK, turn the fan off, turn the air con off.
And then suddenly the room descends into this sort of like
oven condition, which is like, it's mind blowing, isn't it the
(02:10):
the hate that's rising through the room right now?
Yeah, you, you left out the little bit where you put your
foot in the fridge to try and cool down.
Yeah, I said. To Adam, I was just like,
panicking, looking for some way to cool down.
Can we open the fridge? It's the most quiet form of
coolness in the room. Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's difficult, isn't it?
And I think naturally we are going to try to travel to places
(02:31):
where the weather is agreeable. Yeah, tropical locations.
Here we are in Manila. I've come from somewhere there's
very cold so I'm quite enjoying it, but I've got no doubt the
novelty is going to wear off pretty sharpish.
I hope so, mate. I hope the novelty wears off and
it goes to just a sort of more stable condition that we can
cope with and deal with. I'm looking forward to the
episodes we do from Antarctica one day.
But now we are in the Philippines and we're enjoying
(02:52):
it. Thank you for coming.
Thank you for being a part of the journey here.
We've got some incredible thingsplanned because during your time
here, business decisions are going to be made, tripological
decisions are going to be made, things are going to happen that
will bring the audience along for the ride, and it's just
going to be a real beautiful time.
So over the next few weeks of Tripology, you're going to see
some sort of evolution. And by the end of it, we will be
(03:15):
the biggest travel podcast in the universe, and that's
including all the different galaxies and all the different
dimensions. I'm talking universe, baby.
So if you, that was the perfect time to come along to the right.
Yeah, yeah, AI, we're coming foryou.
You understand, in our way. And I guess we do like to
practice what we preach as well.So if you've got a friend out
there who lives in a really exotic location or somewhere
(03:36):
you're interested in visiting, maybe they've lived there for a
while, or maybe they've just moved there and they pick up the
phone to you and say, hey, I'd really love it if you came to
visit. Pull the trigger, go and do it.
It's an amazing thing. Go and do it both start a
podcast and then quit doing the podcast after 10 episodes and
listen to Tripology instead. Well, thank you for coming mate.
I would love to hear about your sojourn to get here, what you've
(03:57):
been up to over the last few weeks because we've not spoken.
You arrived 24 hours ago. We went immediately to bed and
we barely said anything. We said Savor for the podcast.
Yeah, it's one of those awkward time differences.
So I came from Queenstown via Sydney and we'll go into detail
about that. And then Sydney on to Manila
with a 21 hour delay over a delay over what a lovely
(04:19):
portmanteau that is a T-shirt. Yeah.
So, so yeah, that, that sort of layover spun me out a little
bit. And it's only a four hour time
difference, but that's, that's quite annoying, isn't it?
Because I'm sort of waking up atabout 6:00 AM because for me
it's 10 AM, which is a lion. But but yeah, I mean, we will
talk about the the process to get here because if it wasn't
(04:40):
you I was coming to visit it, the rigmarole that I went
through might might have been the end of me.
I might have turned around in Sydney and just gone back home.
Wouldn't even worth it, no. I don't think so.
I liked the fact that I'm sort of a golden enough carrot on the
end of a horrible stick that youwill persevere with the
nastiness of the sojourn. Oh yeah.
So I mean, it's pretty straightforward.
I managed to get flights that were just one layover.
(05:02):
As I said, I there's nothing direct, obviously, because I'm
in fucking New Zealand and you're lucky to get a direct
flight to Australia. But my flight went from
Queenstown, where I now live. Big shout out to Queenstown and
I I ended up getting the bus to the airport to catch my flight.
Now, unfortunately, I left it a little bit late.
I was having a lazy morning. I'd already packed the night
(05:23):
before because I checked in, checked out of the hostel, so
it's already done by default. My bag's packed and I left it a
little bit late. I thought it's 15 minutes down
the road, the airport in a placecalled Frankton.
I'll just catch the bus because there's buses every 10 minutes
and you know what it's like whenthere's almost too many buses.
You're LAX, aren't you? Here's too many buses.
