DAYS 10 & 11: Philadelphia, PA via Chinatown, NY

I reluctantly woke early with Sarah to engage in the madness of rush hour on the subway, which was just short of a panic attack given the additional weight and girth I was bearing with my cumbersome pack on my back. I avoided eye contact with fellow commuters, stayed towards the front of the train as much as possible, and thankfully it was all over pretty quickly. I climbed the stairs up to East Broadway fighting the gravitational pull of my massive backpack and entered the stinky streets of Chinatown to find my bus to Philadelphia in a state of mild confusion.

"You're going to get off the subway onto East Broadway. Ask someone which way to the bus. They will know what you're talking about. Then just walk a few blocks and someone will see that you are white and have luggage, and will stop you to sell you a bus ticket."

Sarah promised it would be easy enough, and strangely that's EXACTLY how it went down. PLUS it only cost $10!! That's almost as good as when we were charged $5 for two espresso drinks the previous day on account of our barista's laziness. No complaints here.

Oddly, as my bus exited the city I couldn't stop watching the Statue of Liberty as it shifted across the horizon of my window. I found myself completely intrigued by it and as the commuters around me drifted off to sleep for the duration of the two hour trek to Philly, no doubt in their routine commute, I recalled my uncle bringing me to the Statue when I was no more than seven yrs old and how I tried to count all the steps up to the observation deck of her gigantic torch.

The bus dropped us off in Philly and I quickly caught a cab. I was beyond relieved by the fact that the schlepping of bags was in it's final throw. When I made it back to the DeMedio's I felt a sense of home. In a calming state of solitude I was glad to relax and recount the whirlwind of events thrashing around in my overwhelmed mind. It's a beautiful thing to go home, and I'm very lucky to have acquired various elements of whatever "home" is in multiple locations.

Philadelphia has grown on me tremendously since I lived there. Despite it's understandable reputation as filth-adelphia, there are pockets and neighborhoods that feel so warm and inspirational.

Consistent with the best moments in life, I found my time out east went all too quickly. I'm sure my mind is still unraveling the course of events and sentimental details which made this trip a rejuvenating and grounding retreat, so let me just say thanks to everyone for the memories and accommodations. Let's do it again in December.

DAY 9: Brooklyn, NY

I'm definitely glad to have had the opportunity to get into the city while I was out east. Having grown up with frequent holiday visits and every imaginable field trip possible into Manhattan, it's easy to lose appreciation for that which is so accessible.

I met Sarah at the Port Authority in NYC and we trucked back to her Brooklyn apartment with a loose agenda for seeing something "artsy and cultural" per my request. When the exhaustive task of schlepping my bags in the midday heat deterred us from our original plans of making it to the Museum of Modern Art before close, we opted to keep it quirky and stay in BK for the night.

DAYS 7 & 8: Stanhope, NJ