Bus trip

On my way to New York. I've decided to get a hotel tonight, not because I'm not enjoying the roulette wheel of hosteling, but because there are no hostels with vacancies in the area. I actually kind of like staying in hostels, but I admit it will be nice to take a shower without needing to use flip flops as fungus barriers.

Also the hotel is a short walk from Times Square, so that will be nice.

What you can't see in this photo is that the boy in front of me is watching "Friends" muted with Chinese subtitles on his laptop, so I can't follow along. The French girl a couple rows up, that looks like Felicia Day, is clearly unhappy with the man snoring loudly behind her. Also a woman is throwing up in the restroom eight feet behind me. But I'm still enjoying myself. Just using this free time to get some things down in my journal.

I'll post more photos tonight from New York!

Thoughts From a Bus Terminal

Trying to live on the cheap in a city can be depressing. It is interesting to see such wealth and power merge so casually with poverty. In the same line of sight, you can see a man in a suit talking into a tiny bluetooth headset that you can't see, and a deranged homeless man talking to another person that you can't see. Their similarities are hard to ignore.

I'm very much enjoying the trip so far, but I'll be happy to get on the AT. On the trail, living on the cheap means something entirely different. It is liberating, and rarely depressing.

Last Night's Hostel

This is what happens when you go moment to moment without making reservations. You end up in hostels like this. It wasn't as bad inside. When I got in last night I was surprised to see the guy from Russia that was in my room the night before.

"Next you will see me on Appalachian Trail," he joked.

Neither of us planned very far ahead so had to take whatever was available, a room where turning on the A/C meant a circuit breaker would pop every 5 minutes. We were later joined by two aspiring actors, a guy from Denmark and a woman from Italy. Hosteling has become an adventure in itself.

Thunderstorm

If you're going to be caught in a thunderstorm, you might as well be inside the Jefferson Memorial when it happens.

On my way to the Library of Congress. Thought I'd walk through the Botanic Garden on the way.

Capital View Hostel

It's a beautiful morning in DC! Leaving another hostel and heading to my first stop, the National Archives.

The Sea

When you have no place to be, you can be any place you want. For example, you might choose to sit in front of the US Capitol Building listening to these protesters argue about circumcisions.
"That's right walk away and go swim in your sea of ignorance!" yelled the protester.
"Oh yes, my sea of ignorance!" the man said walking backwards waving his arms in the air. "That's right, I'm going home now to get my trunks, so I can go swimming in my sea of ignorance!"
That was a fun five minutes.