I hate that if I go to the bus stop and you can barely, you
(05:44):
don't know which bus is yours whizzing past the break, their
speed, I think. Are you all going in the same
direction? So what I want you to do here is
just remember I'm in a fully developed, what you know, quote,
UN quote. If we can still say that first
world country and it's 2025. I'll get on the bus.
I waved my friends goodbye. I'm there with my backpack all
excited like it's my first trip again, going to see my best
mate. And are you laughing because
(06:06):
it's so hot? It's not.
Yeah, it's very. I can see sweat driven down your
lip as you're. Talking amazing.
Honestly. Awful.
Well, the show must go on. That's fine.
This show will turn out probablywith us both completely
drenched. I.
Mean I'm panicking as you're talking about buses.
I'm physically so uncomfortable.But maybe some fans will be into
(06:29):
it, so maybe this will convert some audio fans into video fans.
This is crazy. We have recorded in the desert
of Omar. In the back of the car.
In the back of a car. This is hotter than that.
Yeah, it is it. It is unfair in the fridge.
I don't know what the environmentalists to say about
that. What the heck all?
Right. But yeah.
There's too many buses so. There's too many buses and I was
(06:50):
really relaxed as a result, which is good going into travel
because this is a little thing you might not know about me.
I'm not always totally chill when, when we, I mean, you'd
know that, but I'm not like completely, oh, whatever happens
will happen and I'll deal with it on the way.
Like I'm quite sort of rigid in some.
Cases. I don't think of you as a chill
person, and some of my friends Ido.
Yeah, you're in a category that I have called the Less Chill
(07:14):
Friends. They KA stick up his ass.
No, I think there's a stick up your ass.
But what I do think about you isif there's a stressful situation
and the two of us are involved, I know that I have to assume the
role of the chill one. Sure, because.
You've often like said, oh, you're very, very calm in
airports, all that stuff. That's not always the case, but
that's the case with you becauseI know you're stressing enough
for both of. Us.
(07:35):
Yeah, I'd rather have an icicle at my ass right now.
So got on the bus feeling cold, feeling feeling, feeling pretty
relaxed. Got on the bus and just said to
the bus driver I'd just like an adult single to the airport.
And and then I looked down at the machine and it had the
contactless payment. I had my credit card ready and I
(07:56):
went to tap it and he looked at me.
He was Filipino actually funnilyenough.
And he said it's cash only unless you've got a local
transport card. Disgusting.
And I, I said, but sorry, I don't have any cash.
And he said, oh, it's cash only.What, so you can't get on the
bus? I said, I said I don't have any
cash, please. Is there any way I can pay?
(08:18):
Are you sure the contact list doesn't work with my credit
card? You know, like a lot of the
times you can just tap on, tap off public transport, whatever.
And a little smile broke and he said it's cash only and.
Sarcastic, sort of vindictive smile.
Well, I mean, I was looking at him and the 40 people who had
just got on the bus with their local tap on, tap off cards and
(08:39):
I thought do you know what mate?I'm not going to a fucking
garden centre for the morning. I'm going to, I'm going to the
airport to catch a flight. So, you know, time is of the
essence. Are you sure I can't just get
on? And he said.
Did you say the garden centre thing to him?
No, no, it's just happening in my head.
I'm not. Buying a fucking trowel.
I'm going to catch a plane that's going to leave
(09:00):
imminently. Can I just get on?
And he said, no, I I'm sure you can't get on.
It's cash only. You're going to have to get cash
out. And I thought, OK, whatever,
trip hasn't gone to plan, I'm going back to bed, No.
Tropology. Tropology's not going well.
I don't have any cash. I have an.
Agreeable temperature walking around the streets of
(09:21):
Queenstown. I think I'll just stay here.
So I ran into the local supermarket.
So I was, you know, panicking, thinking holy shit, this has
gone wrong already. I'm running around trying to
think, well, where's the nearestcash machine?
I've got my friend on the phone.She's like looking at all the
different ATMs in the local locale and there's nothing in
there. So I just thought, fuck it, I'll
get cash back. Ran into the supermarket, went
(09:42):
straight up to the counter. I said, you know, I'm shaking my
card like this, I've got to get the next bus.
