Posts Tagged ‘east coast’

July 31st, 2009

Day 3 - Road Trip, East Coast: Last Bit of NYC and Albany, NY

All photos are finally up. From 1400 down to 404 photos, enjoy!

I stayed in New York longer than expected. I was fatigued of walking and knew that I had to continue my journey. The Hollanders could have walked the whole day and not feel exhausted (late teens to early 20’s and in great shape). We finally made it back to the hostel and I quickly grabbed my suit case and headed to Penn Station.

Taking the train to Albany was relatively quick. I was able to write, look along the Hudson River, and reflect on the trip.

Going to Albany

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July 22nd, 2009

Day 1 - Road Trip, East Coast: Part 1 of 2: Detroit

The first day was slow, but picked up quickly. It is hard to imagine how long a full day actually is.

I woke up around 5 or 6. Started packing and took a shower. Loaded up on bagels (3), a pastry and a half, raisin brand cereal, decent coffee with sugar creme and my pick of sugar and sugar substitutes, a slice of wheat bread, and a cup of orange juice.

I made my calls to my people and began my day in route to Detroit. The airport is 20 or so miles away from Detroit proper, so I started my navigation to Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn is home to the Ford Motor company. I wasn’t noticing the vehicles much, but they were mostly American cars and trucks. I drove through the headquarters of Ford, went through Ford land, saw the barricade wall that the test track occupied, and continued my drive through the R&D part of the property.

Right when I was about to exit and make my way to Detroit, I noticed a car show of mainly Ford vehicles, here and there of other American cars, and 1, I couldn’t believe it, Foreign car, a first gen RX-7 (which was nicely placed in the back of the event). I didn’t talk to much people. I gawked at a couple of the cars, took many photos, and was on my way.

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July 15th, 2009

One More Day and Counting Til the East Coast Road Trip

One more day until I start my east coast road trip. My emotions change left and right, and now they are near the scared-as-shit side of the meter. I know it will change throughout the day and also the day of. I still need to get a hotel room in Detroit and New York. I need to call the car rental places to make sure they can hold the car for me, since I will be arriving so late at night. I have to ask a co-worker about what I can do in New York for a day. I also have to finish packing, reading a book, and whatever else I’m stressing about.

Science Experiment

Throughout the trip, I will treat it as a science experiment. I will do a before and after post. Something on the scale of what I plan to do, what I think I will learn, and whatever else I’m thinking or feeling at the time. The next post will consist of what I actually did, what I actually felt, and what I learned about the whole experience. I will, of course, have pictures of all that I do. I will also video record what I see and the overall makeup of the road trip experience.

Concerns:

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July 13th, 2009

Road Trip Discussed: 4 Days and Counting!!!

When it came time to plan out this trip I had many options. I could have went to the west coast and visited some friends or even took a road trip on the Pacific Hwy (would have taken forever, but who cares), take an exotic trip to a beach town in Mexico, trip to Canada or visit some friends in Austin, and so on. Something about the east coast intrigued me and now, just 4 days away, will be my reality.

I still have much planning to do. I have to get my rental car situation figured out, determine the gear that is going with me and what is staying behind, figure out what I will be wearing, who numbers I have to gather for emergency purposes, and what I’ll be doing in New York. I have time to ponder those concerns.

This trip is to be planned out more than I would like to. I realized that by talking to a couple of friends and girlfriend this past weekend. This convention goes against my ‘winging-it’ ways, but will be good and prudent for a change. The reason why there is more planning is due to the constant movement I have to do, in order to reach my final destination that is 6-700 miles away.

The breakdown of the trip:

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July 2nd, 2009

The Trip to the East Coast: Detroit to New York…Solo Road Trip…All I Want to do is Get Lost…

I have been thinking about this for some time. Everything made sense, when I sat down and decided what I wanted to do for a 4-5 day stretch. I could chill in Houston and be totally rested, travel to California that I have done so many times, I could visit friends who I haven’t talked to in awhile, or I could get lost.

My girlfriend nudged me to go on a trip with her friend’s husband. I didn’t want to do that. This trip was more than a look-good-on-the-beach away from my girlfriend type of vacation. She is going on her own trip, and I wanted to do something for myself.

It took me a couple of days to think about it. I was still not sure if I could do it. The start destination was set, but the end wasn’t. I questioned myself so many times, I was like, “Do I really want to do this? Why do I want to waste money right now? What will I learn about myself? The distance is too too far.”, everything went through my head and of course, like any reasonable adult I almost pulled the plug.

The last time I got lost was nearly 2 years ago. I decided to go to Japan on my own for 2 weeks. Once I bought the plane ticket, things started to happen. It was quite magical the way events happened. I bought the first ticket and still have to buy the return flight ticket, still apprehensive on going.

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