« Boston, MA (WE MADE IT!) | Main | New York City »
August 28, 2004
Boston, MA
This is the longest I've been in one place since I left a month ago. Last night there were 8 people staying in this 2 bedroom apartment. There were 5 of us sleeping in the living room. I don't want to give you the impression this is how it normally is. Most of these people are in transition between moving from once place to another and this apartment has served as a way station for us lost souls. Its been an enjoyable stay with these people, all of whom are Wheaton MASS graduates. Except me of course.
Today I'll be leaving my 'extended' stuff behind, taking only what will fit in my one backpack and heading for the China Town bus. The China Town bus goes between the New York and Boston China Towns. I hear its a bit harrowing, but its only $10 and will get me where I'm going.
The 'travel service' I chose to use is turning out to be problematic. My basic plan was to find a cheap, one-way ticket to Europe. This is done by purchasing stand-bye tickets through agencies that specialize in them. I found one that was a non-profit and seemed to work, albeit in a quirky way. Now I am wondering whether it will work in the capacity I desire. It is run by a bohemian group that wanted to encourage travel via a hitch-hikers approach. They equate this type of air travel as air hitching. The only way you interact with these people is via an AOL Chat Room. The problem I'm finding is that these people are both militant and mean. I had an exchange with one of them last night where he refused to tell me where a flight was heading insisting I should accept the adventure and just go to get on it. Only to have him apologize after 30 minutes because he thought I was someone else. Seemingly, the only rule in this chat room is that you are not aloud to ask questions. Most questions just invite insults and indignant queries as to whether you've read the chat room protocol thoroughly enough. Other, legitimate questions, are answered with non-sequiturs or riddles. Such as the simple question of, "when should I check back in?" or "where does that flight go to?" Even these are inappropriate questions. Unless it appears I'll be able to get information about a flight anytime soon, I'm going to give up on this particular organization and go to another, more commercial, organization. The result of this is likely to mean my staying in NYC longer then I'd hoped. I might not be able to leave until later in the week, or possibly next weekend. This might change things dramatically if it doesn't look like I can get there early enough to meet Greg in Ireland. This is still my goal though and I'm going to do everything possible to make that happen.
It may work out better that I'm in the US a couple more days. I have been growing increasingly nervous about the things I need to take care of in the states before leaving. Now I'll have a little more time to tie up lose ends. Of course, I wish I did not have ends to be lose or required tightening and maybe at some point along my trip, I won't.
I have decided to take my laptop to Europe. I am not sure if this is a good idea or not. If I get there and it turns out to be more of a hassle than a blessing, I'll send it back. I do see lots of reasons to bring it though and as long as I take care of it, it will probably allow me to write and communicate more easily.
Posted by wonko at August 28, 2004 07:42 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.wayfargone.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/274
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)