There's another one in 10 minutes.
Please, please, please. I've already left it.
Too late. Can I just get the cash back?
They said yeah, yeah, no problem, just wait there.
So I'm like, there's sweat dripping down my forehead like
usual. And then I went to give them my
card and just said $10.10 dollars.
They said no, you have to buy something first.
You can't just get $10. Yeah, you can't just do cash for
cash, but. You know, I was just like
looking around frantically. I was like, fuck it, peanut
(10:03):
M&M's. That's fine.
Grab, grab those. I don't need peanut M&M's unless
I'm in the cinema like everyone else.
Bought those, gave them to my friend, jumped back over the
road to the bus stop and had the$10 cash.
You know, obviously, you know, you know, the rest of the story
got there in one piece. So I was a little bit flustered.
Got to the airport with my bag with my carry on bag which is 35
(10:25):
liters which as we know is. Well, under carry on size, that
absolutely 40 liters Max Carry on size, yeah, it's 35.
It's easy. Absolutely fine to get on the
plane. So I wasn't too fast.
Went to the kiosk machine to getmy boarding pass because I had
already checked in one of these Qantas things, you know these
like futuristic jobbies with thescreen.
And just as I got through to printing my boarding pass, the
(10:46):
screen just went black and it said, sorry, this kiosk doesn't
work. So I was like, awesome, fucking
brilliant. So I started queuing and then a
guy picked me out the crowd and he said, oh, you know, Sir,
we're just about to open this desk.
Do you need any help at all? I said, look, I've already
checked in. I just need my boarding pass.
I've only got a carry on. And he looked at my bag and he
went, oh, do you mind if we weigh that?
(11:07):
And I was like, I was like, no, that's, that's not a problem
because it's 35 litres. So I wasn't thinking to myself,
because you know what it's like when we travel with carry on.
I, I didn't know necessarily that there was always a weight
limit. I thought it's 35 litres.
It doesn't matter if it weighs 20 kilos or 5 kilos, it's 35
litres. Just let me on.
They don't know if I'm carrying.But you you've.
Seen on like flight, when you book the flight, it says usually
(11:28):
our 8 kilogram limit, 11 kilogram limit.
Yeah, I've seen that before. But I don't know if I've ever
had my and my bag weighed my carry on bag.
I don't think that's something. Rare, actually, people, it's
rarer than people think. I don't know.
Yeah, and also, I know how many airline rules are completely
fucking redundant, so I don't really take them seriously.
And maybe that's my fault, I don't know.
(11:49):
But he picked me out the crowd. We went away the bag and I was,
you know, relaxed again, thankfully, and put it on the
scales and it was 9 kilograms. And he went.
I'm really sorry. So that's 2 kilograms over.
The maximum is 7 sevens. You're very tight, yeah.
You're going to have to either take some things out or leave
some things here, which what I'mamazed is even an option.
(12:11):
Or you can check the whole thingin.
Or you could wear some of the things.
Yeah, I mean, I was already thinking about the 50° in
Manila. I don't want to get off the
other end, you know, feeling even worse and wearing a coat or
whatever. So and ski boots.
So I decided to just rearrange my bag.
I took some stuff out and then stood back in the queue and I
said to him, I'm just going to check the bag in, that's fine.
(12:32):
And I'll carry my electronics because I'm going to do some
editing or, you know, thumbnail,whatever on the plane.
I've got my laptop, my headphones, that should be
enough. But I'm going to check it in
anyway. It doesn't matter.
So I, I got 3, three people to the front until I can check my
bag in. And this lovely girl from
Australia, she turned around, she went, I heard all that.
If you want me, I'm flying to Sydney.
You can just Chuck the extra stuff in, My bag did.
(12:53):
She say that she did say she went.
All right, Mike, I did all of that while you check some shitty
Mopic. It's a euphemism, all right?
So. So yeah, she's really sweet.
