The Itch

I went to my first Couchsurfing event last night -- nearly every large city has them, and they're a good way for travelers to find temporary buddies or (as in my case) locals to find other like-minded Couchhosts. You have your fair share of leadership-type almost-weirdos -- usually older men, approaching forty, very active in the community -- as well as perpetual travelers, first-time travelers, trying-to-get-a-visa travelers, and generally quite interesting people.

The New York City group meets up every Tuesday at the Life Cafe, in the East Village (apparently where RENT was written); there is also a meetup in Union Square on Thursday nights, regular Brooklyn meetups in the Williamsburgh area, and sometimes vegetarian/vegan events. The pointlessness of these meetings is purposely lost on everyone -- meeting up for the sake of meeting up -- which makes them interesting; everyone comes with a "who cares?" kind of attitude, tells their story, listens to yours, and leaves, maybe making plans with someone, or maybe never seeing them again for the rest of their life.

I might go to more events, or try out different ones in other parts of the city; there's something depressingly circular about retelling your own story so many times. It echoes the perpetual traveler-type people, whose voyages I envy but not their lifestyle: getting cheap, quick jobs just to make more money to travel; no roots of any kind; always searching for a temporary friend, just someone for the sake of someone. I once heard a story of a man who had been WWOOFing for forty years, making a little money here and there, just enough to get from one place to the next. Something about the truly global citizen makes me a little sad.

This is not to say I oppose the organization or the nature of travel itself, not by any means. I think once I start my new job (March 28th!) and have weekends off, I'll re-open my doors to the Couchsurfing world once again. It's also nice to just make friends -- I met a girl from Tasmania last night who's in New York with her mom for two months, so hopefully we're going to do some city exploring together while she's here.

This weekends off thing -- I'm planning on using up my vacation days here and there to allow myself some semi-serious weekend trips. Friends to visit is obviouslyfirst on my map; after that, I'm entertaining the idea of visiting Cleveland, Montreal, the Hudson Valley (camping!); maybe doing that circular Long Island-Connecticut-NYC trip involving the North Fork Ferry (a vineyard trip, perhaps?). I'm aware that these options are rather lame (Niagara Falls, maybe??) but I'd like to see as much of what's in my immediate vicinity while I can. (Before the onset of 2012, obviously.)

Any other suggestions??

Growing Up

I made it! I'm out! I can wipe my hands clean of this bloated corpse the world calls the restaurant industry, finally. My formal new title: Editorial Assistant to the Adult International publishing branch of the English Language Teaching division of Oxford University Press.

A part of me wants to reject the corporatized 9-5 lifestyle, a knee-jerk "eff that!" reaction. But corporatized is the key word here, and wrongly so; students live basically 9-5, weekday schedules, too, so there really is no need for me to identify myself with some middle-management marketing slave when I can just think of myself as a modified student. And my hours are 8-4, anyway.

For the first time in my adult American life -- as in, post-college, not France -- I will have a schedule that allows me to confidently plan ahead. I can buy bus tickets to visit friends a month from now without having to worry if I might have to work that day -- amazing! Expect weekend visits from me, everyone. I can go on excursions out of town, if I feel like it -- take the Metro North up through the Hudson Valley and go camping with Don; take a bus to Boston for the hell of it; take the train out to Montauk for the weekend. Where all of this vacation money will come from is the next step.

But who cares about money when you have health care?

I'm very excited, to say the least. I'm sure I won't be so thrilled when I'm near passing-out on top of a stack of invoices at 8:30 in the morning, but maybe later that day I'll have some workbook pages to edit and then ride my bike home and then go to my Harlem Renaissance class (starts July 5th!), and then everything will be okay. Better than okay; probably pretty great.

This is all also coinciding with the onset of spring, which makes me a little bit insane, allergic, and happy. My and Don's Chestnut Ale will be ripe for drinking soon (we've tested a few early bottles... eh); a new batch of English IPA is on its way tomorrow. New plants are on the windowsill; the Wizard is becoming soft and nice. I haven't worn my winter hat in a week.