Now we head to New York , scardy and excited. I have longed to see the big apple for as long as I can remember. The train trip will take about 4 hours and to be honest the past week has shown that my travel mate and I really don't have a lot in common anymore. So 4 hours on a train together was not really an exciting prospect.
Another disclaimer: if you know me, you know I drink! This is no secret, it never has been. Don't pretend to be shocked when I do And don't try to throw it back in my face in the form of an insult. Any insults of this kind will be lost on me.
so to continue, 4 hour train trip and a bar on board. As travel mate is yet to speak to me today I suggest we go sit in the cafe carriage and have a few drinks, travel mate agrees. Finally with the icebreaker of wine we are able to converse, have some jokes. It's a good trip. But I have realised that only time we get along is either when we are out socially, ie other people around or when we drink. Otherwise it's just me listening to travel mate talk about how great / attractive / witty/ clever they are. I notice I am tip toeing around a lot and that's not what I came over here for. It's unlikely I will have the opportunity to revisit this trip and I really want to make the most of it.
Prior to flying over here I was offered advise from travel mate about where to stay in New York and was told that I wouldn't want to stay in Times Square . in the end whether throu design or misunderstanding we booked an apartment in the Lower East Side. One bed and a blow up mattress. i volunteer to take the mattress for 2 reasons, travel mate snores like a monster ( hardly any sleep for the past week can attest to this) and I knew the bed would be more comfortable for what ails. And secondly, I couldn't bear the complaining that would come with precious sleeping on the floor.
after doing a bit more research, something I should have done way before this time, i agree. I decided that I really did want to stay in Times Square and be close to all the tourist cheesy that NYC has to offer. So I made my move, quite nervous at first as my travel buddy had been to New York several times before and knew what was what. when asked what my plans were and if I still wanted to do stuff with my travel mate, I had to respond that I was unsure, I felt we had nothing in common......ie buddy sleeps all day, I read quietly trying not to wake the angry tiger, travel mate tries insulting me constantly with barbs about how I probably shop at target and that i have no vanity and "obviously don't care how I look" whilst not insulted at all, I do shop at target and really don't give a rats ass about what other people think of my lack of fashion sense. When I respond to barbs along the lines of princess, pretentious etc I don't get spoken to for a whole day. While the lack of me me me me me conversation is bliss is does make for an uncomfortable time together. I also mentioned the mood swings were very confusing...... Big mistake apparently, that opened me up for a round of vicious attacks via Facebook , txt, email. I admit my responses where equally vicious as I am unable to keep my gob shut for any great length of time. In hindsight I should have kept the trap shut and just sucked it up unit I got the nearly $2k I am owed from this person.
now some of you are probably thinking that its inappropriate of me to post about this here, you may be right but I would like to assure you that what I have posted here is only the fluff on the top, I could go on for days with this topic. I won't :) but I have found it therapeutic to jot the basics down, am more able to deal with having to cut my trip short and reshuffle everything . Don't get me wrong, I don't blame travel mate for everything. I was totally stupid allowing someone else to do my thinking for me simply because they happen to live in the country I am visiting.
lessons learnt: research trip in full before heading off, not only the places to visit but also the things to see when you get there. Stick to the plan, sure deviations happen along the way but make sure they are your deviations. Choose a travel mate wisely, if not prepare to be on your own. (Luckily after discussing my trip with my best pal Mike, I was prepared to go it alone in need before I left home.... I just didn't expect it to be in NYC lol) biggest lesson and probably the saddest for me Is ......NEVER LEND ANYONE MONEY on your trip.
okay enough of the crap for now, next post will be heaps of fun and about my time since I headed off alone in the big apple.... And rest assured I have had so much fun :)))