And I said, I said, look, it's fine, don't worry about it, I'm
just going to take stuff on the plane.
She goes, oh, it's so it's bollocks, isn't it?
(13:15):
All this? I said, yeah, he's preaching to
the choir sort of thing. And then the guy came back, the
same guy, and he said, excuse me, Sir, would you like to wear
your bag again? And I said why?
And he said because now you've taken things out, it might be
lower than 7 kilos. I had my foot on it before
because. I said, I said, but what's
weighing it going to do? Because I'm taking the stuff
(13:37):
that I've got in my hands on theplane as well.
He said no, no, it's all right. If it's not in your bag and your
bag weighs less than seven, yeah, then you can take it.
Oh. You know this.
Sometimes I think you're baffledby things that people understand
already. You know that if you're carrying
it in your hands, it's not addedto the weight of your pack.
You never thought they were weighing because otherwise they
would weigh you and say you're only allowed 165 kilograms on
(13:58):
the plane or something like that.
I don't care about how much you weigh.
But hang on a minute, this is like a Mandela Effect moment.
We do. We do agree that me holding
whatever was in the bag and the bag, yes, is is still the same
can weight as me putting the things that I'm I'm holding in
the bag, right. It's still a total amount of
weight. I don't.
Care how much you weigh. Otherwise fat people would have
to pay more for airline tickets.They care about how much your
(14:21):
bag weighs so that they can charge you money.
All right, so well, maybe that'syeah, that's kind of where the
story comes to an end. I went over weighed the thing.
It was 6.8 and he went all right, amazing through you go.
And I was like, but I'm but I'm just going to get around that
corner and go straight in the bag.
I'm going to put my electronics back in the bag so I don't have
to fucking carry them like an idiot.
(14:41):
And he was like, that's it, no problem.
It was amazing. So then you know, I got, I
can't, I couldn't believe it. I got onto the plane feeling a
little bit sort of bewildered orwhatever.
I heard all that, mate. There was some resourceful
thinking. It was just so baffling.
I was really, again, incredulous, thinking none of
these airport rules make sense. And less and less usually an old
(15:03):
friend of mine said to me, if something doesn't make sense,
there's usually money involved. Yeah, and I'm pretty sure with
airlines, they're just trying tostiff, stiff us left, right and
centre, aren't they? So, well, I, I got onto the
plane, walked all the way to theback where my seat was with a
bag that was weighing, again, 9 kilos.
And lo and behold, there was a woman in my seat and.
(15:24):
How many kilos was she? She already had my bag.
It was so weird. But no, she was sitting in my
seat and I looked at my ticket and looked at her and looked at
my ticket again. And I was like, this is
definitely my seat. And she had already taken out my
blanket And was she was, she was, she was really, you know,
(15:44):
tucking herself in for the flight.
It was only like 3 1/2 hours or whatever, but it was, it was her
just a disbelief that I was, youknow, I'd confronted her about
it and I was like, oh, hi, sorry, I'm sorry, but this is my
seat. And my blanket.
And she, oh, oh, sorry, are you here?
Are you here? And I was like, yeah.
And she had so many things she'dreally like settled in and I
(16:06):
felt quite bad, But I, I saw her.
I know this is probably going tosort of sort of me in a bad
light or whatever. But I looked at the seat that
she was eyeing towards because she kind of said, you know, oh,
oh, I'm, I'm over there. And I would have said, look,
just don't worry, I'll take yourseat.
And you're more than welcome to have my nice aisle seat that I
selected especially. And I looked at where she was
(16:28):
sitting and the people she was sitting next to.
It was like a middle between twopeople I just really didn't want
to engage with. So I was like, oh, in fact,
yeah, sorry about that. Cheers.
And she was like, oh, you would you like to?
And I was like, no, no, yeah, this is my scene.
Sorry. But I really had to quickly read
the room because I was worried that the person she was sitting
next to might have been her daughter and I wouldn't have
broken them up. But yeah, there was no
(16:49):
interaction between them whilst I was standing there.
So I thought, go fuck yourself. I.
