I had an amazing adventure on my way to Denver. Lived in a scary sketchy motel in a small town called Harrison in Nebraska. It was scary only because of my own fears. It looked like a town of 20 something only people where everybody knew everybody and I was the only outsider. Some people looked at me as if they had never seen a brown man but overall everyone seemed friendly and I was proud of actually finding the balls to walk into a Saloon / bar with men wearing hats, talking like cowboys and staring at me in a WTF but friendly manner. All my regrets of not making it to Texas on this road trip disappeared, thanks for this mini Texas like town in Nebraska. Not that I know what Texas is like so it is all somewhat based on my own preconceived notions of Texas and people down there. I guess from movies and stuff. This town made me think of the movie Brokeback mountain because everyone looked and talked like the characters from that movie. They all seemed to have all the time in the world and some of the interesting sings in the bar were:
" Sexuaul harassment won't be reported but will be graded"
" Please tell your boobs to stop staring at me"
I couldnt help but smile and take pictures. I was in love with this place. The following day i drove up to Denver through scottsbluff national monument and agate fossils site. For the last two days I have been resting in Denver but I have seen enough to fall in love with it. Someday I hope to stay here for a few months or so.
Its going to snow for the weekend ahead and I have decided to stay here for an additional week so I ain't going no where till next wednesday or Thursday. I feel like a free soul on a free will and I think last two weeks have been life changing and I have finally hit the emotional and physical and mental point that I have been craving all along right from the first day when I planned this trip. There is still a lot left and lot to do but today I feel like I can say that I am finally enjoying this road trip in the way and manner i had already dreamed it to be.
Updates on my goals are as follows:
day 40 connections:
58. bus driver at crazy horse
59. mets fan from new york
60. Tour guide at wind cave
61. photographer from michigan
62-63. old couple on the tour
64. mamoth hot springs tour guide
65. owner of the nebraska motel
66. waitress at nebraska saloon and bar
day 40 new good deed:
25: gave away a good seat to a fellow tourist on the tour of crazy horse.
day 41 connections:
67. american indian lady at the agate fossils site
68,69. helpful couple at the front desk of scottsbluff national monument
70. helpful guy helping me with the vending machine at scottsbluff
day 42 connections:
71. women at the front desk of kids swimming pool: took my cousins kid to the pool.
day 43 connections:
72. VP at the TV studio ( thanks to a friend)
73. intern at the TV studio ( thanks to a friend)
74. woman at the front desk of super store
Wohoooooooo! I have made it to the quarter century mark for the good deeds and my connections are totally out of control. Connections barely require an effort from me these days. Which is awesome. That is a big achievement. Good deeds are getting there. I still have a lot of catching up to do but quarter century is still pretty good going in 43 days so far.
More to do, More to write!
keep on reading and thanks for all the encouragement!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
I am sad to say Good bye to South Dakota today
day 39:
I have fallen in love with South Dakota. I have landed up spending almost a week down here and today is my last day. I am feeling a little bit of sadness to leave this place as I can totally imagine living here for a month or two. Nice and laid back place with wonderful and friendly people. I still have a lot left to do before I leave. Crazy horse monument, Wind cave national park and Hot springs are on my to do list for today before I enter Nebraska to cover the fossils freeway to check out over half a dozen historical sites with fossils and amazing land formations. Two heavily busy days await me as I need to be at a relatives place in Denver by tomorrow evening.
new connections made today:
54: The friendly waitress at pizza hut. I forgot to mention her yesterday but I saw her again today. We spoke about her life in south dakota, her job at pizza hut for 10 years, people in SD, renting Vs buying a house, her recent move to rapid city, life in mid west Vs the city, slowness today at the hut Vs busy night yesterday,
What i did yesterday , my road trip, occupations in SD, her commute and closeness to family, her move because of her boy friend, her previous commute from sious falls and how one needs to be more confident and comfortable with themselves and their loneliness and needs to enjoy their own company to enjoy the midwest.
55. The woman at the visitor center front desk of jewel cave
56-57. Met and made friends with Travis and Leroy at the frontier. Said hello to the owner Barbara who was serving tonight.
new good deeds made;
24: $20 donation to the clean up volunteers fund at jewel cave.
I have fallen in love with South Dakota. I have landed up spending almost a week down here and today is my last day. I am feeling a little bit of sadness to leave this place as I can totally imagine living here for a month or two. Nice and laid back place with wonderful and friendly people. I still have a lot left to do before I leave. Crazy horse monument, Wind cave national park and Hot springs are on my to do list for today before I enter Nebraska to cover the fossils freeway to check out over half a dozen historical sites with fossils and amazing land formations. Two heavily busy days await me as I need to be at a relatives place in Denver by tomorrow evening.
new connections made today:
54: The friendly waitress at pizza hut. I forgot to mention her yesterday but I saw her again today. We spoke about her life in south dakota, her job at pizza hut for 10 years, people in SD, renting Vs buying a house, her recent move to rapid city, life in mid west Vs the city, slowness today at the hut Vs busy night yesterday,
What i did yesterday , my road trip, occupations in SD, her commute and closeness to family, her move because of her boy friend, her previous commute from sious falls and how one needs to be more confident and comfortable with themselves and their loneliness and needs to enjoy their own company to enjoy the midwest.
