Day 2

On my second day in Boston, I thought it would make sense to check out the town, considering it would be the best way to see the sights and build a base around which i could create a library of shots for my film. So I did a tour of Boston on an amphibious DUKW WW2 landing craft. At one point of the trip, the bus went into the water, and I got a chance to drive the boat/bus in the charles river!







After a morning of tour busing around and about, I decided to go back to places i had seen while on the bus. After a quick lunch of clam chowder, I walked back north towards the downtown part of Boston. I explored the oldest parts, where old 18th century architecture could still be found. I had a meal at a pub called the Green Dragon, which is said to have been the headquarters of the sons of liberty. The place where ideas were thought up over a pint, which led to modern democracy as we know it.



I had an interesting dish which was the idea of fish and chips, but with chicken fingers. So instead of a breaded chicken strip, you got this beer battered thing. I can't say it was the best dish i had ever had... However, its always good to give something a try. Even if it is pub fare. I felt it really was an unnecessary meal to have after the chowder, but i didn't just want to seem like a complete loser having a bottle of sam adams and then running off.

I made my way east towards the long wharf where the New England Aquarium was. I didn't go in, but next time i visit boston, i think i will. I had to be sensible with my limited funds.

I then continued in a direction towards little italy. Apparently there are over 150-200 italian restaurants in the small area of half a square mile or something along those lines. Sadly, I didn't take a chance to explore how the italians of boston live it up, as we have plenty of italians in Toronto. On a culinary level, I am more interested in the seafood boston has to offer. Lobster, Oysters, and Clam chowda!

While in little italy, i saw the freedom path cross infront of me, and I decided to follow it. The freedom path is a red line that runs through boston, and allows you to walk past historically significant buildings, and sights. So I followed the path north and made my way around the top of Boston. Walking past the bridge that connects Boston to Charleston and getting a nice shot of the funky bridge next to the TD Garden Arena where the Celtics play.

I made my way back to the Boston Public Gardens area and the Boston Commons to do some more shooting. It was a video project trip after all. Yes, I have a fantastic friend there, and Boston is a fantastic city. However, the reason I was there was to get shots for a movie I only had in mind and not on paper. Looking back, I don't even know how I was able to save up so quickly and focus so well. I dream, and then I make it come true, and then I don't even remember how I managed to do so. I got the plane tickets a month early, and the rest is history.



Later that night I would meet my new bunk mate. She was an innocent looking girl from Vietnam visiting America. She had spent a month in Vermount existing. Working at a grocery store apparently. She semeed very introverted, so I extended a hand of extroverted energy and offered her to join me and some others on a crazy adventure. She said her friend has a free pass to a club and that she wanted to check it out. So I said ok. The others that were to join us, were asleep so I wished not to disturb them.

We made our way to the club, and upon entry I noticed immediately that something was different. I didn't see any women. Turns out, it was a gay club. The innocent looking girl was not so innocent after all. She told me that in vietnam there were no gay clubs, and that she thinks she might be a lesbian. So I rolled with it, and played her wingman. I approached women at the clubs, and introduced the little vietnamese girl to them. All she said she wanted to do was dance with a girl. This did not happen as all the girls there were in fact, straight.

After two drinks, she was toast and on the way out, I had a double shot of whisky and we made our way back to the hostel. At some point of the walk back, we got lost, had a drunk make out session.

I couldn't sleep because I was drunk and I knew i needed to sober up. At which point i met my crazy indian friend Amar.

He was very witty and interesting to talk to. And I talked many hours away with him. He was attending harvard, but had run into some obstacles and was heading back home to england.

Eventually, I made my way back, and fell asleep.

The Adventure Begins

I arrived in Boston in the early afternoon. The flight had been very comfortable, and the closest to a first class experience I will most likely ever get to. Porter Airlines is a premium economy airline and the only 4 star experience of its kind in North America. I got tickets for cheap, and scored a really good deal, compared to the average options.

The flight itself was short, and the seats comfortable. They offered high end snacks, and high end drinks as well.