Tend to be quite unforgiving with that sort of thing.
Yeah, I tend to think like, oh, do you know what I'll do?
Actually, I won't bother with seat selection unless I'm in a
scenario where I've got my seat and someone asks me to switch.
In that situation, I'm like, I'mhappy where I am.
Yeah, yeah, I will just sort of sit wherever.
(17:11):
If if people are already sat, ifsomeone else is sat in my seat,
I'll tend to just go around and.Yeah, I mean quickly before we
go to the Med break, I will justsay one thing and it is about
seat selection. Just be really, really careful
when you're booking seats onlinebecause I booked my flights
through a third party and when Iwas selecting seats, I'm I think
usually if you don't select a seat and you just skip through
(17:31):
to the next round when you're booking, it never charges you a
fee, right? Because some, sometimes you can
select a seat and it will chargeyou an extra.
Never pay that fee a begrudge it.
Yeah, no, of course. I mean choosing a seat for for a
flight is a waste of money I think.
And even first class, I mean, and that's maybe a talk for a
different day, but I was on thisthird party booking website and
(17:53):
I was selecting other seats thatwere in a better position, but
they were available and free of charge.
So I, I didn't even think that they would charge me at all
because the price of the seat change was free.
And then when I got to the end of the flight, because I had
technically four flights, 2 on the way there, 2 on the way
back, I thought, you know, I'm pretty, pretty handsome here.
Pretty, pretty handsome. I'm pretty happy with my seat
(18:16):
choices. The news?
Flight bookings going very well.Fresh air, no.
So anyway, when I got to the final price, I thought, oh,
that's weird. It's a little bit more expensive
than I remember the figure beingat the beginning.
So I went through and, you know,in detail and tried to work out
what was costing the extra and the the third party booking
website had charged me a $6 service fee for just selecting a
(18:39):
different free seat. So just be super careful that
none of that, because I'm absolutely certain beyond any
reasonable doubt that people have paid extra for nothing.
OK, so we've had baggage weight and some of you see, I'm looking
forward to hearing what else went wrong on your way here, but
we'll deal with that after a brief meditation break.
(19:00):
Sometimes when traveling, accidents happen.
Oh, I've fallen off a helicopterand broken my nose.
That's why it's always so important to have travel
insurance and for. When you do need insurance, we
recommend safety. Wing, there's a link in the
description. Click it.
Support the podcast. Like a man physically dying in a
(19:21):
Filipino Airbnb. Like a conscious mind to return
to your brain. At Full disclosure, I asked Adam
in the meditation break if we could stop recording because I'm
so painfully hot. Yeah, and be like a slave
driver, I said. Alan, I've just flown 36 hours
to get here. Come on mate, stick your foot in
(19:41):
the fridge. Adam says.
I don't care how much you're sweating, I'm not telling that
story again. So I'd rather carry on or lose
something else. So I've persevered.
So if I feel vaguely catatonic to the listener, it's because
I'm my cells are dying. Yeah, I mean, luckily it's
another story from my journey because there was a bit of a
doozy by you last week. And and this one was a bit of a
(20:03):
doozy by me. You know, sometimes when you're
travelling, things happen and itmakes you check yourself and you
think, God, if that had, if thathad really been the case, a full
body check, a full body check, Iwould have been incredibly
embarrassed. So there I was in Sydney.
I got to Sydney in one piece andI deliberately chose Sydney as
my layover. Obviously I had a a load of
(20:23):
different options to get here, but I chose Sydney because one
of my best mates from back home,I was actually best man at his
wedding in 20. I shouldn't have started that
because I don't know the exact year it might have.
Been 20, I got this hard in thisroom.
I think it's 2019. Very, very good friend of mine,
he took the plunge and and movedto Sydney, Australia about a
year ago and he's there with hisfamily.
(20:44):
Absolutely amazing couple, Super, super couple and he's a
lovely guy and I text him after booking the flight actually
before you because you know initially it was going to be a
surprise, but. Bizarrely, Adam decided to try
and surprise me by coming to thePhilippines, even though on an
episode of Tripology just three weeks earlier, we explicitly
said in the Patreon section, so you'll definitely come to the
Philippines. Yeah.