55. The woman at the visitor center front desk of jewel cave
56-57. Met and made friends with Travis and Leroy at the frontier. Said hello to the owner Barbara who was serving tonight.
new good deeds made;
24: $20 donation to the clean up volunteers fund at jewel cave.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The most laid back saturday night ever
day 38:
I am staying over in Custer tonight and I have to say this is the most laid back and dead and silent Saturday night town I have ever seen or experienced in America. Sun sets at 5pm and its pitch dark at 6pm with no one absolutely on the streets. I decided to check out the bar scene just for the heck of it tonight and most places were empty. They called it the busiest night this fall but to me compared to Boston standards this was the slowest night ever. With such laid back atmosphere I felt the pressure of making something happen or to make the night more interesting but the silence was killing me. But I realized this was the effect of living a fast paced city life for pretty much all my life. I decided to step outside the box and be like most other people here. Careless, carefree, nowhere to go, nowhere to be, no one to come, no one to meet. They were happy, comfortable and happy to be sitting on a stool sipping on their beer, listening to a mixture of rock, metal or country music. They would get up every now and then to gamble on one of the casino booths within the bar or select a song from the jukebox and oh yes...most of them smoked and smoking down here is allowed in the bars. Even the bartender light one up every now and then.
As I started avoiding to look at the watch, as I started avoiding thoughts of making something happen or to get something going, I began to feel relaxed. It made me wonder why we city people are always in this constant hurry and chaos to be somewhere. Even on weekends, we have friends to meet or movies to watch or personal appointments or errands or movie to catch or a reservation made. We always have to be somewhere at some specific time. We are always in this rush to do something at a particular time. There is this constant rush. There needs to be an alarm even on weekends. I began to get all these crazy thoughts as I watched this people who had no care for time. They sure knew how to pass and kill time and I learned a little myself. Next I went into Pizza hut for dinner. That seemed like the only place open tonight. Again very laid back. I sat there forever. But the previous bar experience had me prepared and to be honest I had begun to like this now. i realized this later when i left Pizza hut and entered a high end restaurant. I started talking to people with no sense of time and then when I realized an hour had gone by since leaving Pizza hut, I was delighted, my goal of relaxing and just killing time without this constant rush or feeling to be somewhere or to do something has been achieved. I decided to call it a night.
Its been 38 days so far and on majority these days I havent woken up to an alarm clock with a few exceptions every now and then and i have to say this lifestyle seems very appealing and relaxing. The appeal of city life which constant chaos and appointments and things to do and be is going to be very interesting and challenging to return to whenever I get back to it. It has made me conflicted on what is better. Which one is a better way to life and enjoy life? Alarm clocks, constant rush and tech obsession to phones, emails, social networking sites, is that what really life is? Or is it doing whatever whenever wherever carefree without any guilt or qualms about it. Without getting thoughts or feelings of not being productive?
I am not sure but I will continue looking for the answers in the days, weeks, months to come.
new connections made today:
49. A waitress from Lithuanian at the ice pack place. Came here to visit and decided to stay in Keystone
50. Forgot to mention this connection yesterday. Saw her again at the entrance of mount Rushmore. Very friendly woman. helped me with motel search yesterday and asked me about my trip as she saw my super packed car and she asked me about those things again. I accidentally missed the parking lot and had to circle around and she found that funny and was like: what the hell are you doing? with a big wide smile.
Reached 50: 50 connections made in 38 days. That's awesome! woooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooo!
51-53. 3 friendly waitresses at the bar at the Italian dining place in Custer. A red sox fan, a Bulgarian and another local woman from Custer. Really friendly to talk to and they gave me a good glimpse at their lives and life of local people around Custer.
new good deed made:
21. extravagant tip of $20 to the cleaning lady at the white house motel
22. More picture taking for tourists
23: Extravagant tips of 90% and 100% to waiters and waitresses in Custer bars.
I am staying over in Custer tonight and I have to say this is the most laid back and dead and silent Saturday night town I have ever seen or experienced in America. Sun sets at 5pm and its pitch dark at 6pm with no one absolutely on the streets. I decided to check out the bar scene just for the heck of it tonight and most places were empty. They called it the busiest night this fall but to me compared to Boston standards this was the slowest night ever. With such laid back atmosphere I felt the pressure of making something happen or to make the night more interesting but the silence was killing me. But I realized this was the effect of living a fast paced city life for pretty much all my life. I decided to step outside the box and be like most other people here. Careless, carefree, nowhere to go, nowhere to be, no one to come, no one to meet. They were happy, comfortable and happy to be sitting on a stool sipping on their beer, listening to a mixture of rock, metal or country music. They would get up every now and then to gamble on one of the casino booths within the bar or select a song from the jukebox and oh yes...most of them smoked and smoking down here is allowed in the bars. Even the bartender light one up every now and then.
