The Return To New York

DSC04019timesquare.jpg

This blog entry about the events of Friday, March 04, 2005 was originally posted on March 20, 2005.

DAY 503:  New York, New York.  The city so nice, they named it twice.  The Big Apple.  The City That Never Sleeps.  If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere — unless, of course you were in my situation and it’s vice versa.

New York City has been the stage of many significant milestones in my life.  It was in NYC that I was born in 1974 and raised in my early childhood years.  It was there that my college film, The Man In The Refrigerator, was featured in an international film and video festival.  It was there that, during the day of the 1998 World Series Championship ticket tape parade, I bought the NY Yankees baseball cap that went around the world with me — and helped saved my life in Brazil.  It was there that I lived the rise and fall of the internet bubble, and where I was on that fateful Nine Eleven day (as well as on Nine Fifteen).  Yet again, New York City would be the stage for another big milestone in my life, the final day of The Global Trip 2004:  Sixteen Months Around The World.

As the self-proclaimed “Capital of the World”, with Times Square, the self-proclaimed “Crossroads of the World” (picture above), New York City couldn’t have been a more fitting place to start and end a sixteen month global trip, covering over 95,000 miles across thirty-seven countries in South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.  Home of the United Nations’ World Headquarters and final contender in the 2012 Olympic Games, New York is truly a international city, a melting pot of people and their respective cuisines from just about every country on the globe, who come to work, play, and occasionally give each other the finger when a cab cuts them off.  Despite that, I still believe it is the greatest city in the world — even after everything that I’ve seen — a place I like to call home.


THE RETURN TO NEW YORK started in my old Harsimus Cove neighborhood in Jersey City, NJ (home of the Statue of Liberty) just a five-minute train ride under the Hudson River, where apartment prices were significantly cheaper than in Manhattan.  Since I had abandoned my bachelor pad in 2003, the once working class riverfront neighborhood of brownstones and bodegas had gone through leaps in gentrification (just like most of the surrounding neighborhoods of Manhattan).  Once a community of mostly Latino and Filipino immigrants, I had moved in when it was “up and coming” and being taken over by artsy and bohemian-types.  Since my departure, the neighborhood went from “up and coming” to “came;” from the looks of things, it was now going the yuppie route as many trendy neighborhoods go, with even more metrosexual bars and even a Chili’s. 

Some things didn’t change though; my good friend since childhood Maurice (a.k.a. Blogreader Moelicious) still lived across the street from my former apartment and it was with him that I returned to New York with.  It was a quick trip on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) train into downtown Manhattan, but in that short period of time I was already bumping into an old acquaintance, Henry, an art director at St. Martin’s Press (parent company of the Let’s Go guidebooks). 

“Hey, are you back?” he asked.

“[Yeah.  I got back last night.  This is it, my ride back into New York.]”

We rode to the World Trade Center stop that had been shut down after Nine Eleven and re-opened since I’d been gone.  Surprisingly, the train brought us directly into the pit of Ground Zero, where construction of the new replacement building, the Freedom Tower, began on the Fourth of July 2004.  I’ve read that upon completion, it will be the tallest building in the world (of course) and that the top third of the building won’t be occupied, but contain wind turbines to capture high winds and generate power for the office and retail space below. 


I WAS STILL IN “TOURIST” MODE, even at the end of my global trip, which was okay, because New York was a tourist destination in itself anyway; I had the advantage of already knowing my way around.  With a tourist NYC Subway Fun Pass (unlimited subway travel for a day for $7), Maurice and I started the afternoon casually going wandering the chilly New York downtown sites:  City Hall, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the outskirts of Chinatown.  For my welcome back meal, we hightailed it up to Greenwich Village for Two Boots Pizza on Bleecker, which still, in my opinion, had the best pizza in Manhattan.  (It’s cajun pizza from the two boot-shaped places of Italy and Louisiana.)

We met up with Blogreader Michelle (who, to continue her on-going gag, was now Michelle in NYC), who had flown in from Michigan with her friend and fellow Blogreader Ali.  While Ali spent time with her folks, Michelle came with us to continue our touristy hometown tour.  I was excited to finally meet her in person because she too had gone around the world while writing a Blog, and had come to similar conclusions about independent travel as I did.  Plus, she had already gone through the inevitable series of hackneyed homecoming questions and coached me on how to deal with them.  For example, if someone asked me, “How was it?” — forgetting that I’d already invested a lot of time on the Blog to tell them already, they just had to read it — I should simply say something to the effect of, “It was okay, could you pass the salt?”

