Recently Unearthed: Eddie Vedder Ukulele Songs

As you might have noticed, I've been away for several days. Turns out, I had to take a short trip to the Philippines. By short, I mean the number of days I was away, not distance...it is a long-ass way from here to the Philippines. I was not looking forward to several plane rides, the longest leg being about 14 hours in length.

I took my iPod with me and my Kindle app on my phone, plus the plane for the longest portion of the journey had individual TVs with free movies so I figured I was pretty much set. I learned as a kid that I get car sick if I'd read on the bus. Even as an adult, I have to be pretty careful reading in a car or I will feel like crap from motion sickness. It never once crossed my mind that I'd have the same problem on a plane. I don't fly much, but learned quickly that all those free Kindle books I'd been hoarding for my trip were not going to be of any use unless I wanted to be sick the entire time.

Next, I tried movies. Every time I'd start a movie I'd fall asleep. I wanted to try to sleep on the plane some, so I didn't want to force myself to stay awake for a full-length movie, so even though there was a great selection of movies, that option wasn't my favorite. I watched a few TV shows, but they are all reruns from previous seasons, so that didn't last long.

I needed something to block out the noises on the plane. Sleeping in a room of 500 people isn't easy. Well, I had my iPod, but it kept slipping off my lap and I was trying to hard to listen to each song as it came on (I have the same problem if I try to have Pandora on while I'm napping, I wake up to see "oh, who sings that?"). I finally located the CD feature from the in-flight entertainment system and did some digging for something quiet and soothing to help me rest. I was happy to find Eddie Vedder's CD, Ukulele Songs waiting for me. I hadn't listened to this album yet, but I knew his sound would be just what I needed. I often listen to Into the Wild when in need for quiet time, so I found myself listening to Ukulele Songs for pretty much the entire 14 hour flight.

I'm not sure the album is something I'll listen to on a daily basis. In fact, I haven't even purchased the album. I downloaded one or two tracks today and will consider the others later. I even listened to the CD again for the ride back...another 12 hours.

If you are looking for something soothing, give this CD a chance. It might not be something you listen to all the time, but I think this will be a go-to for times when I just need to chill.

By the way, the trip to the Philippines was good too. It was a tight schedule and I didn't get to have much time to my own, so that was a bit of a bummer. I barely saw Manila at all since most of my time was spent a few hours south of Manila at a conference in Tagaytay City. The food wasn't my favorite, but I blame some of that on the caterers for the conference because the food we had in restaurants was enjoyable enough.

I had worried about asthma from the huge city, but happily did not have many problems at all. We only had rain one evening, which is nice. I don't recommend planning to wash your own clothes during a trip. I washed a few small items on my first night and they were still wet a few days later; I had to bring them home wet in a trash bag.

Along the way, we had a brief stopover in Nagoya, Japan. We didn't get to go outside of the airport, but the views during our arrival were breath taking. Also, Nagoya airport wins the award for best public restroom I've ever been in. Wow. I want to fly there everytime I need to potty now.