As I started avoiding to look at the watch, as I started avoiding thoughts of making something happen or to get something going, I began to feel relaxed. It made me wonder why we city people are always in this constant hurry and chaos to be somewhere. Even on weekends, we have friends to meet or movies to watch or personal appointments or errands or movie to catch or a reservation made. We always have to be somewhere at some specific time. We are always in this rush to do something at a particular time. There is this constant rush. There needs to be an alarm even on weekends. I began to get all these crazy thoughts as I watched this people who had no care for time. They sure knew how to pass and kill time and I learned a little myself. Next I went into Pizza hut for dinner. That seemed like the only place open tonight. Again very laid back. I sat there forever. But the previous bar experience had me prepared and to be honest I had begun to like this now. i realized this later when i left Pizza hut and entered a high end restaurant. I started talking to people with no sense of time and then when I realized an hour had gone by since leaving Pizza hut, I was delighted, my goal of relaxing and just killing time without this constant rush or feeling to be somewhere or to do something has been achieved. I decided to call it a night.
Its been 38 days so far and on majority these days I havent woken up to an alarm clock with a few exceptions every now and then and i have to say this lifestyle seems very appealing and relaxing. The appeal of city life which constant chaos and appointments and things to do and be is going to be very interesting and challenging to return to whenever I get back to it. It has made me conflicted on what is better. Which one is a better way to life and enjoy life? Alarm clocks, constant rush and tech obsession to phones, emails, social networking sites, is that what really life is? Or is it doing whatever whenever wherever carefree without any guilt or qualms about it. Without getting thoughts or feelings of not being productive?
I am not sure but I will continue looking for the answers in the days, weeks, months to come.
new connections made today:
49. A waitress from Lithuanian at the ice pack place. Came here to visit and decided to stay in Keystone
50. Forgot to mention this connection yesterday. Saw her again at the entrance of mount Rushmore. Very friendly woman. helped me with motel search yesterday and asked me about my trip as she saw my super packed car and she asked me about those things again. I accidentally missed the parking lot and had to circle around and she found that funny and was like: what the hell are you doing? with a big wide smile.
Reached 50: 50 connections made in 38 days. That's awesome! woooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooo!
51-53. 3 friendly waitresses at the bar at the Italian dining place in Custer. A red sox fan, a Bulgarian and another local woman from Custer. Really friendly to talk to and they gave me a good glimpse at their lives and life of local people around Custer.
new good deed made:
21. extravagant tip of $20 to the cleaning lady at the white house motel
22. More picture taking for tourists
23: Extravagant tips of 90% and 100% to waiters and waitresses in Custer bars.
Friday, November 6, 2009
hot sunny day with lots of wildlife and a car scare in black hills
day 38:
It was an awesome sunny, 60 degrees hot day here in badlands. The animals came out and so did I. Saw lots and lots of Deers, saw some prairie dogs, big horn sheeps, horses and buffaloes. Saw a lot of fellow travelers pretty much following the same trip and path. We would go by each other every now and then depending on who stopped at which look out or trail or overlook. It almost felt like a group activity and eliminated the loneliness of driving alone. Badlands rocked and were awesome again.
I did not shy away from adventures today either. On one lookout, A middle aged man started yelling out lound to everyone saying 'Whose car is that" pointing in my cars direction. He was panicking and I panicked. A couple near by yelled: " looks like your car is going down the hill on its own". I freaked out like crazy and ran as fast as I could. Out of breath, sweating and sun burned I reached the parking lot and found my car to be still standing where I parked. I looked at the man and he is like there is smoke coming out. I checked the car and there was none. He said inside. :-)
And then came the realization...I burn insence in my car and it was the smoke from the incence...huh..what a rush...I thanked the man for his observation and carefulness...the couple asked me what happened and thought the story was funny...Another adventuroues girl in the background asked me the same. She thought it was funny as well. We started talking.
She had observed my Massachusetts plate and got curious since she was from Cambridge. We spoke a little bit about our trips as she was heading to Minnesota while I was coming from there. We said goodbye as I continued the badlands loop and made my way through towns of wall, rapid city and eventually to Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore was awesome in daytime as well as night.
new connections made today:
46. A fellow Bostonian from Cambridge on badlands: She was adventurous, interested in photography and heading back to bean town.
47. the helpful staff Jeanette at the mt Rushmore visitor center
48. a conservative couple coming from Washington and going to Indiana.
new good deed made:
20. Approached a couple taking pictures of each other and offered them to take their picture together and took one.
It was an awesome sunny, 60 degrees hot day here in badlands. The animals came out and so did I. Saw lots and lots of Deers, saw some prairie dogs, big horn sheeps, horses and buffaloes. Saw a lot of fellow travelers pretty much following the same trip and path. We would go by each other every now and then depending on who stopped at which look out or trail or overlook. It almost felt like a group activity and eliminated the loneliness of driving alone. Badlands rocked and were awesome again.