(21:05):
And he went, yeah, yeah, I am. So I was expecting him to come.
I texted him saying, mate, when are you arriving?
And he was like, it's supposed to be a surprise.
Yeah, I mean, I would have needed your address obviously,
but but yeah. So I was in the Philippines with
my mate and I told him straight away, obviously I wasn't in the
Philippines yet. I was in Sydney with my mate and
(21:27):
I texted him. I said look, I'm coming there,
I'm only going to be for here for one night.
Is it OK if I come in and see you?
Because we've not seen each other for a very long time.
Last time I was in the UK when Iwas last there, what, over a
year ago and it'd be an awesome thing if I could just, you know,
sleep on your couch and we'll have dinner together and all
this sort of stuff. He said absolutely, get over
here, love to see you. So pretty easy train ride into
(21:51):
the city. He was at a conference and he
said, look, why don't we just goout before we go home for
dinner? Why don't we go out for a couple
of drinks in a bar? I said, yeah, sounds great.
So we went to this place called the Sydney Cidery.
If anyone, if anyone, what do they sell there?
Cider and beer. Actually, that was a requirement
of me because I don't drink muchcider.
And we walked in and the bar waspretty empty.
(22:12):
Actually. It was sort of, sort of a rainy
Thursday night and we. A rainy Thursday night.
Yeah. And we, we, we popped ourselves
at the bar, stood there and had a couple of beers Now at the
bar, and I know this is going tosound like the beginning of a
joke, but there was an English woman, a Brazilian woman and a
Dutch woman, OK. And and they were just working
(22:33):
at the bar. And we stood there and we, we
were chatting to them for a verylong time.
It was a really nice conversation.
We ended up having 1-2 couple ofpackets of crisps chips for our
American listeners came out and we stayed there for a lot longer
than I thought we were going to.And we ended up having a few
beers, having a good old catch up, as you'd expect.
And we, we were talking to this English lady quite young and
(22:56):
she'd just started her first working holiday visa.
So Ollie, my mate, big shout outto you mate.
He he said, oh working holiday visa Adam you you travel full
time. You know a lot about that.
You've. Never had you carry on bag
weight before? And I, I sort of went into my
shell in a little bit and he's like, no, no, tell her about,
tell her about the podcast. Go on, go tell her, tell her if
(23:17):
you want to know anything about travelling, you know, you'll ask
this guy and all that sort of stuff.
We're all shy. So we started talking about it
and I, you know, eventually got my phone out, started showing
this girl the Instagram and thatsort of stuff.
And we're also using out my phone to take photos of us,
which I'll, you know, probably post on the ground next week or
whatever. And then I sort of thought
nothing of it. We had a really nice chat and I
(23:38):
was very encouraging. I said, you know, you can travel
forever if you do it this way. I think you're doing a really
great thing, really supportive and stuff.
Put my phone on the bar and thencarried on having a little chat
with Ollie. Now roughly at that time a guy
who was quite young, I'd say it's probably in his 9/19/20,
something like that late teens was.
In his 1920. He, he looked amazing.
(23:58):
He had brilliant hair, a really thin moustache, suited and
booted with a little cravat. OK, he's about 1920 years old.
And he was just behaving a little bit strangely.
So he walked up to the bar. He walked up to the side that
Ollie was on to his right hand side.
Then it looked like he came sortof in the middle of us to sort
of peer over us and ask a question.
And, you know, we're all a little bit wary about of him.
And then he walked around the other side and he started
(24:20):
chatting to the bar manager and he just asked about a football
match, whether they would be showing a football game.
And when they said no, we're notshowing it, he then left.
Now, he didn't buy a beer. He didn't stay there.
The bar wasn't busy. And it was just a little bit of
a strange interaction because ofhow much attention he was he was
taking. And then he left, didn't think
anything of it. It was used to prohibition, so
he probably didn't think you'd get a beer.
