I delayed thinking about Thanksgiving until I got back from Africa. This was smart, since I had only a feeble internet connection, and plenty of stress and worries to preoccupy me. This was not smart because I got back a few weeks before Thanksgiving with no flights booked. Plans to visit people can fall together (or apart) in no time at all, so I wasn't too worried about fine details. But I did have to get from San Francisco to the east coast at some point. Preferable on miles, to fit into my humanitarian budget. This proved a challenge.
After trolling the web for a few hours (hey, this wasn't rocket surgery), I found a flight there and back on miles, making this a free trip home for the holidays. I ended up flying into Boston and out via New York, and with that itinerary, I set to sketching out a plan of visits. I wracked my brain for who I knew where (I really need a list) and put together a game plan. I put a few necessities (tooth brush, change of clothes, and the warmest coat I owned) into a small backpack, and went.
Here's a log of my itinerary:
Nov 20 - SFO to Boston, stay with family
Nov 21 - Boston, talk about MSF in my uncle's class, stay with friends
Nov 22 - Train to Providence, car to Connecticut to hike, stay with friends in Providence
Nov 23 - Visit friends, have friends visit from Boston, stay in Providence
Nov 24 - Bus to NYC, lunch with a friend, dinner with another friend, stay with a friend
Nov 25 - Relaxing walk around NYC day, stay with same friend
Nov 26 - Parents pick me up and drive to Long Island to visit Grandparents, spend night there
Nov 27 - Thanksgiving with the family! See some cousins I haven't seen in 5 years, take ferry to New England, sleep in aunt/uncle's house in Boston
Nov 28 - Arrive in New Hampshire! Stay with family
Nov 29 - Climb mountain with snowshoes. Stay with family
Nov 30 - Drive to Boston with relatives, stay with family.
Dec 1 - Bus to Philadelphia, cat/house sit for a friend
Dec 2 - Relaxing walk around NYC day, see a show with a friend, stay in housesitting house
Dec 3 - Visit various people around Philly, stay in housesitting house
Dec 4 - Bus to NYC, see a show, stay with a friend
Dec 5 - Subway to the airport, fly JFK to SFO
Trains, planes, buses, cars, boats, feet, subways, and snowshoes were used as conveyance in this two-week visiting spree, involving living out of a 20-litre daypack and staying with friends and family.
This is a snapshot of my normal. Of my life. I don't get to say I'm going out of town. I don't have a town to go out of. I don't put my life on hold for two weeks and go have a live-out-of-a-backpack adventure, where I skimp and hold out until I can resume normal living. These two weeks are not a vacation, a parentheses or a gap in normal living. It is normal living.
I think that's the biggest difference between my lifestyle and that of most people. It's hard to explain, but this trip proved a good case study.
After trolling the web for a few hours (hey, this wasn't rocket surgery), I found a flight there and back on miles, making this a free trip home for the holidays. I ended up flying into Boston and out via New York, and with that itinerary, I set to sketching out a plan of visits. I wracked my brain for who I knew where (I really need a list) and put together a game plan. I put a few necessities (tooth brush, change of clothes, and the warmest coat I owned) into a small backpack, and went.
Here's a log of my itinerary:
Nov 20 - SFO to Boston, stay with family
Nov 21 - Boston, talk about MSF in my uncle's class, stay with friends
Nov 22 - Train to Providence, car to Connecticut to hike, stay with friends in Providence
Nov 23 - Visit friends, have friends visit from Boston, stay in Providence
Nov 24 - Bus to NYC, lunch with a friend, dinner with another friend, stay with a friend
Nov 25 - Relaxing walk around NYC day, stay with same friend
Nov 26 - Parents pick me up and drive to Long Island to visit Grandparents, spend night there
Nov 27 - Thanksgiving with the family! See some cousins I haven't seen in 5 years, take ferry to New England, sleep in aunt/uncle's house in Boston
Nov 28 - Arrive in New Hampshire! Stay with family
Nov 29 - Climb mountain with snowshoes. Stay with family
Nov 30 - Drive to Boston with relatives, stay with family.
Dec 1 - Bus to Philadelphia, cat/house sit for a friend
Dec 2 - Relaxing walk around NYC day, see a show with a friend, stay in housesitting house
Dec 3 - Visit various people around Philly, stay in housesitting house
Dec 4 - Bus to NYC, see a show, stay with a friend
Dec 5 - Subway to the airport, fly JFK to SFO
Trains, planes, buses, cars, boats, feet, subways, and snowshoes were used as conveyance in this two-week visiting spree, involving living out of a 20-litre daypack and staying with friends and family.
This is a snapshot of my normal. Of my life. I don't get to say I'm going out of town. I don't have a town to go out of. I don't put my life on hold for two weeks and go have a live-out-of-a-backpack adventure, where I skimp and hold out until I can resume normal living. These two weeks are not a vacation, a parentheses or a gap in normal living. It is normal living.
I think that's the biggest difference between my lifestyle and that of most people. It's hard to explain, but this trip proved a good case study.
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