I did not shy away from adventures today either. On one lookout, A middle aged man started yelling out lound to everyone saying 'Whose car is that" pointing in my cars direction. He was panicking and I panicked. A couple near by yelled: " looks like your car is going down the hill on its own". I freaked out like crazy and ran as fast as I could. Out of breath, sweating and sun burned I reached the parking lot and found my car to be still standing where I parked. I looked at the man and he is like there is smoke coming out. I checked the car and there was none. He said inside. :-)
And then came the realization...I burn insence in my car and it was the smoke from the incence...huh..what a rush...I thanked the man for his observation and carefulness...the couple asked me what happened and thought the story was funny...Another adventuroues girl in the background asked me the same. She thought it was funny as well. We started talking.
She had observed my Massachusetts plate and got curious since she was from Cambridge. We spoke a little bit about our trips as she was heading to Minnesota while I was coming from there. We said goodbye as I continued the badlands loop and made my way through towns of wall, rapid city and eventually to Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore was awesome in daytime as well as night.
new connections made today:
46. A fellow Bostonian from Cambridge on badlands: She was adventurous, interested in photography and heading back to bean town.
47. the helpful staff Jeanette at the mt Rushmore visitor center
48. a conservative couple coming from Washington and going to Indiana.
new good deed made:
20. Approached a couple taking pictures of each other and offered them to take their picture together and took one.
My first really big and scary adventure on this road trip
day 36:
I had a crazy day yesterday. I got lost in the middle of nowhere in badlands and it got dark and there was literally no one to be seen. All I had was darkness, no sight of civilizalion, dark rocky formations and land formations around me. As I heard night insects and animals, I ran for miles in search for help while paw marks from animals and big scary deers running next to me scared the hell out of me. I ran out of water to drink as a couple of cars going by me did not stop for help calls. Eventually some construction workers were able to help me and take me to the rangers office and then a man from there offered me a ride to find my car and then finally I was able to drive my way to the nearest motel in town. It all sounds fun writing now but it was scary for the 2 hours of helplessness. This experience will require a detailed write up later but for now here are my recent updates on the progress.
new connections so far:
37. crazy poet in Minnesota
38. dude helping me with buying my stuff in Minnesota
39. dude who thought i was planning for a black out
40. manager at days inn and his directions and advice for badlands
41. helpful lady at the badlands visitor center
42. helpful construction workers after getting lost in badlands
43. helpful man at the rangers office who drove me to my car after getting lost in the dark
44. crazy stalking dude
45. friendly lady at the front desk of super 8 motel
new good deeds so far:
17. Pen donation to the crazy poet
18. extravagant $10 Money donation to the cleaning lady at days inn.
19. Helping out the crazy stalking dude by helping him lessen his stress by a normal conversation although I totally found him creepy.
I had a crazy day yesterday. I got lost in the middle of nowhere in badlands and it got dark and there was literally no one to be seen. All I had was darkness, no sight of civilizalion, dark rocky formations and land formations around me. As I heard night insects and animals, I ran for miles in search for help while paw marks from animals and big scary deers running next to me scared the hell out of me. I ran out of water to drink as a couple of cars going by me did not stop for help calls. Eventually some construction workers were able to help me and take me to the rangers office and then a man from there offered me a ride to find my car and then finally I was able to drive my way to the nearest motel in town. It all sounds fun writing now but it was scary for the 2 hours of helplessness. This experience will require a detailed write up later but for now here are my recent updates on the progress.
new connections so far:
37. crazy poet in Minnesota
38. dude helping me with buying my stuff in Minnesota
39. dude who thought i was planning for a black out
40. manager at days inn and his directions and advice for badlands
41. helpful lady at the badlands visitor center
42. helpful construction workers after getting lost in badlands
43. helpful man at the rangers office who drove me to my car after getting lost in the dark
44. crazy stalking dude
45. friendly lady at the front desk of super 8 motel
new good deeds so far:
17. Pen donation to the crazy poet
18. extravagant $10 Money donation to the cleaning lady at days inn.
19. Helping out the crazy stalking dude by helping him lessen his stress by a normal conversation although I totally found him creepy.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A few more connections
I have numerous more connections and good deeds during the last few weeks. I plan to write about the same later.
So far it is:
day: 34
Connections made: 36
good deeds done: 16
Connections are out of control and I might be able to make a lot more connections than my initially planned goal. Good deeds are going at a decent pace but the pace needs to be picked up a bit faster to meet my goal.
Here are some short descriptions about the same:
Connections:
1-5. Made 5 new connections through friends I knew in Boston and NYC
6. conversing with strangers at the hookah bars: Guy to the right, guy fiddling with the music etc.