Upon arriving, I did not have to wait long for my luggage, and simply walked in and picked it up. I then made my way out, and found myself in the Logan Airport Terminal E. I made my way to an information desk to find out which way to go to get to the blue line. Boston is a small city, and its international airport sits right next to it. So a subway connects the airport easily to the city.

I made my way on down, and bumped into a girl from Montreal named Maureen. We chatted and walked and talked as we made our way into the city. She went her way and I went mine. Sadly, her facebook info was flawed and we never were able to keep in touch.

I made my way to my hostel, checked in, and put my stuff in my room. The room was big with about a dozen bunk beds to sleep in. I had made plans with my friend Anna for later in the evening, and had much time to kill until then.

I thought it would be wise to get a SIM card to better communicate, and picked up one from a T-mobile near by. I then walked east along massachusetts avenue until I got to the Christian Science Center. It is a beautiful landmark with a beautiful reflecting pool. In the distance, the more modern Prudential Tower seems to loom over the pool of water.

I then continued to walk east, starting my adventures in film and photography.

The main purpose of my trip was to work on this film. It was also important to have fun, as well as get to know my friend Anna better. We had met on facebook a year or two ago, and her personality stood out. I had created a group on facebook called "The Great adventurers of this world" where people just join and put up photos of their travels. A visual documentary of places where people have been.

We had made friends through this site, and she seemed like an interesting person, so getting to know her and make friends in the real world was important to me as well as filming the city.

I had chosen Boston over New York because I had been to New York before, and thought Boston would be a fun change.

It is also the birthplace of America as a nation, and was the scene of many beginnings and the start of the revolutionary war that would shape the world as it is today. I'm sure there would be a way for me to make the city of Boston into a stage that adds more meaning to my film. Although I do not know yet how that will come to be.

Later that night, Anna and I met at the Boston Commons, and made our way to the ICA or institute of contemporary arts. I did tease many of the exhibits there, but was for the most part fascinated with the creativity of the human mind. A man had made art out of scotch tape, and made it into an exhibit that looked like something organic and alive. Another was of a car, with all the pieces suspended from each other so you could see how it came to be.

Time to go

Well, my time has come to leave for my next adventure.

I've got my film "equipment", which is basically my canon powershot, and a tiny tripod. Takes great video though, and has done the job well so far. I've got everything sorted out. I don't know if i have travel insurance or not, but i still have my insurance group benefit card, so i'm sure that'll do.

I do want to leave earlier. i have some things i want to do before i go, like have breakfast ;)

Everytime I come home, I feel the urge to say "help! We got robbed!" to which people will ask What was stolen and I would reply, "Someone stole all the food from this home. Clearly they didn't bother to leave even the smallest satisfying ingredient behind. There's just nothing here except odds and ends that can't be used to make anything"

I have to go... I am so excited!

I should get downtown by nine or so, and then have an hour and a bit to go before departing.

I am about to start my first adventure in over almost three years. It is a short trip, but it is a small step I have to take to reclaiming my former self. When I return, I think I'll feel whole again. I think I can start living my life my way again. I think a lot of things are going to change in a positive way.

Time to go!

Tomorrow I go!

With about 24 hours to go... I have done absolutely nothing to prepare myself for my trip.

If my life could be summed up in one cinematic sequence, it would be the one where indiana jones is in a room of spikes, and he is about to die... and the trap is stopped. But then it starts up again, and he narrowly escapes, and manages to get his hat before the door completely closes. :)

There are quite a few things I want to do today, but I do have to work. I may or may not get my shift covered. There are last minute items I do want to pick up.

Items I may not have time for tomorrow. This weekend looks like its going to be mostly wet. The weather man does get paid 80,000 a year to be wrong 80% of the time. We'll see how it all plays out.

Revolution begins... in 3 days

When I return from this adventure, everything is going to be different. I can't say how exactly at this time... That would ruin the fun for others that may be influenced. If I get my way... I'll have my happy ending, or at least an interesting new chapter in my life to say the least. Tomorrow I have work, and I am trying to get it covered so that I can focus on relaxing and preparing for my trip. I have a lot to plan for. And its all the small details too. Sandals for the showers. Ziplock for the odds and ends. Fabric Softner to prevent stinky smells. Oh, how I miss Backpacking.

