This ChatGPT beauty deserves a full frame picture!
Sit back and enjoy the four flights while saving over a thousand bucks ..
5 airports – 4 flights – 3 stops!
What could go wrong!?
A three-hour tour…
A three-hour tour…
Only this one lasts 41½ hours!
GILLIGAN!
Take the time to read the blog below.
or
NorthAmericanDarrell podcast episode 14 coming soon!
E14: 41½ Hours of Travel to Save Over $1,000!
Departing 11:30 AM August 16th, 2026
Arriving 6:10 PM August 18th, 2026
Along the way, I’ll cross **15 time zones** and lose an entire day and gain it back on the way home.
About **24 hours** of that is spent in the air.
~10,976 miles
See more travel stats in the blog below!
Most people think I’m absolutely crazy when they see the way I book flights.
The rest of them…
Know that I am.
They’re probably right.
The difference is…
I have more time than money these days, so..
here I go again on my own…
Just like Whitesnake reminded us back in the ’80s.
This adventure starts in Phoenix, Arizona and ends in Cebu, Philippines for another month-long stay from mid-August to mid-September 2026.
Home in time for hockey season! Go Oilers!!
I only returned home about four months ago.
Apparently…
Three months was island life wasn’t long enough.
Now it’s time to experience the Philippines rainy season.
As the old saying goes…
“This trip circles my elbow twice just to get to my a-hole.”
ChatGPT says, it’ll take about **41½ hours** from the time I lock my condo door in Arizona until I unlock my condo door in Cebu.
Along the way, I’ll cross **15 time zones** and lose an entire day and gain it back on the way home.
About **24 hours** of that is spent in the air.
For comparison…
If there were a direct flight from Phoenix to Cebu, it would take about 18 hours.
Unfortunately, there isn’t one.
Even with a normal connection through Los Angeles, the trip would still take close to 30 hours.
The other **17½ hours?**
Exploring Los Angeles…
People watching in Singapore…
And wandering around Manila Airport waiting for my last flight.
Honestly…
I wish I had more than ninety minutes in Singapore.
I’ve been there several times, and it’s still my favorite airport in the world.
There’s an incredible indoor waterfall…
A free movie theatre…
Amazing shopping…
International food courts serving just about everything imaginable…
And a duty-free store so big you could probably get lost in it.
My first layover, though…
That’s where **The Amazing Race** begins.
I have twelve hours in Los Angeles, so instead of sitting at the airport, I’m heading to Venice and Santa Monica beaches.
The best part?
My flight from Phoenix to LAX cost me **five bucks** using airline points.
Not a bad way to start another island-hopping adventure.
Here’s my itinerary.
Phoenix to Los Angeles…
A quick ninety-minute flight.
Then twelve hours at the beach, including the local bus ride.
Los Angeles to Singapore…
About seventeen hours.
That’s the heavy lifting.
Thankfully…
It’s on my favorite airline.
Singapore Airlines.
Free food.
Free drinks.
Free movies.
And enough time to question every life decision I’ve made since kindergarten.
Then it’s another four-hour flight to Manila.
A four-hour layover gives me enough time to switch terminals before my final flight to Cebu.
I land around six o’clock in the evening.
Perfect.
Unpack.
Grab a massage.
Get a good night’s sleep.
Would I recommend this itinerary to everyone?
Absolutely not.
But here’s why I do it.
By staying flexible…
Using airline points…
And accepting a few layovers…
I saved **well over one thousand U.S. dollars**.
If I were flying business class like the Joneses…
The savings could easily be two or three thousand dollars.
I’d rather spend that money on another trip than on a bigger seat.
That thousand dollars pays for my apartment…
My groceries…
And still leaves enough money to island-hop.
When you look at it that way…
Those extra twelve hours hanging out on the beach in Los Angeles don’t seem so painful.
Well…
Maybe after a massage in Cebu.
People ask me all the time…
*”Isn’t your time worth something?”*
Of course it is.
But taking a run at early retirement has taught me something.
Right now…
Time is the one thing I have plenty of.
Money?
I’d rather stretch that as far as I can while I’m still young enough to enjoy the adventure.
Planning the trip is part of the adventure.
I enjoy putting these ridiculous itineraries together almost as much as taking them.
Maybe I’m just weird…
And a cheapo.
Actually…
I know I’m weird and a cheapo.
And I’m perfectly okay with both because…
I don’t have to go back to work on Monday like the cool kids. [Laughs]
So let me ask you…
Would you spend **41½ hours** traveling to save over a thousand dollars?
Or would you pay extra to get there sooner?
Neither answer is wrong.
Most people choose the shorter trip because they have more money than time.
I’m taking a run at early retirement.
So for now…
**I’ll gladly trade one extra twelve hours getting there…**
**For a free month of adventure once I arrive.**
Because…
**That’s what taking a run at retirement looks like to me…
Until next time…
Live life to the fullest.
Cheers