vacations' vacation....????

soo often you arrive home from an overseas trip/vacation more exhausted than when you left.  

 the sightseeing, the  experiencing, the soaking in, the eating --- it's all just such hard work! 

well, this time round i was determined to ensure this would not be the case.  so much so that i arranged for a mid-vacations vacation!!  a sort of half way point hoorah.  a breather.  

a chance to unwind & refuel. 

a chance to reflect on california & prepare for new york. 

& where better place to do such things than the hampton's!! 

getting to the vacation destination of manhattan's rich & super rich was far from luxurious.... 

*****

my plane landed on a foggy wednesday morning @ 5am.  no sight of the manhattan skyline, no excitement, no miraculous feeling of arriving in my dream destination. 
just queens, fog & more freezing fog.  

first task - locate the "air train".  followed the signs, success! now, how to pay..?  the trains wizzed by as i vaguely looked around for a ticket machine. after witnessing 2 trains leave i noticed that people were just jumping on! hmmmmm OKAY FREE TRAIN!  

soo distracted with not having to part with my $5 for the train i wheeled my massive airport trolley filled with my cases ONTO the train!!  instantly got a nasty look from a massive beast of a black man that made me realise i was doing something seriously wrong..  laughing at myself & trying not to show my embarrassment.. i turned around & wheeled my trolley right off the train & back onto the platform... idiot. my first impression on new yorkers was terrible!!

10mins later i was clumsily (now trolley less) lugging my excess baggage on the next train, & what was waiting for me at my jamaica station exit??? --- a bay full of airport trolleys & a ticket machine!!!!! 
turns out big black men just don't like me (not the trolley's fault) & no trains are free.  

secound task - locate jamaica stations long island rail roads line, buy ticket to montauk, relax on train for 2hours. 

(my previous ordeal with the air train was not leaving me feeling super confident...).  

***before i continue i think it's vital that you know what i mean when i say excess baggage.  

1 x MASSIVE wheelie hard case + 

1 x SEMI-MASSIVE wheelie hard case + 

1 x 45" louis vuitton tote (genuine!) 

i have never been a light traveller &  if this day doesn't change that going forward -then nothing will. ***

ok, ticket booth for long island rail road is on the ground floor. lift down, SMALL LIFT, ...not soo bad.

wheeling excess baggage through the long, winding & never ending roped queue line (you know, rope, like in the bank queues??), frickan pathetic!! never have i tried so hard to seem cool & calm, whilst in my head i was certain the whole entire roped queue line was going to come crashing down around me!! 
eventually, i reach the end & buy a ticket. 
roped queue line was still in tact as i exited.  promise.

"what platform does the train arrive on??"  i ask the lady supplying the ticket, "not sure. go to information on platform #8. ask them."

ok... platform #8 here i come.  bags in tow, i'm searching for signs...........  ahahah! #8 i see you!!  ...far far far away in the distance.  
turns out to get to platform #8, to ask a simple question, you have to go back up the SMALL LIFT, down another SMALL LIFT & cross over 4 lines! shit!! 
well, nothing could ever be as bad as the roped queue line - right?
a number of minutes, loong minutes, later i reach platform #8. 

"what platform does the montauk train arrive on??" i ask sweetly to the first white man i have seen my entire time in queens. 
"montauk?". "yeah montauk :)".  "catch the local from #8 to  bablyon, change to the express at babylon, then montauk". 
"whaaa??? change trains??? google said 1 train - whole way!" 
"nope #8 to babylon, change to express, then montauk".  
all spoken like a total lifeless robot.  
 "ok thank you, one last question... when does the #8 arrive?" 
"....7.55am". 

 shhiiiittt!!!!!! IT WAS 7am!!!!!  i'm in the middle of queens, it's freezing, i'm on an outdoor train platform, surrounded by jumbo sized baggage & i'm about to experience new york peak hour!!