(24:43):
Yeah, and then and then it came to the point where Ollie and I
were running and worrying about whether we should leave or not.
And I said, look, mate, let me send you those photos, you know,
get your phone out and we'll do an AirDrop type thing.
And I looked at the bar and my phone wasn't there.
And I thought, Oh my goodness, pretty sure my phone was there,
(25:03):
Ollie. And he was like, yeah, he was
just on the bar. You were just showing the
Instagram and all this sort of stuff.
I was like, OK, wow. This 1920s Big Bopper still
your. Phone this very where he'd never
seen one before. Had he never seen a mobile
phone. What is this cellular device you
know? So I was immediately panicking
but trying to keep my call actually don't have a meltdown.
(25:24):
It's only your phone. It's a chill guy.
It's only, it's only your entirelife, Adam, don't worry.
What could have possibly have happened to your phone?
That was just on the bar? And then there was a guy there.
So Ollie was like, well, what doyou think happened?
And I said there was that guy who wasn't there.
I'm, I mean, he was right next to me and it was there.
We were chatting, I was preoccupied.
(25:44):
There's absolutely every every chance he could have stolen it.
And we were, you know, really sort of panicking a little bit.
He was like, oh, I can't believeyou've come here for one night
and is the bar that I've taken you to and this is will happen
and you know. He was stressed about.
It he was really worried. He's really, really concerned.
And I said, look, let's not panic just yet.
Let me check all my pockets. He was like, yeah, go on, check,
check your, you know, coaching me through it back pocket.
(26:07):
I was like, yeah, I've checked that five times.
My lost chain from Budapest. So yeah, I was patting myself
down, checking all my pockets. I went through my bum bag, my
Fanny pack for our American listeners, and then our.
Sleeve for our Venezuelan listeners.
And I, I couldn't, it was, I checked all the places that it
(26:27):
would have been also the top pocket of my bag, which is I
don't know why I would have put it there but but I didn't.
And I was slowly coming to the realisation that my phone had
been robbed and I hadn't even got here yet.
Well, you were. Slowly coming to that
realization. What like at?
First you thought what? Well, no, because I jumped to
that conclusion as soon as it happened.
I thought, don't panic. And then I was sort of looking
(26:48):
terrible. You jumped to the conclusion and
then slowly came to the realization after the fact.
Well, it was it was because I was, I was accepting.
OK, this has now happened. You're.
Oh my God, my phone's been robbed.
No, no, my phone's been robbed. I thought this is this is going
to be a mess, but don't you know, don't worry about what
(27:08):
hasn't happened yet, just involve the staff.
I had already spotted a securitycamera behind the bar and it was
facing directly at us. So I thought if if we have to
get the police involved or something like that, it is going
to be a massive spanner in the works.
But hopefully you can get your phone back and everything that
we do goes through our phone. I thought, I can't come to
Manila to meet you and not have a phone, but that is going to be
(27:30):
an absolute nightmare. And my mate was feeling really
bad. So we got the staff over.
We told them the story and they were, oh, do you think it was
that guy that we. Yeah, we're pretty sure it was
that guy. Like it was just there.
Oh yeah, you had your phone, allthis kind of stuff.
And then the security came and we had to like give him a sort
of little statement thing. And he was like, OK, well, now
that we're involved, we can check the security cameras, try
and have a look. And we, we were just like really
(27:51):
down in the dumps about it. And I was, I just didn't know
what what to do. And I thought, what?
Just check, Just just don't losehope.
Don't lose hope. Just don't lose hope.
So I did one more scan of my body.
I was like, Ollie, mate, Are yousure you just pick it up?
Like I was really clutching at straws here.
And then I looked in my top pocket of my bag again.
(28:12):
I thought, fuck it, just check everything.
Just get everything out. So I opened the top because my
bag's a top loader. I know you disagree with that,
but my backpack's a top loader. I took the I took.
The for new back people who listen to topology to get advice
on being a backpacking like aficionado, top loaded
backpacks. They're like, sort of, I mean,
(28:33):
they're sort of like what softball is to baseball, aren't
they? No, I mean mine has a very big
pocket at the front as well, so I can open it up somewhat like a
suitcase, but it's nowhere near as wide as yours.