The three of us went from the Empire State Building to Central Park, where the much publicized art exhibit “The Gates” was still on display, a 23-mile-long series of 7,500 orange vinyl banners along all the walking paths of the park.  The realized vision of Bulgarian-French couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude (who had also once draped Berlin’s Reichstag in silver fabric), “The Gates” was approved by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg not only to improve his image to the art community, but to generate the estimated $80 million in tourist dollars for its two week run.  Coincidentally — and I’m sure it was someone’s intention — the collection of 16-ft. square orange banners was put up very conveniently around the same time as the orange subway poster campaign promoting the grand opening of The Home Depot on 3rd Avenue.

Nearby was the Central Park Wollman Ice Skating Rink — correction, the Trump Wollman Ice Skating Rink — bought out and renovated by Donald Trump since the last time I had been there.  With “The Donald’s” renovations up, so were the admissions prices, and so the three of us skipped out on it and walked down the trendy scene of Fifth Avenue:  The CBS Morning Show window, FAO Schwarz toy store, The Plaza hotel, Trump Tower (and the corner the contestants of The Apprentice sold lemonade), Playboy World HQ, the newly remodeled Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the ultra-trendy stores like Tiffany’s, Prada, Fendi, and Gucci.  Before walking passed the window of The Today Show and Good Morning America in Times Square, we hung out for a bit to watch (and laugh at) the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center, focusing on this one kid who kept on falling down on the ice.  I swear we laughed at (and ocassionally cheered on) that kid as he went around and around, down and down and down… and down again.

Michelle went off to meet up with Ali, leaving Maurice and me to grab some burgers at the nostalgic Gramercy Cafe diner that we had gone to on Halloween 2002 when we dressed up as nutsacks for the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.  It was about 8:30 when we got there, and I was hoping to leave by nine to get to Slainte, the venue of the hyped up DAY 503 party, to be fashionably late from my 8:00 announced arrival time.  However, we hit some bad train luck (some things never change) when we missed an F train to the Lower East Side and had to wait about fifteen minutes for the next one — that one was only delayed even more, stuck behind a slow E train using the same track.


TEN MINUTES PASSED TEN WAS BEYOND “FASHIONABLY LATE” but it was better than nothing, especially since a whole lot of people were waiting for me in the reserved back section for my arrival.  Before I reached the big group in the back I had already bumped into familiar faces who had also come in more-than-fashionably late:  the Citigroup from Hong Kong, Meg, Moe, and Aviva, with her sister, Blogreader El Zee, followed by friends and Blogreaders at the bar, Yvette and Udz

“There are a lot of people waiting for you back there,” Yvette told me, happy to see me.

Once I stepped into Slainte’s back area, I saw what she was talking about.  I was greeted by the applause of perhaps sixty people (more people came later on that night), so many that throughout the night I barely had enough time to spend with one group or individual for a decent amount of time, but I guess that was the only way it was going to be.  Whenever I was talking to someone, I’d be pulled over by another, only to be pulled over by another — I was pretty much bouncing around like a molecule in a hot-air balloon all night.  (A hot-air balloon with beer thankfully; most of the night I was double-fisting drinks.)  Fortunately for me, I wasn’t required to tell anyone “how it was” because with the Blog, I had been telling them almost everyday since I’d been gone.  And thankfully Elaine (“she’s jealous”) volunteered to take photos for me.

The crowd of 503ers included faces new and old, from near and afar.  Noelle (Cambodia, later Thailand) had flown in from L.A., Michelle and Ali flew in from Michigan, tjw and Bill (a former stranger who had recognized me in Barcelona) from Ohio, Jack (Spain) and company from Miami.  Even Shelle and Deann (who had rescued me in Zambia) drove up from Georgia to be there. 