 ..there was nothing else to do, but stand, freeze & smile :) 


you know in movies when you hear the funny black guy refers to someone as "snowflake"....  yeah, well, this was a perfect example, this was my time to shine bright white like a little "snowflake".  

the hurds of people began to arrive.. each one more depressed & cold than the other. (each one bigger than the other...) all in a mad rush to find their train & get to work. 
all passing the silly little white smiling snowflake by. 
i swear to god, i smiled at this one hoochie mamma &  she gave me a look that coulda burnt a whole in my face!  
(my face or my louis?!  luckily, louis had been safely hidden under my jacket for some time now. forget the face - gotta protect my louis!!). 
 

finally, after 55minutes of being eye bashed by every person in queens, my train arrived.  
the robot man in the info booth waved me farewell (& surely luck!) as i clumsily boarded.   train #1 of 2 was quiet.  no hoards of commuters, just one loud mouthed couple & me.  me-standing. this was a new york train after all, not like those nice ones in europe where there is somewhere to stow your bags whilst you find a comfy seat...  
standing & for the first time cursing wheelie cases!!!  
every time that train sped up or slightly turned -whoosh, my bags where going with it! worst frickan train ride of my life! 
.....so far. 

"next stop, bablyon".  
this was me.. stoked! now i get to wheel my mountains of shit off one train, onto another platform, wait..., then wheel the shit back onto another train!! so excited! can't wait. loving my "vacation" so much right now.



thank jesus!!!  the express train was parked at the platform across waiting for me when i stumbled off my 1st train.  & this one had a nice long seat for me & my bags :)!!! 
finally a chance to sit down, relax, watch the scenery of long island whizz by &  start dreaming of my hamptons vacay :)  
......or maybe not.  

i had a nice 5 minutes to myself. 5 minutes to stare out the window at dump after dump of train line suburb, before...  a younge toothless brother decided it would be awesome to ask this little snowflake for babymomma advice..
no exaggeration necessary.     the word "babymomma" was definitely used more than once.  
"cheater", "hater", "steve erwin", "smokes", "pension" - oh yeah, this was a highly intellectual conversation. one that lasted almost my entire train ride!!!!  the whole time this was going on all i could think was, "what the F is this guy doing going anywhere near the hamptons?!?!?!?"
this isn't what was meant to be waiting for me in the HAMPTONS! (queens - sure). but the HAMPTONS?!?!  where's chuck bass??? where are the kennedy's???  get this toothless gangstar away from me!!!




sooner or later, it was time for my friend to disembark.  he turned, (i assume) smiled (hard to tell when they have no teeth..) & waved.  
carriage to myself, instantly i relaxed. head back to the window & ready to start spotting some hampton's houses!   ..wonder if i will get to see the "revenge" house!  vacation - her i come!!




at this point my mind was in total shock/denial with how my morning had been so far (surely it cldn't get any worse), that i hadn't yet started to think about my arrival at montauk.  
arrival, after all,  would of course mean another train station.....

montauk train station. 
train. station. 
train -yes. station -???? 
this "station" was so small that my wheelie cases did not even fit on the platform side by side!!!! kill meeee!!!! 

thank that jesus once more, thank him for the fact that it was off season & there was only 1 other person getting off here.. i would have caused serious back log & carnage other wise!

funnily enough, after struggling with one case in front/one case behind/louis on shoulder for about 5 minutes (haha 5 steps in 5 minutes!!).  i saw a tall brother running towards me, wow he was coming to help!!  maybe the brothers like a little snowflake in their lives after all..?  

so here he was, teeth & all,  helping me with my bags! 
smiling, laughing, welcoming me to montauk. oh, i was thrilled!!  vacations starting!!   


    ...."oh hang on,  excuse me,  why are you loading my bags in your van???"
"you want taxi, yeah?" 
"oh... no... sorry.. i already have a car booked. i thought you were just being nice & helping me with my bags? :)" 
"HA. nope, thought you needed a ride is all". 
clunk. he threw may bag out of his van & off he went mumbling some bitchy tude under his breath. 
 so much for love for the snowflake :( 




i will never ever be the one to give up & cry in heap in the middle of a pebble stoned train station -so, determined, i picked my cases up & strode off towards my shiny black car awaiting my arrival in the distance.

*****
  
vacation will start soon!!!!  












 

yep.... awesome view from the train.

 genius idea choosing train over jitney.... 

 

coming - being - leaving

 

coming to california i felt bold.  

i had shielded off everyones caution filled comments & their shocked expressions about my solo trip for months.. 

hearing their fears & concerns just made me stronger.

it just made me feel like i was doing something extroardinary      -finally.

