nyc - part one

Although I was supposed to land at 9:30, I did not arrive until well after midnight, due to weather delays. So many little things have already happened that feel significant.

I met so many nice people on the way here, even though it was a long freakin trip it really wasn't that bad. The shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel was probably the most heinous part of it all. I was so scared, the guy was tilting around corners like you can't believe!

This whole trip has brought up a lot of thougts, all the business travel I used to do, the places I have been, the places I still want to go. I am not scared anymore to travel by myself, although its certainly always nicer when you are sharing the experience in real time.

I decided to go down to the hotel bar once I got settled in at the hotel, upon arriving last night, because I was all weirdly hyper from travelling and it seemed a shame to be in NYC and just go straight to bed - a nightcap seemed pretty appropriate.

Of course, I started talking to the bartender, "Bay" and she introduced me to the other people in there, who happened to be her friends. I met like 10 people including some fellow Californians that stopped in while I was there. Everyone was just so nice, and the people watching has been FAB-U-LOUS!

Basically what it has brought up is that I need to travel, I love going new places, seeing new things, meeting new people, soaking up native culture - I forgot just how important it is to me, how much it inspires and excites me.

At one time, it was the life I was building, both before and during my previous engagement, but I lost my way when we split up and it has taken over 10 years to rediscover this part of my path. I am not lamenting it, because I wouldn't be who and where I am now. I wouldn't have the knowledge, the career and expereinces it brought, nor the 6 years I spent with the man I fell in love with later, and even though none of those things has turned out the way I thought, and I had to let go of that love as well, I can see that each thing leads to another, and it is all important. And that in many ways, we are all rebuilding our life, all the time.

Interestingly, I had an experience tonight that illustrated what my life would have been like if I would have married and stayed that course, and it was very reassuring to realize it may have quite a bit less than stellar after all.

Part two - coming soon!