Reflections on the road

Maybe it’s because I’ve lost quite a few friends in the last six months. Maybe it’s because my sons have only one more year of college left. Maybe it’s a form of empty nest syndrome. Maybe it’s because of other challenges I face. Or maybe it’s the midlife crisis I’ve claimed doesn’t exist. It might even be a hangover from Easter. Whatever the reason, going on the road again has me unusually reflective.

In his less-famous second book “The Cashflow Quadrant,” Robert Kiyosaki differentiates among the four ways people earn income. The first two are the employees (who collect a paycheck every 15 days) and the self-employed (doctors, lawyers and the like). What distinguishes them from the other pair (business owners and investors) is that they need to be physically present to earn a living. The freedom from having to be there is what most people actually strive for without even knowing it, save for those who feel they never need a break from work since they love it so much or work with their families.

I’m on the road again, Bacolod this time, one of my favorite cities in the Philippines. I have a recurring tinge of melancholy every time I’m away. It’s part of the price of covering events for a living. That’s one reason why it used to be difficult for me to consider offers to work overseas. I always believed in the Philippines. Besides, my work has allowed me to be an eyewitness to thousands of transcendent moments not just in sports, but in human history, notwithstanding the intrigue and politicking which taints the broadcasting industry.

Of course, if you’re in one place, you can’t be in another. The challenge is to be there when it matters: your child’s first step, birthdays, holidays. Luckily, most sports competitions take a hiatus on special occasions, too. I still get pangs of guilt over missing my older son’s 12th birthday, simply because it took me 32 hours to fly back from Orlando. The flights just didn’t connect properly. There was also the time I had to leave my family on a tour of Europe to cover a world title fight back in the Philippines. On top of everything, my flight had been postponed, so I had to wait eight hours in Frankfurt Airport to board another carrier.

It has been an exciting life, I must admit. Though I am larger than most Filipinos, I don’t mind the discomfort of travel. And the range of experiences is also priceless in itself. I would never have been to so many places in the world if not for having what I consider the best job in the world, and then some. I have been to other countries and places in my own country that I otherwise would never have reached. It broadens one’s perspective, and gives you a realization of what is possible.

Of course, there are the hazards, as well. I’ve written about how in 1996 I was in Centennial Park at the Atlanta Olympics when the bomb went off. I could have been killed. As a military correspondent, I’ve been shot at and exposed to hazards in disaster areas. On a trip to Australia, my flight was cancelled and, arriving the next day, I had to book a flight on an eight-seater plane to get to my destination. Even taxiing on the runway, the wind would whip the plane around. I took a bus coming back.

Then there were the colorful memories of the MBA, when we combed the Philippines from General Santos City to Butuan and Pangasinan, Laguna and everywhere in between. Being in a big group is always more fun, and we have spare time on the road to bond, learn and enjoy simply being together. And that made the job easier.

This year, I’m on the trail for the Kopiko Astig 3-in-One Supercross Series, sort of going back to my roots. There’s a race in a different place every month. Motocross was one of the first sports I started covering in the late 1980’s, and the adrenalin rush is still in a class of its own. News about the first electric racing motorcycles has people shaking their heads, what would racing be without the noise? It is a totally different experience. The dedication needed to master a machine you entrust with your life is definitely rare.

In almost three decades of being on the road, I have been to the US, Australia, Germany, Holland, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, China and many other places, sometimes the same place several times in a short span of time. I once followed President Ramos on a state visit all over America. I’ve been as far north as Ilocos and as far south as Gensan. Non-sports work has also taken me to other provinces, as well. I always enjoy the work and miss my family, but that’s how it goes. My grandfather traveled a lot as a government official. Once when I was a child, he took me with him. We were hardly together anyway.

As our families grow and our children define their own lives (always in separate directions from ours), we look back and see what we’ve done right, and sometimes dwell too much on what we’ve done wrong. As a common saying goes, it is what it is. Regret just stains the good memories. We do the best that we can with what we know at the time, and try our best to evolve as we grow. Everyone must have a chance to find his own way.

You can’t ask for more than that.