Aside from the Blogreaders from home I already knew about — wheat (Rio de Janeiro), Rozzie, Christy, Alice, to name a few — there many others that showed up that I’ve never met before:  dogger, Dhaval, Alyson, Alex and simf2p, who came up from Virginia.  Unfortunately the 1981ers and Canadian Blogreaders were not represented since Td0t (whom I’ve never met, but had been commenting even before I left in 2003) was a no-show due to a “snowboarding accident.”  (He was just one of many people I was looking forward to meeting that, to my chagrin, ended up as no-shows.)

No matter, the night was still a fun one of inebriated merry-making that I don’t really remember too good, but that should go without say.  I do remember it being sort of like the show This Is Your Life, not just because my parents who gave me birth were amongst the revelers, but because the room was filled with faces from former lifetimes:  my friends from my dot com years; Christy from my Prentice Hall days; my college/designer friends (LovePenny‘s the one in the cap), and, to my surprise, “Mrs. O,” a former, but never forgotten favorite high school teacher who had found my Blog at random at one point, remembered me, and followed along with the rest of the world.  News of her appearance spawned some other guys from high school I hadn’t seen in years, one I had known since the second grade. 

Rounding out the surprises was the unexpected appearance of Travelers’ Tales author and editor Jen Leo (who I had once worn a bra for in Montreal to promote her book Sand In My Bra), who knew about the party and just so happened to be in New York for a travel expo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.  It was great to catch up with her — until I was pulled away again by another person wanting to buy me a drink.  Jen Leo happily mingled and bought drinks for my parents, who had already amassed a following of their own for simply being my parents. 

As I said before, I don’t remember much of the details of the night.  I just remember having a good time.  But if a picture is a thousand words, then here’s a gallery with 324,000 of them (”words” that is).

And so, after sixteen months, covering over 95,000 miles, across thirty-seven countries, The Global Trip came to an end — on a high note.  Another milestone of my life had passed again in New York City — and it’s a shame I was too drunk to remember most of it.  Thank God for cameras, huh?


To all the attendees of DAY 503, thanks for coming!  Special shout outs to the photographers who shared their photos for the gallery:  Elaine, Alyson, Shelle, markyt, and Moelicious!






Next entry: Songs Of New York

Previous entry: Homestretch, U.S.A.




Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

Comments for “The Return To New York”

  • More pictures to be added to the gallery when they become available…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  10:39 AM


  • Epilogue and after-thoughts coming soon too…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  11:09 AM


  • FIRST! (after Erik)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  11:33 AM


  • Thanks for much for this blog Erik!  It was great to finally meet you in person after the months of im’ing from different locations all over the world while we were both gone.  Sounds like you are inundated with work and other offers - no suprise there!  Good Luck! You are welcome anytime to Michigan!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  11:46 AM


  • horray for NY! was that a texas burger at the gramercy cafe? that’s NUTs…286,000 pictures!!!!  super:) i didn’t want to work today anyway…

    (i’m jealous)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  12:55 PM


  • I finally made it on the Trinidad Show!!  =)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  01:04 PM


  • MOELICIOUS: Adams College?

    I don’t remember those pics…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  01:11 PM


  • O.M.G. How many photos? Damn!

    Congrats on finally finishing (I guess) the blog with Day 503. Big ups to you for keeping us all entertained for so many days…

    Same thing that Michelle said for MI goes for Cali, or where ever I end up - if I’m there, you’re welcome…

    Peace out, yo.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  01:22 PM


  • Elaine - that camera is super odd… smile And pretty cool.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  01:25 PM


  • the party was awesome! i got to see people from ACTV that i haven’t seen in a long time. love the pictures. =)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:01 PM


  • Okay, Elaine’s latest scanned pictures have been added to a new gallery (same URL). 

    If a picture is worth a thousand words, there are 324,000 of them now (“words” that is).

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:09 PM


  • yay. what’s next?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:23 PM


  • Amazing pics. Congrats on finishing TGT2!! I’m wishing that it wasn’t over though, I need to find a new way to waste time at work. Any suggestions?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:34 PM


  • LOVEPENNY:  As of now, I will continue to live life as I did on the road; not knowing what I will do the next day…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:37 PM


  • LEAH:  There’s plenty of porn out there on the web to hold your attention… wink

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:39 PM


  • I can’t believe I missed my one and only chance to be on the Trinidad Show!!!