RANDOM. Running in inadvertently with a old coworker in NYC
7,8: Two British guys at Niagara falls hostel: They were on a road trip following various football games
9: Met the owner at niagara falls hostel and connected with her since she is a red sox fan
10: Met another British guy who is on a career break and is on an Amtrak based road trip - mini retirement for 6 months before going to new zealand, Australia and then back to London
11: Made a connection through my cousin in Ohio
12-14: Made 3 new connections through friends in Chicago
15: Walking with a Random guy at the niagara falls goat island
16: Security man from Pakistan at a friends place in Chicago: we spoke about Indonesia, his 40 years in the navy, cleanliness, family, work and his impressions of living here against India, Pakistan
17: guy who got interested in my photography of the gas lights on W surf street in chicago
18: guy with a friendly dog Lizzy on W surf street in Chicago
19: a frustrated and possibly depressed polish guy who is basically living in a hostel in Chicago
20: random couple from Switzerland
21: school kids at the hostel preparing for a show
22: Indian dude at the Chicago hostel
23: woman at a counter for lunch at water tower place
24: dude talking about bagels and whining about women at Chicago hostel
25: guys at the jazz and blues place in Chicago
26: The guy at the Chicago tolls booth
27: speaking in Gujarati with a Dunkin donuts woman at the counter who is from India
28: Couple at scenic overlook place on my way to minnesota
29: Small talk with the woman up on the payment counter at a rest stop for tea in Wisconsin
30: Talking to the janitors on my way to Minnesota at a scenic look out
31: woman with friendly but crazy dogs that were running away at a scenic look out
32: hostel reception woman in Minnesota
33: hostel reception guy the next day in Minnesota
34: woman talking about weather at whole foods asking me and telling me about snow and warning me about it and asking me about my trip
35: Talking to the two waitresses at the cafe in Minnesota about things to do around here
36: talking to a couple of men walking by the lakes in Minnesota about the length of the trail
Good deeds:
First good deed: A charity donation to an awesome NYC street performing group at Battery park.
2. Donated a half Chicken pesto sandwitch to the road side homeless person at Grove street in NYC
3. More donations to a street performing group at central park.
4. Donation to street performers on NYC subway system
5. A Couple on our adjacent table at the hookah bar needed smoking pipe holders. we gave them the extra one that we had.
6. Lost teenagers needed help at 63rd street subway stop in NYC.First we guided them for transfer then ran into them again. This time we removed our map and charted out the entire path for them to get on track with their commute
7. A bagel and Jelly for the crazy lady at Bradley square in NYC. This upset us and made us think for a long time because of her bad and mean behavior.
8. Home stuff in Boston donated to the good will store
8. home stuff in Boston donated to brothers and arms.
9. Gave away TV and shipped and delivered it to a friend for free
10. Bought a CD from a independent artist who came up to me at a gas station in Boston
11. Donated to a random sketchy guy on my way to a friends house. He needed money to take some one to the hospital. I looked in the eye and felt like donating. Later on I felt that he was lying because I learned the hospital was one block away.
12. watched out the belongings of an old lady at Panera bread in Chicago while she went out to the restroom and had a smoke although I needed to leave when she asked me for the same.
13: Took pictures for visitors in NYC
14: Took a picture for people dancing with friends at a bar in Chicago
15: Let a lady go ahead of me in a grocery store line in Minnesota
16: On my way to Minnesota at a scenic look out place, i helped a lady who was struggling to get control of her dogs
So far it is:
day: 34
Connections made: 36
good deeds done: 16
Connections are out of control and I might be able to make a lot more connections than my initially planned goal. Good deeds are going at a decent pace but the pace needs to be picked up a bit faster to meet my goal.
Here are some short descriptions about the same:
Connections:
1-5. Made 5 new connections through friends I knew in Boston and NYC
6. conversing with strangers at the hookah bars: Guy to the right, guy fiddling with the music etc.
RANDOM. Running in inadvertently with a old coworker in NYC
7,8: Two British guys at Niagara falls hostel: They were on a road trip following various football games
9: Met the owner at niagara falls hostel and connected with her since she is a red sox fan
10: Met another British guy who is on a career break and is on an Amtrak based road trip - mini retirement for 6 months before going to new zealand, Australia and then back to London
11: Made a connection through my cousin in Ohio
12-14: Made 3 new connections through friends in Chicago
15: Walking with a Random guy at the niagara falls goat island
16: Security man from Pakistan at a friends place in Chicago: we spoke about Indonesia, his 40 years in the navy, cleanliness, family, work and his impressions of living here against India, Pakistan
17: guy who got interested in my photography of the gas lights on W surf street in chicago
18: guy with a friendly dog Lizzy on W surf street in Chicago
19: a frustrated and possibly depressed polish guy who is basically living in a hostel in Chicago
20: random couple from Switzerland
21: school kids at the hostel preparing for a show
22: Indian dude at the Chicago hostel
23: woman at a counter for lunch at water tower place
24: dude talking about bagels and whining about women at Chicago hostel
25: guys at the jazz and blues place in Chicago
26: The guy at the Chicago tolls booth
27: speaking in Gujarati with a Dunkin donuts woman at the counter who is from India
28: Couple at scenic overlook place on my way to minnesota
29: Small talk with the woman up on the payment counter at a rest stop for tea in Wisconsin
30: Talking to the janitors on my way to Minnesota at a scenic look out
31: woman with friendly but crazy dogs that were running away at a scenic look out
32: hostel reception woman in Minnesota
33: hostel reception guy the next day in Minnesota
34: woman talking about weather at whole foods asking me and telling me about snow and warning me about it and asking me about my trip
35: Talking to the two waitresses at the cafe in Minnesota about things to do around here
36: talking to a couple of men walking by the lakes in Minnesota about the length of the trail
Good deeds:
First good deed: A charity donation to an awesome NYC street performing group at Battery park.
