Rest, Relaxation, and Rail Road

Sometimes it's nice to do something you don't normally do. It breaks up the week. Last night after work, I ventured into NYC for a spa evening with my friend that works in the City. We call her Commuter Justine by day when she's in work mode, and well, Justine by night. She writes an awesome blog about her life experiences and her take on the world. She was the one that actually inspired me to start my own blog, which brings me to this post. 

OK, enough mushy stuff. I am fortunate enough to have a pretty easy work day commute. I wake up late and literally roll myself out of bed, put on my pair of fake Uggs and walk out the door. I drive twenty minutes and I'm at work. I rarely go into the City by myself, so last night was a pretty apprehensive night for me. I had never ridden the subway system by myself, and have no idea sense of direction. Those of you who know me can imagine my nausea. Hey, I like to worry, it's how I do.  

I embarked on my hour and twenty minute train ride into the City at around 5:00 pm. Dressed for the City cold, I had on my boots, my "Cali Love" Scarf (see pic below) and my boots. It might has well have been Alaska. No doubt about it, I was ready for a journey.

I was buying my train ticket/metro card combo (I felt sooo commuter savvy), when a guy with a camera came up and said he was taking pictures for the train company. I must have looked overall perplexed, because he had this "don't look at me like I'm a weirdo" look on his face. Does that seriously happen? I politely declined using good judgement, and proceeded to board the train. 

 

I must really look like I know where I'm going, because upon settling in, the older gentleman sitting next to me asked if the train went directly to Penn Station. Without hesitation I was able to answer "yes", for I knew the answer. Little did I know that I had just started a very long conversation on world travel. Yes, I am one of these people. As I don't commute very often, and apparently neither did this other gentleman, my train and stranger etiquette is not what it should be. I guess I just have a nice face. We chatted a bit and I learned more about Dubai and the Maldives Islands than I really ever wanted to know...I don't even know where the Maldives Islands are (but I went with it).

We quickly parted ways as we pulled into Penn and it was facing me: the subway. I survived the rush hour of Penn Station - have you every seen hundreds of people running like maniacs to catch a train after an exhausting day? Try Penn Station at 6:30 pm on a weekday. Long story short, I made it to the spa and enjoyed a relaxing night of pampering with Commuter Justine. I was pretty satisfied with my overall travel ease, as I had battled one of my biggest fears: traveling in NYC by myself (well, partly, we rode the train back together). I guess I can cross that off my travel bucket list!

xoxo mevans