New York: The absolute truth

Breathing in smoke, blowing out steam.

Tons of people smoke while walking. Kind of defeats the purpose of walking and being healthy, yeah? I somehow found myself in the vicinity of smokers who would leave a trail a mile long. I am sick of breathing in that crap. One month in China was plenty, thanks-very-much.

Wear the mink and walk the dog.

Tons of dog walkers in the city.

All dogs wear coats.

Many older (45+), Italian and Russian ladies, wear mink coats. Far from classy – imho.

Completely unrelated, btw.

Red hand means “Walk”.

In California, the white person means walk. In NY, it doesn’t matter what the signal is. You walk whenever you feel like it and taxis won’t even honk @ you. New meaning to “giving the right-of-way to pedestrians”.

NY: Fast walking, rude people.

That’s to sum it up, with a few exceptions. Not all fast walking people are rude, but all rude people walk fast. Everything is so important that they forget how to make small talk(“Hey, how’s your day going?) and be polite. And I thought Californian’s were into their own world. Nothing in comparison to NYers. Where the hell are they walking to anyway? Even Saturday and Sunday people never slow down. Maybe they have to use the potty because…

NYers drink a lot of coffee.

Starbucks is on practically every corner. It’s always filled and closes well after 11pm on weekends.

The city that doesn’t sleep.

On Sunday, shops close @ 6pm. Other than that, everything is open until the wee hours of the morning. It’s like China. There’s always somewhere to go, something to do, and people out on the street, even on a Tuesday night at 11pm.

CA has the best food. Not…

Freshest food, best quality, never salty — and to perfection. All California’s got is decent pricing compared to NY. You get what you pay for…? i.e. $11 for a poppyseed, onion, cheddar bagel w/salmon, tomatoes, red onion, cream cheese, and capers.

Customer service, at your service!

Attendants are so used to taking orders that they cannot think for themselves. I asked someone what they would recommend and they had no idea. It’s like they’ve never eaten their own food. I also asked the person to “surprise me,” and he was taken aback. They might as well be robots.

That’s boss, boss.

I’ve heard the word, “boss,” used frequently when a male is talking to another male. I think it’s typically when they’re being served.

Pregnant women popping.

Alright, so they’re either pregnant or pushing kids around in strollers. It’s strange. An unusual amount of dog walkers and mothers.

Health conscious?

With the mix of smokers, walkers, healthy eaters, I can’t understand why they don’t have seat-covers in their restrooms? And did I mention that the nicest restroom I went in was a Mobil gas station? That should have been the worst! But nOOooo. Those workers do things in style. Marble walls and floor, automatic hand dryer and freshly scented. Men aren’t supposed to have nice, clean restrooms!

Busy business bodies.

For all the busy people in NY, I’m surprised that I hardly ever saw anyone on a cell phone or texting. It was eery. In California, at least one person is talking on the phone or attempting to look busy so they don’t have to accept the scrutiny of being by oneself. Self-conscious, insecure CAians!

Why go to China when the flight is shorter to NY? (Okay, no. China is still worth going to)

I felt like I was in China all over again. Why leave the States? Chinatown’s prices are printed with the RMB sign. People are constantly talking in nothing but 1 out of a billion dialects of Cantonese. Escalators are in the middle of the mall and products are located outside the store.

My granny is in her seventies and going strong.

So are most 77 year olds in NY.

To buy or not to buy?

“May I look around?” After entering a couple of art galleries I felt like I was unwanted. I got this vibe that they didn’t want me looking around if I wasn’t going to buy a $2500 painting. If your job makes you that weary, find a new one? Can’t people appreciate art without having to spend money? I mean, you get to stare at it all day, for free…especially when no one buys because you’re unwelcoming.

All that separates us

…are lines. Borders of states separate distinct cultures. Amazing, huh? It is absolutely unbelievable that we have such a variety of cultures because of the way the U.S.A is divided.

Peer pressure. Group think.

Even with one other person around, my thoughts are less likely to be my own. It’s easy to go through my day without having a thought for myself.

When I am traveling by myself, I am completely independent. I have no one but myself to rely on. I am compelled to think, exploring the illogical(and/or logical), and to take my time doing so. There’s a shift in my way of thought — and how I should process information. It’s all mental.

It’s also easy to find what I like to do. I don’t have to accommodate. I do what I want to do, when I want to.

You can tell who’s a native NYer and who has lived elsewhere.

People who have traveled or lived elsewhere are much more cultured and agreeable(polite) in nature.

Life is black and white (for me).

I am attracted to the extremities of life. It’s either this or that.

Not in between, unfortunately.

But it’s these extremities that allow me to push my body as far as it will allow.

To truly test myself and see what I am made of, I had to venture out and walk alone. It was like a search for my breaking point, which I never reached. My body ached, I would be exhausted at the end of the day, but I did it all over again the very next. I’ve learned that I have a high tolerance and that when I set my mind to it, I’m going to push through exhaustion to get every last experience. To live as I’d die tomorrow, some might say. I lived that with no regrets.

Leisure and comfort take priority when traveling with others — which in turn, doesn’t force you to acclimate to a culture. It makes it so that you get by with what you’re used to. The problem with this is that you’re seeing things in the same light as if you were at home. The experience is greatly heightened by taking on a lifestyle other than your own.

I am glad that I didn’t travel with anyone, even as my parents chewed off their finger nails, and people that I met thought I was crazy. People have expressed that they thought it wouldn’t be very much fun, getting lonely and all.

I, on the other hand, thought it couldn’t have been a more ideal situation and enjoyed every minute of it.

Live for the journey, not the destination.

We often lose sight of this.

I had more enjoyment walking around and getting lost, than arriving where I had intended to go. The destination is banal and ordinary — but it’s the journey, what we do to get there, and what we do when we get there, that provides the adventure.

A destination is stagnant. It’s not going to change places.

However, life is constantly moving, and we should be too — from one journey to the next.