Digital Nomad – Episode 1

For those close friends who know me and my circumstances, leaving Crete wa a mixture
of relief and sadness. Relief that my highly unpleasant treatment at the hands of the
Greek Government in general and the Greek Immigration Department in particular had
come to an end. Sadness at the good friends left behind – along with my canine family,
Sammy, Prodigy and Liberta – who will have a place in my heart forever.

So, what was the travel experience like – flights from Chania to Athens, Athens to UAE,
and finally, UAE to Manila?

The total time “in the air” was about 21 hours – starting with departure from Chania at
09:20 local with “Aegean”, arriving Athens at about 11 am, connecting to “Etihad” airlines at about 2 pm – destination UAE, arrival about 5:30 pm Greek local time and finally, UAE to Manila – overnight flight leaving at about 7:30 pm to Manila arriving local time Philippines 11:15 am (5 hours ahead)

The first two flights were short enough to be unremarkable, apart from the 10 minute delay at the Passport checking centre in Athens: I was sidelined in an office for 10 minutes, but eventually allowed to continue without any particular questions or additional documentation being requested. Large queues to get through to check-in at both Athens and UAE- when will they ever sort this out? Hours standing around in lines that barely moved…

The aircraft used for the last stage of the journey – UAE to Manila – was in one of the new
wide bodied Boeing 777s. I had a Window seat and not an aisle seat – mixed feelings about that. Nice to look out of the window, but difficult to get out of the row, and even less leg room in the Window seat. Each of the 3 seats were occupied unfortuantely! For someone like me, 6ft tall, spending nearly nine hours in one cramped location was near torture – I could feel my neck muscles cramping up and was moving my legs and body constantly to try and get comfortable for a few minutes at a time – before needing to move again. Apart from the extreme discomfort, the facilities – meals, service etc. were fine. Did I manage to sleep? Surprisingly, I did manage to get the odd hour or two in an “upright position”. Was it comfortable? Absolutely not.

At Manila, things went pretty smoothly: no big queues, luggage collected fine, cashed 50 euros to to get local currency, got local taxi from GRAB fine, journey time to “down-town” Manila 15 minutes – and arrived at the “Staycation” at about 1pm PH time.

First Impressions of Manila?
The first thing that hits you is the heat – Manila is at sea level and very humid: June is also the start of the rainy season, so “muggy” would be a good description. The second thing you notice is the concrete jungle of this city, with a mixture of ugly office blocks and undeveloped building lots and sites left to “rot”: it reminded me of the less attractive parts of Athens and Heraklion. Lots of mopeds, scooters and bikes as popular forms of transport. Poverty evident. Air-conditioning is a “must-have” – the cool sea breezes we are used to in Crete are not present here.

At the earliest opportunity, I got my head down and spent the next 24 hours in bed to re-set – my time-clock – which brought to an end 10th and 11th of June 2026:-)

Interesting Video attached – From the rear balcony of my temporary room in a “Staycation” – downtown Manila in all its “glory”….sorry it is a bit jumpy, but you’ll get the idea!