    ... at least I got a shout out. Although, not the kind I envisioned while booking my flight.

    Elaine: (I’m jealous!)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  02:43 PM


  • It was nice to meet u Erik and i wonder where this beautiful girls from the party are now.
    i had fun with Shelle (she was so wild and drunk that night…she claims that i bited her ear, can u believe that? hahahhaa) and Deann and seeing our pics is all part of the Erik’s estravaganza.
    dale nomas para adelante que todo va a salir bien!
    u have my business card and i hope we can get in contact soon.
    are u living in NJ now?
    if u come to Brooklyn let me know
    take care
    alex.

    Posted by alex  on  03/20  at  02:55 PM


  • dude .. I was so wasted ! hahaha .. Congrats on TGT2 & Day 503 !!! ... It was great meeting everyone, lets do it all again !! from day 1 here I go ...

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  03:01 PM


  • Sr. Gonzales, it’s good to have you back!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  03:12 PM


  • I’m sorry I missed it!  I definitely would have gotten a little drunk and crazy…

    I’m kind of nostalgic now…for the trip I was never on, haha.  But you have definitely inspired me to go to some new places - like Africa and parts of South America I hadn’t considered before.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  03:56 PM


  • So Erik, how was your trip? what was your favorite place? Where are you going next?  Was not knowing the local languages a problem?  How did you pay for your trip?  Did you take a lot of photos?  etc etc etc.  Oh, and here is the salt.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  05:16 PM


  • weren’t you afraid going alone?  how did you order food?  is it really safe there?  I could never do that!  how did you find your way around?

    aaaa - those post-trip questions are annoying aren’t they?  haha.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  06:10 PM


  • sara: The worst one is “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere where I don’t speak the language.”  That statment pretty much closes a mind to all but five countries.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  06:24 PM


  • so does this mean we’ll have to depend on our own lives for interesting stories? hmmm

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  06:32 PM


  • There’s a group shot missing of me, you, Reese, Cheryl, Bonnie, Aimee, Yvette & Udz (I think).  Unless it’s one of the pics that are taken from the neck down.  lol

    Anway, I’m going to miss travelling online with you E.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  07:26 PM


  • Yeah “markyt” you were the rockinist!
    Good stuff….
    Adams College?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  07:42 PM


  • Hey Erik,
    Thanks for the shoutout. I’m glad you were able to use the pics.
    It’s been great reading the blog all this time. Thanks for keeping up with it, and giving us all a lot of ideas and insights for our own travels.
    I’m hoping to relocate one day to somewhere in Asia(possibly the Middle East). If I pull that off, you’re always welcome to crash if you’re passing through.
    Take care and GOD bless.

    Posted by Alyson  on  03/20  at  07:51 PM


  • Great stuff. You looked fabulously drunk & happy my friend.  However I’m convinced now more than ever that the smaller the camera, the bigger I look. eek!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  08:02 PM


  • haha, i’m slow.. i was all ready for 324,000 photos!!

    (i’m jealous)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  08:42 PM


  • Here are some other post trip questions: Did you miss home on your travels? Your family? Did the food make you sick? Why’d you go? Are you crazy?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  09:14 PM


  • I happen to be reading today’s Wall Street Journal on the way home from work today.  There was a mention of a Jennifer Leo in the The Journal Report - Technology, page R16.  The article was “Notes from Nowhere - Travelers get the real skinny online - from other travelers” by Vauhini Vara.  I thought the name sounded familiar and it looks like you mentioned her in today’s update.  Just a FYI.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  09:41 PM


  • You know, New York seems like a cool place when you go there at first, but it can get pretty boring or as my teacher says it, “crap-tacular”!

    Erik: What’s your e-mail address?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/20  at  10:41 PM


  • So, uh, How was it?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:06 AM


  • Yeah it looked like a helluva lot of fun..  I wish I was there….oh, wait.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:20 AM


  • MICHAEL R.  Your teacher is crap-tacular.  LOL

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:29 AM


  • Any plans to make top 10 list a la Letterman.

    * Favorite country
    * Favorite airliner
    * Best bus ride
    * Best train ride
    * Tough country to travel
    * Place you would like to go again.

