It has often been said that great minds think alike. In general, I concur with that postulate, however, I might add a corollary that stipulates that said minds may not always develop their great ideas at the same time. This again became evident to me during the latter stages of the World2 Tour, which was still being severely disrupted by the ongoing global health crisis. Earlier in the year, as I was preparing to leave Africa, the roll-outs of the recently-developed vaccines to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of so much Worldwide trouble over the previous eighteen months, had already been underway for several weeks. As someone who had previously contracted, and then recovered from, Covid-19, it was clear to me that, at the time, most other people would be more deserving recipients, relative to me, and so I had no problem placing myself steadfastly at the back of the line for doses of the vaccine.

Even if I had not felt that way, there were logistical hurdles that would prevent me from receiving a vaccination any time soon. At first, the age requirements eliminated me from consideration. However, since the years have inexorably been accumulating to my personal tally, it was not very long before my age-group was qualified. But that was only one of a number of concerns that would continue to delay my opportunities to receive my dose. The US vaccination program stated that there would not be any doses available for citizens who were residing overseas, but that such people could try to get an injection from the country where they were currently located. At the time, I was in Thailand, a country with many international residents, and the Thai government said that they would be happy to vaccinate non-citizens, but only after all eligible Thais had received their shots, something which was obviously going to take a long time. Therefore, the only available scenario would be to take a round-trip flight halfway around the World, to my former home state. Regardless of that option being excessively costly and generally unappealing, it would not have worked. At the time, most states, including the one where I had previously lived, were enforcing residency requirements in order for a person to be vaccinated. As I had not had any official residence for the prior two years, that requirement presented a critical problem. It may have been that the local health services would have looked the other way and allowed me to claim my earlier residency, but I was not interested in traveling such a long distance only to later learn that they were being more strict about that.

It was then that I first devised my good idea. The nearest territory of the USA, relative to my location at the time, was the island of Guam, nicely located only two thousand kilometers due east of the Philippines. That would be a much more manageable location to reach conveniently, and I hoped that as a major transport hub of the western Pacific, and with two large military bases still present on the island, I might be able to obtain my doses there. Upon investigation, however, I ran into the same issue that prevented me from trying to receive a shot back in North America. Specifically, only people who could provide proof of permanent residency on Guam could receive a vaccination there. Having then exhausted all available possibilities, I tabled the issue for the time being.

Several weeks later, while I was idle for bike repairs in South Korea, it became clear that continuing to languish at the back of the vaccine line was no longer such a reasonable idea. In addition to the increasing risk from the infamous Delta Variant, most of the countries around the World that were starting to reopen, and which, therefore, might be onward travel possibilities for me, were now including prior vaccination as a requirement for entry. Consequently, in order to avoid potentially being trapped in some place that I had only intended to visit briefly, I realized that it was now time to resolve this issue once and for all. Not much had changed with regards to non-citizens receiving a vaccination in Asian countries, though I was beginning to see indications that Korea might be able to do that in the somewhat near future. However, when I decided to take a look at Guam again, I was, for once, pleasantly surprised. Apparently, someone in the Government of Guam eventually came up with the same good idea as I had a few months earlier. For there was now an especially beneficial program in place on the island, called Air V & V.

The two Vs in that name stand for Vaccination and Vacation. The island of Guam receives about half of its income from the Military Base leases and their staff, and half from tourism. So this program was intended to help revive the latter segment of the local economy. Originally intended to provide vaccinations for American ex-pats living in Asia, the scope had been expended so that anyone could participate, especially citizens of East Asian countries who had recently been growing increasingly impatient to be vaccinated. For me, this could not have come at a better time, and would allow me to take care of this long-standing issue and then, hopefully, begin to wind down the Tour in a somewhat satisfying manner. Fortunately, there was an operating direct flight from Incheon to Guam, with the exit Covid test available same-day in the terminal, and with no extra health checks or quarantine required upon arrival in Guam. This was the easiest border transfer I had made since the onset of the crisis.

For the first time since August 2019 I was back on US territory, though in this situation my surroundings didn’t actually feel very familiar. My first task was to get the vaccine, but some details with regards to that were still pending. In particular, I needed to decide which version of the vaccine I would request, since all were available. All things being equal, I probably would have chosen one of the mRNA vaccines. However, neighboring countries that were permitting vaccinated people to enter were all adding a requirement that the final dose be given fourteen days before arrival. So for either of the two-dose versions I would need to hang around Guam for at least five weeks, in total, and while the island is pleasant enough, I felt that length of time would seem excessive. Therefore, I opted for the single-dose vaccine from Johnson and Johnson. Since I had received my shot within hours of my arrival, that would mean that I would only need to relax in that tropical locale for just two weeks, which felt about right. As it turned out, the whole question of which version to take was moot after all, for reasons to be revealed in the future.

Right from the start, however, things did not actually go according to plan. What I had hoped to do was stay at some sort of eco-lodge, or boutique hotel, located in some quiet corner of the island, and spend those two weeks relaxing and taking fairly short, gear-free, daily rides to keep my level of fitness up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t work that out in any meaningful way. The two military bases take up a significant fraction of the island’s area, and with a surprisingly rugged terrain that is a relict of past volcanism associated with the Marianas subduction zone, most of the island's population, which numbers around one hundred eighty thousand, live in a few contiguous suburban-style towns located on the west coast. All of the accommodations are also located there, and those primarily consist of several pricey high rise hotels. The area is nice enough, but there isn’t much to do apart from luxury shopping targeted at East Asian tourists, or looking for a restaurant that wasn’t part of some big American chain.

More troublesome was the lack of decent cycling options when staying in that part of the island. With some determination, it is possible to get to some of the remaining undeveloped parts of the island, such as Ritidian Point, shown below, but doing so necessitates spending most of the ride with generally unpleasant conditions.

That is because, as it seemed to me, all of the roads in the populated area appeared to have been designed in the 1950s or 1960s, probably by the Army Corps of Engineers. That means the they are universally unfriendly, usually six lanes with almost no facilities for people who are walking or cycling. The example shown here was perhaps the nicest section, only because the Pacific is along one side. Most of the others are even less appealing, being lined on both sides with worn-down commercial buildings and carrying a heavy traffic load.

Consequently, my total amount of cycling during that two week period was especially lame. Only during the final two days of my stay, after I had made my plans for onward travel, did I schedule any significant cycling. That was a still rather short ride to the southern tip of the island, where the only remaining birding site of interest around Guam can be found. On the return trip, however, everything changed. Subsequent plans had to be canceled, and all other activities were suddenly paused. This was a result of a circumstance that could be described as unwelcome, unpleasant, even disastrous…