Life Of Travel

Granted, I haven’t actually seen very much of the world, but so far, New York is by far my favourite big city. I’ve only been there twice and it was only for a couple of days each time, but I probably got more entertaining little stories in those 4-5 days than I have in spending 6+ months in other places. It truly is the city that doesn’t sleep and you can ALWAYS find something to do, even if it is just taking a walk down the street your bound to see something at least slightly interesting.

The first time I went there was in 2008. I was on my way to summer camp for the first time and had flown into New York from Perth, Australia (my home town). I hadnt booked a place to stay for my first night there ahead of time (something I always do now) so I just asked one fo the guys at the information desk in the airport. He obviously got a commision for sending people to specific customers and I ended up in a $200 a night hotel in times square. It was late, and I had just got off a really long flight so I took the room for the night and hopped into the lift. Then a local (im guessing) young man also hopped into the lift and pulled out a box cutter on me! I wont go into details on this one but lets just say I talked my way out of it, and we all came out of it unscathed, and with all my posessions. After a quick nap, and thanks to the 16 hour time difference, I was wide awake at 3am ish and decided to go for a walk in times square. It was incredible the amount of people walking around. There was probably as much foot traffic as there is during the day.

Times Square

The next day I did the sightseeing thing on foot and by the subway. Soho, Maddison Square Garden, Empire State Building (which I actually walked straight past), Central Park and a few other places. First time I took the subway I umped on the wrong one and landed in one of the burrows, i think like the bronx or something. Saw a street game of basketbal (just like the movies) and some other general ‘only in america’ type things. Probably not the area I’d go to at night but was cool during the day.

Something Goin' Down

So that year the plan was to take a greyhound (bus) from NYC to North Carolina, where the summer camp was. I cant remember exactly how long it was, I think 2-3 days, and it was the most interesting bus ride i have ever been on. There was the MASSIVE black guy who was also one of the most gentle people Ive met. Reminded me of that movie the Green Mile. Then there was a guy talking on his cell phone on the bus and the bus driver, a little lady, stops the bus and just full on starts yelling at him.. apparently you’re not allowed on your phone on the bus. We had a stop in some place I cant remember but I distinctly remember seeing a group of, what I think were Bloods in the bus station. They all wore red bandanas and were all gangsta like. It was pretty cool, for me anyway.

The second time I went there was after camp the same year. I went with a group of friends from camp but we didnt realise the US Open was on and for the first night there, we couldnt find a room. 2 seperate places actually said ‘there are no available beds in New York tonight’. Finally, after much brainstorming, one of the girls rang her mum in Aust, who directed her to someone she knew from kindigarden or some shit. He was studying in New York and was renting a room. He actually offered his room to us (there were 4 of us) while he slept at his friends house! Actually, I think I left that night so didnt actually sleep there. That was actually the second night, cause the first night we did stay in a hostel, I think, cant quite remember. Anyway, the thing I do remember is going to the toy shop that was in the Tom Hanks movie Big and me and Michelle actually played on the piano!

Michelle and I on the piano from the movie BIG

So thats it. Amazing city. Would love to live and work there for 6+ months. Maybe go back there again this year. Still have a few major spots to see and need to explore more of the burrows.