2. Donated a half Chicken pesto sandwitch to the road side homeless person at Grove street in NYC
3. More donations to a street performing group at central park.
4. Donation to street performers on NYC subway system
5. A Couple on our adjacent table at the hookah bar needed smoking pipe holders. we gave them the extra one that we had.
6. Lost teenagers needed help at 63rd street subway stop in NYC.First we guided them for transfer then ran into them again. This time we removed our map and charted out the entire path for them to get on track with their commute
7. A bagel and Jelly for the crazy lady at Bradley square in NYC. This upset us and made us think for a long time because of her bad and mean behavior.
8. Home stuff in Boston donated to the good will store
8. home stuff in Boston donated to brothers and arms.
9. Gave away TV and shipped and delivered it to a friend for free
10. Bought a CD from a independent artist who came up to me at a gas station in Boston
11. Donated to a random sketchy guy on my way to a friends house. He needed money to take some one to the hospital. I looked in the eye and felt like donating. Later on I felt that he was lying because I learned the hospital was one block away.
12. watched out the belongings of an old lady at Panera bread in Chicago while she went out to the restroom and had a smoke although I needed to leave when she asked me for the same.
13: Took pictures for visitors in NYC
14: Took a picture for people dancing with friends at a bar in Chicago
15: Let a lady go ahead of me in a grocery store line in Minnesota
16: On my way to Minnesota at a scenic look out place, i helped a lady who was struggling to get control of her dogs
Monday, October 26, 2009
A new friend from Belgium
MY FIRST CONNECTION:
Place: Hudson River park, NYC
It is an awesome, sunny but a windy day in New york city. I walked into the Hudson River park with my SLR camera around my neck, a heavy back pack on my back and my camera bag hanging across my shoulder all the way down to my back. I had never been to this place during my numerous outings to NYC before and so I stood there spellbound by the beauty of this park and the day. I walked the deck to find an interesting spot to take pictures and to indulge in a long photography session. As I walked the boardwalk, I could see, people lying shirtless on the grass sun bathing, people sitting on benches with a book, A college student working on her laptop and whole bunch of people listening to their diverse music collection on their ipods. (Isn't it amazing how easily we just assume that its an ipod and not anything else. )
I arrived to the end of the boardwalk. It seemed like the best place to take pictures. The new york skyline, the park along with people and some portion of the boardwalk were to my right. The statue of liberty and a big cool looking bridge were visible in the distance and a series of navy piers stood adjacent to the other portion of the boardwalk to my left. I took multiple pictures continuously for at least 15 minutes before changing my position. I repeated the same exercise with a telephoto lens and normal lens at different focal lengths. After about 30 mins of photo session, I sat on a porch for another lens change when a young man wearing a bright red T shirt approached me. He seemed 20 something (my age group), had an SLR camera around his neck just like me and seemed very friendly.
He says in a heavy accent: " Excuse me"
As I said hello he requested whether I could take a picture of the statue of liberty for him on his camera card because he had forgotten his telephoto lens. I decided to take one for him. He removed his card and we realized that his card wouldn't work on my camera. I offered to take pictures and email them to him and as a result we started talking and connecting. After taking some pictures, we walked on the boardwalk back on towards our way out of it. I invited him to sit with me on a porch and chat. He agreed as we looked for a good spot.
Over a talk of 45 minutes, I learned a lot about him. He was originally from Belgium and loved traveling. His decision to visit America was a spur in the moment decision. His initial plan was to spend 10 days in Barcelona, Spain but some of his friends scared him from pursuing that trip and then he found a last minute cheap flight deal to the US so he decided to just come here. Professionally he worked for a finance firm in Belgium and was on a 10 day vacation before going back to work. He planned to spend most of his time in NYC and had arrived just the previous night. He was considering going to either Boston or Washington DC for 2-3 days besides being in NYC. He asked me on my recommendations in terms of DC or Boston.
Being a Bostonian for 6 years, I am clearly biased but I did my best to tell him what I liked about Boston / DC and what most people like to do in Boston and DC. I incorrectly told him that Boston was closer than DC from NYC but I learned about this later. Ooops! I offered to hang out with him in Boston if he visited while I am in Boston. We started talking a bit about traveling and what we like to do. He expressed that he usually likes to stay away from touristy places and likes to branch out in to other near by areas of the city. He removed an NYC map and start telling me as to where he started and where he was trying to go. He impressed me about how much he had already learned about the city just within a day. He expressed interest in checking out a Broadway show and told him about how to find good deals at the half ticket booth.
Later on we moved on to discuss our perspectives on America as international visitors from different countries and cultures. It was amazing for me to hear him mention a few things that he observed in a day which I had been observing for 6 years. For example: He mentioned how amazed he was with people around here being big consumers for everything. Be it the big cards, or serving orders at restaurants...everything in this country was about being big. People would commute alone in cars to work every day but would still like bigger and spacious cars. Most people would not finish a meal at a restaurant but yet the meals were served in such big proportions. We both agreed on this and this was something hard for us to see since we both came from countries where people preferred and liked small cars and where everything was preferred in small quantities. I mentioned how I found a lot of things wasteful in this country. Like for example, I could never ever understand as to why the showrooms, shops, restaurants and even offices left their power lights on all through out the night. Maybe they market and attract people going by but it just amazed me how much of power and energy wastage that is. What was amazing to me is that countries in the east were also adopting these things from the western world and that too in the day and age where strong movements are going on for recycling, saving energy and what not. I mean there are villages in poor countries that still do not get power and electricity for the entire duration of the day.