That's not good. But anyway, I decided to take
the top off and not my T-shirt easy.
And then unzip my bag and that sort of stuff.
And then I took out my scarf andthen my coat and the things that
(28:55):
were on top of my bag and my phone was just fucking laying
there. It was absolutely mental.
And I don't have any recollection of putting it
there. I never would have put it there
in my life, but there it was, like a a shining diamond in the
rough. So what do you think had
happened? That guy had taken it and put it
in your bag. That's the only explanation
because I I know me and I know even sometimes I do things in
(29:18):
autopilot. Do you think someone stolen it,
felt guilty, and then returned? It somewhere that I wouldn't put
it. Yeah, I do think that I probably
just being distracted and talking to my mate for the first
time in a very long time, probably just put it in the top
of my bag somewhere. I would never put it.
But I don't want to believe that's true, because that means
I had a severe memory lapse and then did something that I
(29:40):
wouldn't normally do. So I did something subconscious
that, you know, you didn't really make a mental note of.
I think, well, I'd much rather believe that the guy stole the
phone and then when he got outside, he thought, actually,
that's really out of order. And that that guy, it might be
the first time those two have seen each other in a really long
time. And they they might even be best
(30:01):
mates. And maybe he was best man at his
wedding. And maybe he's on the way to the
Philippines to meet his businesspartner and they run a podcast
together. So I probably should just go
back in and return the phone. Well, there you go.
Yeah. You learn a lot on this trip.
I feel like you learn that sometimes they weigh carry on
baggage. They're just weighing the bag
and not you, so you can hold some of the things.
That's the top tip. Yeah.
Always kick a woman out of her seat if she's in there and it's
(30:21):
a preferable area or. Well, if it's your seat, yeah, I
mean, that's the important thing.
It's principle. And make a mental note when
you're shifting your phone about.
Yeah, I just, what it really highlighted is how important my
phone is to me. And that's not something I'm
proud to admit, actually. But.
We just spent quite a lot of time on it.
Anyway, I want to talk about something really quickly.
(30:42):
The reason why this episode's all crazy is because it's
swelteringly hot and really difficult to record.
We're doing this in trying circumstances.
Tripology is, as far as I know, the only travel podcast that
takes place on the road, and we are just loving having you guys
supporting the show. Please continue to support
because over the next few weeks we're going to have some amazing
(31:03):
things planned that are going toskyrocket this show to really
the next level. We have a growing Patreon
community that we'd love you to be a part of.
People that support the show because they love it.
Go to patreon.com/tribology podcast.
It's a pound to supporters or a dollar or whatever your currency
is. You get the show 24 hours early.
You get behind the scenes stuff.In this episode of our Patreon
(31:24):
section, The Lost and Found, I'mgoing to talk about eggs and
Adam's going to try and crack one.
You can. So that's the sort of compelling
content that you have to pay forover here.
But basically we're doing a really interesting thing with
Tropology. It's like an amazing community
and it's the only podcast that travels full time.
So please support it, send it toyour friends, rate it if you're
watching it on Apple, rate it ifyou're watching it on Spotify.
(31:45):
Give it a rating. Yeah, and you know, go over to
Instagram at Tropology Podcast, see some little clips and stuff.
There's some cool things going on there, but we are putting a
lot on the line. Of course I've come all the way
up to Philippines to see you mate, and it is lovely to spend
so much time with you, but it isalmost effectively sort of a two
week workshop with some really big things ahead.
So I'm super, super excited, especially now that I've got my
phone. Yeah, we're doing some crazy
(32:07):
stuff. So all that is to say, thank you
for supporting us. Keep on supporting us everywhere
you can, and we will see you next week.
Right now though, after the Patreon section where I have a
theory about an egg that we're going to damn well test.
I'm going to crack it. I'm going to crack the code.
We'll see you there. Bye.
(32:29):
Can you show me what is true? In my heart of know what is
true. In my heart of know.
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