I said I'd be in India the next time I planned to write, but as I sit enjoying this lovely Chicago evening it's hard to resist making a post.
After I finished packing my gigantic backpack last night (hopefully no more than 50 pounds ... Guess we'll see tomorrow!), I stayed up most of the night talking with someone I'm sad to be leaving behind. I found myself lamenting that I could not pack his hugs and wonderful-ness into my carry on.
I was painfully tired and a little teary eyed. I figured I'd just sleep on the train. I managed to, but of course I didn't realize I'd be sitting in front of a person who decided to yell at their sister for literally 3 hours straight on the phone. It was so outrageous! Never quite seen anything like it. Though I figure it's good practice for dealing with the bumps in the road that I'll inevitably encounter. It was a little funny, admittedly.
The flip side of it was that the guy next to me is a novelist on his way to comic con! It reminded me of why I love to travel. Some of my favorite conversations have happened with strangers on planes, buses and trains.
Now I've just eaten a lovely dinner with my host (a friend of my fathers') and tomorrow I will be spending most of the day on a layover in Newark. 10 hours!!! But it saved me enough money to be worth it.
Edit: the backpack weighed in at 26 pounds :)