One of the other hot button topics for me is the amount of food that is wasted in this country. The country's food chain is dominated by numerous chains and restaurants that like to market the "We Serve Fresh" philosophy. It amazes me as to how much food they throw away in to the trash at the end of every day. Now, I know some of the good franchises that have realized this - are donating food to the needy and the homeless or to institutions that provide shelter to the homeless but still a majority of restaurants and fast food joints in this country trash the left over food at the end of the day and I can bet the quantity of food that is trashed will be able to easily feed some starving nation in this entirety.
After talking about a few impressions about America we went on to discuss our traveling adventures. He expressed a desire to do what I was doing and wished if he could quit his job to travel the world and to explore and self discover and enjoy this kind of lifestyle. I told him about my blogging and goal to meet new people and make new connections. We spoke about how staying in hostels is fun and he mentioned how he met a German woman at the NYC hostel he was staying and how cheap and fun hostels can be. He also expressed an interest in living in NYC for a few months at some point in his life.
He mentioned his girl friend plans to move to NYC at some point and he is hoping to come here with her as well. I was amazed to learn that his girl friend was actually not in Belgium nor with her here but was in an Asia. I forget the name of the country but he met her while traveling in Asia and they have been together since then. I could be wrong but i think he said for an year. I was amazed about how they make that work and raised my hats off to their dedication to a long distance relationship like that.
In between our conversation at some point we were interrupted by dogs barking and a girl shouting in a funny way. We both turned around to see a young looking girl with two big sized bull dogs. We weren't sure what she was doing with them because she was quite short and petite to manage two big dogs of that size. The dogs were completely bullying her. She was lying flat on a porch and every time she was trying to get up they would jump on her belly and body to push her flat back on the porch. We couldn't help but stop laughing. Eventually I thought of getting up and helping but later a giggle from her assured me that she was having fun with them so we decided to stay out of it and just got entertained by the event. I think I was quite sure that she did not own the dogs and was probably just hanging out with them as a temporary care taker or so. But this was clearly an assumption on my part and by no means a certainty.
Later on she stopped by to interrupt our conversation to ask us whether we knew the exact time. As I told her the time, I pet one of the dogs then she walked away and we continued our conversation. Eventually time caught up to us and he wanted to move to on to his next location. He was not sure as to where he was going to walk next, I on the other hand wasn't yet done with this location and wanted to take some more pictures before walking over to Greenwich village. we exchanged contacts and decided to stay in touch. We said good bye and walked away in opposite directions. This new friend from Belgium left a very strong first connection impression on me. He seemed friendly and cherished new experiences and I wished him all the fun and joy in life. Later on a few days later, I emailed him the pictures and let him know the days I was going to be in Boston, He thanked me for the pictures but was not sure when he would be in Boston. That was the last I conversed with him but he certainly will be remembered for ever in terms of my road trip and adventures.
Place: Hudson River park, NYC
It is an awesome, sunny but a windy day in New york city. I walked into the Hudson River park with my SLR camera around my neck, a heavy back pack on my back and my camera bag hanging across my shoulder all the way down to my back. I had never been to this place during my numerous outings to NYC before and so I stood there spellbound by the beauty of this park and the day. I walked the deck to find an interesting spot to take pictures and to indulge in a long photography session. As I walked the boardwalk, I could see, people lying shirtless on the grass sun bathing, people sitting on benches with a book, A college student working on her laptop and whole bunch of people listening to their diverse music collection on their ipods. (Isn't it amazing how easily we just assume that its an ipod and not anything else. )
I arrived to the end of the boardwalk. It seemed like the best place to take pictures. The new york skyline, the park along with people and some portion of the boardwalk were to my right. The statue of liberty and a big cool looking bridge were visible in the distance and a series of navy piers stood adjacent to the other portion of the boardwalk to my left. I took multiple pictures continuously for at least 15 minutes before changing my position. I repeated the same exercise with a telephoto lens and normal lens at different focal lengths. After about 30 mins of photo session, I sat on a porch for another lens change when a young man wearing a bright red T shirt approached me. He seemed 20 something (my age group), had an SLR camera around his neck just like me and seemed very friendly.
He says in a heavy accent: " Excuse me"
As I said hello he requested whether I could take a picture of the statue of liberty for him on his camera card because he had forgotten his telephoto lens. I decided to take one for him. He removed his card and we realized that his card wouldn't work on my camera. I offered to take pictures and email them to him and as a result we started talking and connecting. After taking some pictures, we walked on the boardwalk back on towards our way out of it. I invited him to sit with me on a porch and chat. He agreed as we looked for a good spot.
