It was unknown at the time, but master chief actually got to take a short holiday (in the late beginning of halo 2), and here's what happened.

After Master Chief got the bomb on the ship, Lord Hood pulled him aside. "You know, you're a helluva soldier. That diving off the ship and planting the bomb? Fantastic. Well, we got a few guys working overtime, so…." Lord Hood smiled.

"Sir?" Chief asked.

Hood then got a security pass and handed it to the chief.

"I don't usually offer this to my troops, but, how would you like to take a brief vacation? Some R & R at a safe place on earth. Not New Mombasa, lord no. Somewhere like…. You get to choose. Would you like that chief?

Well, the first thing that came to Master Chief's (lets just use John) mind, was "FUCK YES! I want to get away from fighting weak aliens, shield aliens, holy aliens, zombie aliens… god! Finally some motherfucking time, without any fucking ALIENS!". This all came to him pretty quick to him. But instead of blurting it all out, John simply choked on his words, and began hacking up spit.

"You okay son?" asked Hood. "Y-yes" John replied. Then, remembering protocol, he added "I mean, yes sir. I would love to go on break." Behind the mask, he was overjoyed to the point of hysteria.

"Well good. The transport leaves in 30 minutes. Use the card to get past the guard." Hood then left the room muttering something about Keyes's boobs. John felt like crying. He worked TOO damn hard, and TOO damn long. He seriously needed a break. But he was stopped on the way when the guard said "I'm sorry sir, but you are going to have to return the suit. That's UNSC property. Change into casual clothes and report back here".

And then John felt disappointed. He didn't have any casual clothes. But more importantly, Cortana was in the suit. What if someone stole her? It would really suck balls if the covenant got a hold of her. So John snuck past the guard, and hijacked the pelican transport, and left for earth. This is what happened.

John-117 log book

Monday

Things were great until I ran the warthog into a Wal-Mart. Now there making me pay for the damages. I asked if I could get off easy, because I'm in the military, but nooooo. No one cares for that shit. Support the troops people!

Tuesday

I accidentally mistook Cortana's chip as a credit card, and slipped it into the ATM when I tried to withdraw some money. She wasn't very happy about being scanned. Note to self: Keep chip in head.

Wednesday

Just because I have special strengths and all, does NOT mean you can rely on me to do all your chores. I do NOT get cats out of trees, I do NOT open a jar of pickles for you, and I do NOT teach your kid to swing a baseball bat.

Thursday

Someone stole the warthog. It took me the whole day to find it. What the hell? That's military property! I guess I should add some security systems to it. Put In some doors, and, I guess it's liable to get stolen, because to drive it, all you have to do is press "RB".

Friday

Ok, I might have some anger issues. Just because the coffee machine is not working, doesn't mean I can take my Spartan laser, and go Scarface on it. Why do I have these weapons with me anyway? Cortana says I'm, getting paranoid. Whatever. I wonder how those grunts are getting along without me.

Saturday

This is the last straw. A bunch of nerds surrounded me when I was in the mall. Apparently I was supposed to be in this thing called "comi-con". I'm leaving. Work is better. I miss those aliens.