    Personally I would be interested if you can make a page for all the Visas you collected on the way.  Link below is from a chap who is on “axis of evil” countries tour and has visited N.Korea/Libya etc.

    http://www.tokyo.ch/travel/visa/index.html

    Anyway I have been a lurker here for a long time and as others said it is sad trip is over :(

    Later
    Gaja Raj

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:36 AM


  • ANOTHER ERIC:  Yeah, Jen Leo, for all intents and purposes, is “the shit.”  I’m proud to know her, and I’d wear a bra for her again anyday… provided it’s to promote a book or something of course.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:37 AM


  • GAJA RAJ:  Yeah, I’ll be writing up some conclusions, hopefully by the end of the week.  Stay tuned…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:43 AM


  • CHRISTY:  Don’t worry, you’re fabulous…  with any camera.  wink

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:56 AM


  • NIKKIJ:  Wait a minute, you mean you guys didn’t have interesting lives to begin with?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  12:57 AM


  • MICHELLE:  See the slew of questions you opened up?  Damn you!  wink

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  01:00 AM


  • I’m just as sad to see the blog end as I am glad that Erik is back home in NYC.
    Welcome back E-Rock!

    Posted by dunlavey  on  03/21  at  01:15 AM


  • Dammitt ......  nothing witty to say.

    Ok, so I’ll just say thanks and I will be starting back where I left off in the archives…..

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  02:26 AM


  • Footnote for me - wish I had stayed till the end - the pictures got progressively bettah as the night went on… wink

    We all tried to live vicariously through the blog, and now we have to pretend that our lives ARE interesting… and not all of us live in/around NYC to have the fun that is NYC!!

    Peace out y’all!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  05:32 AM


  • If your bored in NYC I highly doubt it’s because of the city. 3 more weeks till I’m there!!!

    Posted by anthony  on  03/21  at  07:28 AM


  • I always get a little “down” right after I come back from a big trip.  After I returned from Asia, my friend and I had a night in the little Vietnamese neighborhood here in Chicago and had some awesome food and it was sort of like being in Vietnam if you squint real hard.  I find that even going into Asian and Mexican grocery stores and buying ethnic snacks helps the post-trip (or post-blog!) blues.  So I recommend to all of you other people who live in a big city - go into some ethnic neighborhood you never visited before!  It’s not like the real thing but it’s “like” travelling…in a pathetic kind of way.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  01:46 PM


  • Sara - I second that comment - it’s a good way to weakly travel… but, at least it’s more adventure… b/c you never know what you’re going to get!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  03:49 PM


  • Great Pic’s Wish I could of been there as it looks like everyone had a great time!  Hope all is well with you Erik.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  08:17 PM


  • I’m so bummed out.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  08:25 PM


  • ... yea, thanks elaine for taking all those pics .. no REALLY, thanks ...

    =)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/21  at  11:47 PM


  • HELLO ERIK. Congratulations on your homecoming, also from cousins Joey, Jaypee, Jhudiel and Jessica. Will there be a sequel? Your parents looked good in the pics. Great smiles from your Dad.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/22  at  06:37 AM


  • I’m bummed out as well…

    Is there life after the global trip?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/22  at  09:47 AM


  • I’m bummed out as well…

    Is there life after the global trip?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/22  at  09:47 AM


  • Yay!! Pictures pictures pictures!!

    So great to finally meet you and the other bloggies in 3-D! 

    And Erik don’t forget, you owe me a whole 8 seconds next time…

    (Hi Michelle! No taco bells here…)

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/22  at  03:39 PM


  • In addition going to the foreign neighborhoods, I recommend:

    salsa dancing lessons
    belly dancing lessons (it’s fun I swear, in a kooky kind of way!)
    foreign CDs
    foreign beer!

    I have so many foreign CDs.  My latest favorite is Tantra Lounge and this CD my friend brought me from India.  I swear world music will help with the travel-sickness!  I guess that’s the opposite of homesick.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/22  at  03:40 PM


  • So I guess this is the end of the blog.

    Good luck!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/22  at  11:36 PM


  • Michael R - OH NO - you said it!!! It makes it so sad!! No one said “the end” yet…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/23  at  02:03 AM


  • It’s not over until there’s one last poo picture!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/23  at  01:46 PM


  • Noelle- I was wrong. Erik still has 1 more entry so far…...