Over a talk of 45 minutes, I learned a lot about him. He was originally from Belgium and loved traveling. His decision to visit America was a spur in the moment decision. His initial plan was to spend 10 days in Barcelona, Spain but some of his friends scared him from pursuing that trip and then he found a last minute cheap flight deal to the US so he decided to just come here. Professionally he worked for a finance firm in Belgium and was on a 10 day vacation before going back to work. He planned to spend most of his time in NYC and had arrived just the previous night. He was considering going to either Boston or Washington DC for 2-3 days besides being in NYC. He asked me on my recommendations in terms of DC or Boston.
Being a Bostonian for 6 years, I am clearly biased but I did my best to tell him what I liked about Boston / DC and what most people like to do in Boston and DC. I incorrectly told him that Boston was closer than DC from NYC but I learned about this later. Ooops! I offered to hang out with him in Boston if he visited while I am in Boston. We started talking a bit about traveling and what we like to do. He expressed that he usually likes to stay away from touristy places and likes to branch out in to other near by areas of the city. He removed an NYC map and start telling me as to where he started and where he was trying to go. He impressed me about how much he had already learned about the city just within a day. He expressed interest in checking out a Broadway show and told him about how to find good deals at the half ticket booth.
Later on we moved on to discuss our perspectives on America as international visitors from different countries and cultures. It was amazing for me to hear him mention a few things that he observed in a day which I had been observing for 6 years. For example: He mentioned how amazed he was with people around here being big consumers for everything. Be it the big cards, or serving orders at restaurants...everything in this country was about being big. People would commute alone in cars to work every day but would still like bigger and spacious cars. Most people would not finish a meal at a restaurant but yet the meals were served in such big proportions. We both agreed on this and this was something hard for us to see since we both came from countries where people preferred and liked small cars and where everything was preferred in small quantities. I mentioned how I found a lot of things wasteful in this country. Like for example, I could never ever understand as to why the showrooms, shops, restaurants and even offices left their power lights on all through out the night. Maybe they market and attract people going by but it just amazed me how much of power and energy wastage that is. What was amazing to me is that countries in the east were also adopting these things from the western world and that too in the day and age where strong movements are going on for recycling, saving energy and what not. I mean there are villages in poor countries that still do not get power and electricity for the entire duration of the day.
One of the other hot button topics for me is the amount of food that is wasted in this country. The country's food chain is dominated by numerous chains and restaurants that like to market the "We Serve Fresh" philosophy. It amazes me as to how much food they throw away in to the trash at the end of every day. Now, I know some of the good franchises that have realized this - are donating food to the needy and the homeless or to institutions that provide shelter to the homeless but still a majority of restaurants and fast food joints in this country trash the left over food at the end of the day and I can bet the quantity of food that is trashed will be able to easily feed some starving nation in this entirety.
After talking about a few impressions about America we went on to discuss our traveling adventures. He expressed a desire to do what I was doing and wished if he could quit his job to travel the world and to explore and self discover and enjoy this kind of lifestyle. I told him about my blogging and goal to meet new people and make new connections. We spoke about how staying in hostels is fun and he mentioned how he met a German woman at the NYC hostel he was staying and how cheap and fun hostels can be. He also expressed an interest in living in NYC for a few months at some point in his life.
He mentioned his girl friend plans to move to NYC at some point and he is hoping to come here with her as well. I was amazed to learn that his girl friend was actually not in Belgium nor with her here but was in an Asia. I forget the name of the country but he met her while traveling in Asia and they have been together since then. I could be wrong but i think he said for an year. I was amazed about how they make that work and raised my hats off to their dedication to a long distance relationship like that.
In between our conversation at some point we were interrupted by dogs barking and a girl shouting in a funny way. We both turned around to see a young looking girl with two big sized bull dogs. We weren't sure what she was doing with them because she was quite short and petite to manage two big dogs of that size. The dogs were completely bullying her. She was lying flat on a porch and every time she was trying to get up they would jump on her belly and body to push her flat back on the porch. We couldn't help but stop laughing. Eventually I thought of getting up and helping but later a giggle from her assured me that she was having fun with them so we decided to stay out of it and just got entertained by the event. I think I was quite sure that she did not own the dogs and was probably just hanging out with them as a temporary care taker or so. But this was clearly an assumption on my part and by no means a certainty.
Later on she stopped by to interrupt our conversation to ask us whether we knew the exact time. As I told her the time, I pet one of the dogs then she walked away and we continued our conversation. Eventually time caught up to us and he wanted to move to on to his next location. He was not sure as to where he was going to walk next, I on the other hand wasn't yet done with this location and wanted to take some more pictures before walking over to Greenwich village. we exchanged contacts and decided to stay in touch. We said good bye and walked away in opposite directions. This new friend from Belgium left a very strong first connection impression on me. He seemed friendly and cherished new experiences and I wished him all the fun and joy in life. Later on a few days later, I emailed him the pictures and let him know the days I was going to be in Boston, He thanked me for the pictures but was not sure when he would be in Boston. That was the last I conversed with him but he certainly will be remembered for ever in terms of my road trip and adventures.
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