This trip is going to be very high end. I have a budget beyond necessary. Probably twice or three times what I need to pass by. I'll be staying at a hostel, which allows me to make friends with other travellers, as opposed to an empty room that costs an arm and a leg. I have so much to be excited about. And it all begins in 3 days...

When I come home, I want to get a new job. I want to earn more money, and I want to do more with my life. I'm going to change everything upside down. How I live my life, who I share my life with... It's all going to change.

I decided for fun, to check and see how much it would cost to get the same air tickets i got a month ago... right now... It cost me around $300... One way from Toronto to Boston alone... about a thousand dollars. WOW! I did well :)

Everything changes... in 5 more days

In five days, I will be getting off the subway, and taking a short free bus ride to the Toronto Island Airport. I'll get on a Q400 Turbo Prop luxury airliner, and be flying off to Boston. I'll be sitting in a leather seat, with foot room. I'll be served free wine and beer, while enjoying the service of the only 4 star airline in north america.

I'll land in Boston, hop on the "T" which is the second oldest subway system in the world. I'll get off and head to my hostel, and put my things away. And the beginning of a new adventure will start.

I don't know what to expect. I do believe though, that it will be a good start to reclaiming my previous self. When my girlfriend died, i shattered. I had to re-learn everything that made me who I was. Like putting pieces of a puzzle back together. I had to rebuild my confidence.

I call this trip the renaissance or revolution of myself, because I do believe that I will be able to start over again. Be reborn in a way.

On my way to Hamburg, I was on a boat heading to Rostock, Germany. The train boards a ferry, which you can explore and find food and drinks. Its a quick 40 minute or so trip. I remember standing on the deck, and looking out at the foggy waters. I remember how I felt. I was coming to the end of my adventure, and had done and seen so much. I travelled as far North as Stockholm, as far north west as Scotland and Ireland, and all the way south east to Istanbul. I covered some serious ground. Scotland is very different from Turkey. And the amount of changes in culture and weather is vast. I was coming home with treasures and all sorts of amazing things.

And then a few hours later, I'd begin the most perfect day of my life with my soon to officially be girlfriend.

I want to stand on top of that metaphorical mountain again. Have that feeling of being on top of the world. I'm not on top right now... But perhaps after this experience, I might be. Perhaps I'll feel the way I did that day on the ferry, in a few more days. Perhaps I'll finally feel complete.

I won't feel like a bird trapped in a cage anymore. I'll feel free.

I have a plan. And when I return from Boston, I will finish this film, and begin making my plan come true. Everything happens for a reason, and if everything goes my way... I'll get my happy ending. :)

The Revolution of an adventurous spirit

"In New York, they ask what a person makes. In Boston, they ask 'what does a person know'"

-Mark Twain

So began the construction of a story I wanted to tell. It was a love story about two lovers, who find themselves the victim of the American Private Health Care System. I liked the story so much, I believed in it so strongly, that I booked myself an adventure to Boston.

Now I selected Boston for a couple of reasons. I had been to New York, and wanted to see something new. I had enjoyed visiting New England the previous year, and had a friend in Boston I also wanted to visit.

Originally, I wanted to take a discount bus to Boston. I had travelled in 2005 on Megabus, a discount bus that gets a person to New York for as little as 30 dollars one way. However, as I planned and looked at options, I found that I didn't want to spend 20 hours on a bus. And eventually found myself taking an airline known as Porter Airlines. A domestic airliner based out of Toronto Island Airport, it is rated as the only 4 star airliner in North America.

So I went from cheap bus, to Luxury Airliner. Although in my defense, it was cheaper to fly luxuriously than to fly economy. Also, I don't mind paying a little bit more for a first class experience.

In exactly a week, my adventure begins. I'll soon be sitting down, struggling with maine lobster, eating New England blueberry pancakes, Oysters, and experiencing amazing things. As well as spending time with my friend Anna. I have a budget good enough for a splendid adventure. In fact, all conditions are ideal. I can enjoy myself fully, and experience Boston very comfortably.

When I return... Everything will change.