I reached a kinda sad business travel milestone on my trip to Manila a couple weeks ago… I literally didn’t leave the hotel except to jump in a cab to go to meetings in a different hotel. There’s a picture I took of the other event organizers.

For unknown logistical reasons, we were staying way out near the airport. There was an attached mall full of luxury stores that I don’t care about, and otherwise it was not really a neighborhood that beckoned. We had all three meals included in the package, so even the relatively standard “out to dinner” excursion wasn’t needed.

That’s the view from my window… hotel /mall rooftops, with the central city away in the distance.

The hotel itself was plenty nice, and I got a couple of swims in this ginormous and overheated pool. The buffet was similarly oversized.

I certainly thought about getting out, but at the same time not all that much. I don’t actually know how dangerous it is for a prosperous looking white guy to wander around in that area, but my perception is that it could be. And also, somehow the thought of finding myself in some bad situation just scares me more than it used to. Old and frail, I guess.

The project is drawing to a close now, and the likelihood of doing more work there is medium to slim. So, although I’d love to go back and explore, who knows?