*****

being in california i felt unstoppable. 

i was not only seeing an amazing place, i was feeling it. 

the thing i discovered about traveling alone, is that you are

 truly present. you have to be. 

you are & have to be aware of whats beside you, above you, around you, ..in your bag (bag check!), & right in front of you. 

if you aren't, your screwed, as there is no one else there to back you up....

 

this present feeling. this hyper awareness, i'm sure could be felt in any state/country/ or wherever by whoever 

- but i felt it first here.  & i freakin loved it!

 

*****

 

leaving california i felt scared. 

sure, i had just conquered the busiest portion of the american west coast ON MY OWN!  ...but ahead, ahead was the dream coming to life. 

the dream of being in new york was about to come true. 

a dream, that if let me down, would leave me with very little left to dream for.

 ***** 

to the state that showed me i could do anything.

 

to the state that changed my view of me. 

to the state that made me feel tiny, ...but taller than ever. 

 

 

thank you - i love you - i can't wait to meet again. 

 

 

walking on water

a swim in the ocean is cleansing

a walk on the beach is  hypnotizing  

a freezing cold spring day means all of the above are off the cards....    or does it? 

*****

upon arriving in california i detested the idea of beach piers. 

they seemed useless, touristy & tacky.. 

seriously, everytime i got to a new beach i would automatically head in the opposite direction of the pier & only ever took photos of them so that i could later look back & remember what beach the photo was from..  

but...! when embarking on this trip i set myself goals (dag..),

 2 of which i will share....  

1. LEARN! learn about myself, others & places. 

2.. OPEN UP!!  to situations, opportunities & everything the world has to offer. 

  

it was a sunny late afternoon in pismo beach that these 2 lessons & the old tacky beach pier collided.

******

the last day on heavenly highway 1 was a sad one. i really, really didn't want it to end.  the thought of saying goodbye to the horizon & the freedom felt of having it by your side at every moment was petrifying.. the winding road had given me freedom & peace that i had never before felt & i was addicted.  

on this day i smiled myself stupid, i took more photos & videos than a chinese tourist could do in a lifetime, i breathed in more fresh air than my body could handle & i tried with all my might to lock this feeling in my body & memory as best as i could. 

as the one lane became two & the green hills became scattered in houses i entered a town called pismo beach.  after taking a wrong exit & ending up on the LEFT hand side of the road being rudely honked at by a monster truck, i hit "main st".  (i was NOT exaggerating when i said every town over here has one!)..

this main st was particularly small, 3 ice cream shops, multiple fish & chip shops, 4 tattoo parlors (4????) & a few pubs -shit, why did i book here?!?!?!?! 

sensibly avoiding my depression of no more heavenly highway 1 & being in a tattoo obsessed town, i checked into my hotel.  spa on the balcony, complementary bottle of champas, free brekkie (first one!!!) & ocean front views (in a 'non-view room'). 

the sun was slowly setting & this was my only afternoon left on the coast -the beach was calling.  with only a camera in my hand (left the champas behind..)  i took to the pavement that ran the length of the beach.        sun, sand, horizon, .....pier.

a pier usually means "main st" starts here!! so knowing i didn't have much time, this day i headed in its' direction.  

as i wasn't interested in main st's plethora of ice cream & tattoo options, i took to the pier. 

stepping onto to the ancient wooden slats i looked down with a sense of sadness...  this could possibly be the last californian pier i ever step on in my life... perfectly, this particular pier had no restaurants, no fancy lighting, no hotel, nothing.  just wooden poles coming up out of the ocean to a wooden deck.   

walking along, as i saw the waves crash below through the tiny gaps in between the planks, i started to think.... could it be that piers were invented specifically for times like this? the air was cold, the sand was biting & the water was numbing -so how does one enjoy the beach?  how do you get amongst the waves? how do you really feel that hypnotic feeling of being on the edge of the earth???   

...you build a wooden deck that takes you off the biting sand, out past the freezing shore break & into the middle of the ocean, to a place that lets you escape. a place that makes you feel 

like your walking on water. 

it all clicked.  

piers = genious.

pismo beach = place for learning lessons & opening up. 

look close --- one surfer + one sea otter floating on his back

the closest i have ever been to a sea otter - they are so cute!  imagine surfing or swimming with one on a regular basis?!?! there were a few of them around & the surfers just chilled with them as if it were no big deal.

 

AMERICA  F@#K YEAH!!!!!  .....exactly what i was thinking.