In case you’ve
been wondering, I’ve been sulking around the United States complaining about
how I haven’t left the country for two years. This is incredibly distressing
for someone like me who, bitten by the travel bug, had been on one big trip out
of the country for the two years before I even started this blog (Peru’09,
Mexico ’10: I should probably talk about those experiences sometime…). I will admit that I did go to Canada 4 times
(2 Ottawa, 2 Montreal) before losing my passport which left me stranded in the
U.S. for a whole year. To make matters worse, I hardly count Canada as a
foreign country considering I can see while standing in the middle of the
street just outside my house. Also, I have been to Ottawa and Montreal more
times than I can count and did not really visit anything new in these trips,
but explored some old favorites that happened to have new exhibits. For our purposes, you should assume that when
I use “travel” or any variation thereof, that I mean left the country; and “the
country” means US & Canada.
Disclaimer: During the writing processing I
started laughing at the realization of how unappreciative of my homeland and
unpatriotic this first paragraph sounds; especially since this is the
anniversary of our independence, the 4th of July. My apologies to
those especially patriotic, but this is a tribute to a recent revelation, and
not to this country.
Back to
Blog: So why write a blog post in my travel blog without having travelled? On a trip (notice this not traveling, but
taking a trip) to Long Island and New York City last week, or rather on the
trip back, I realized something: Although this wasn’t a trans-Atlantic
experience, or some other voyage to explore a country unknown, it was
meaningful and valuable. I learned
something new about myself and the world I live in and I spent some quality
time with an important person in my life nurturing an emotional bond. So I’ve
decided to share it. This revelation made me think back on another experience that
I had previously undervalued.
Jair’s
visit to the US:
Although for him it was a trans-Atlantic voyage
to a country unknown, for me, it was still just bumming around the US, mainly
the North Country. The journey started
with a riverside hike in Stone Valley.
There was an afternoon on an Uncle Sam’s Boat Tour and exploring Boldt Castle.
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| Thousand Islands Bridge |
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| St. Lawrence |
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| Power House |
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| Play House at Boldt Castle |
Finally, a
trip to Providence, RI.
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| Brown University |
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| Jair at the John Carter Brown Library |
Lesson
Learned: Even though I had been to (almost) all of these places before, I
enjoyed sharing them with someone else; someone who means a lot to me and for
whom it was a completely new experience. This second trip of mine to Stone Valley made
me realize that I need to look in my own back yard more often for an escape to
nature and not be afraid to explore. The
visit to the Heart of the 1000 Islands reminded me of how much I love St.
Lawrence River. Finally, although I had been to Providence before, most of what
I saw then was the inside of the rink, my hotel, and the mall. This time I was
able to walk around the city. We visited Brown University, opportunity found
for Jair and a reminder of opportunity lost for me. I had wanted to go there
for my BA, the visit left me sliding down a pit of regret until I thought of
how different my life would be if that were the path I had chosen. I found
myself to be content with my life and therefore had no room for regret.
My trip NYC/LI:
Although I
had been to both of these places before, New York City, even just Manhattan, is
a concrete jungle to explore and I saw relatively little of Long Island on my
first visit. This time it was a whirlwind adventure exploring most of Manhattan
and venturing all the way out to the tip of LI.
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| Balto |
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| View from Battery Park: Ellis Island |
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| View from Battery Park: Liberty Island |
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| Lighthouse at Montauk |
Lesson
Learned: Even though my host had been to most every place we ventured, we both
had an amazing time; and I, being the newbe, the inexperienced, the explorer, loved every minute of the
adventure, also gained a great appreciation for my guide, my friend showing me around. Practical lessons learned on this trip were a
little Manhattan geography and that maybe big cities aren’t all that overwhelming;
the trick is to find the right neighborhood and make your home there, not the
entirety of the city itself.
In both of these experiences I was able to spend time with people who I do not
get to see on a regular basis and do not always have the luxury of knowing when
I will get to see them again. It makes
our tiny travels, our trips to known and unknown places all the more meaningful.
I will look back on these adventures
with fond memories, not so much for the adventure itself, but for the people I
shared them with.