    *Songs of New York*

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/24  at  12:47 AM


  • I didn’t know “LovePenny” was Alan!  I’ve been reading his comments for the past year and I didn’t know that I already knew the guy!  haha!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/24  at  01:44 PM


  • Hey Erik,

    It was great to meet you Erik, and I had a blast at your party =) (I’m Alyson’s friend by the way)...started reading your blog…feel the need to catch up!! raspberry Been told you’ve had lots of crazy adventures raspberry…really like the way you wrote it too - very entertaining =)  Add me as 1 of the new fans to the “Trinidad Show” = take care!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:42 AM


  • Hey Erik,

    It was great to meet you Erik, and I had a blast at your party =) (I’m Alyson’s friend by the way)...started reading your blog…feel the need to catch up!! raspberry Been told you’ve had lots of crazy adventures raspberry…really like the way you wrote it too - very entertaining =)  Add me as 1 of the new fans to the “Trinidad Show” = take care!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:42 AM


  • Hey Erik,

    It was great to meet you Erik, and I had a blast at your party =) (I’m Alyson’s friend by the way)...started reading your blog…feel the need to catch up!! raspberry Been told you’ve had lots of crazy adventures raspberry…really like the way you wrote it too - very entertaining =)  Add me as 1 of the new fans to the “Trinidad Show” = take care!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:43 AM


  • Hey Erik,

    It was great to meet you Erik, and I had a blast at your party =) (I’m Alyson’s friend by the way)...started reading your blog…feel the need to catch up!! raspberry Been told you’ve had lots of crazy adventures raspberry…really like the way you wrote it too - very entertaining =)  Add me as 1 of the new fans to the “Trinidad Show” = take care!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:44 AM


  • Hey Erik,

    It was great to meet you, and I had a blast at your party =) (I’m Alyson’s friend by the way)...started reading your blog…feel the need to catch up!! raspberry Been told you’ve had lots of crazy adventures raspberry…really like the way you wrote it too - very entertaining =)  Add me as 1 of the new fans to the “Trinidad Show” = take care!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:45 AM


  • Hey Erik,

    It was great to meet you, and I had a blast at your party =) (I’m Alyson’s friend by the way)...started reading your blog…feel the need to catch up!! raspberry Been told you’ve had lots of crazy adventures raspberry…really like the way you wrote it too - very entertaining =)  Add me as 1 of the new fans to the “Trinidad Show” = take care!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:46 AM


  • Sorry for the multiple posts…AOL has been giving me a problem tonite…getting reload messages for everything!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  05:50 AM


  • Hey Erik,

    Thanks for sharing the pics, they were great!  Just like being there.  Sorry I couldn’t make it, I sure wanted to be there and briefly pondered buying a plane ticket.  I plan on making it to NYC by the end of the year.  Hope to see you then. 

    Welcome Back Baby!

    Cheers.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  03/28  at  08:33 PM


back to top of page


SHARE THIS TRAVEL DISPATCH:


Follow The Global Trip on Twitter
Follow The Global Trip in Instagram
Become a TGT Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to the RSS Feed



This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.

Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.


Next entry:
Songs Of New York

Previous entry:
Homestretch, U.S.A.




THE GLOBAL TRIP GLOSSARY

Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:

BFFN: acronym for "Best Friend For Now"; a friend made on the road, who will share travel experiences for the time being, only to part ways and lose touch with

The Big Trip: the original sixteen month around-the-world trip that started it all, spanning 37 countries in 5 continents over 503 days (October 2003–March 2005)

NIZ: acronym for "No Internet Zone"; a place where there is little to no Internet access, thus preventing dispatches from being posted.

SBR: acronym for "Silent Blog Reader"; a person who has regularly followed The Global Trip blog for years without ever commenting or making his/her presence known to the rest of the reading community. (Breaking this silence by commenting is encouraged.)

Stupid o'clock: any time of the early morning that you have to wake up to catch a train, bus, plane, or tour. Usually any time before 6 a.m. is automatically “stupid o’clock.”

The Trinidad Show: a nickname of The Global Trip blog, used particularly by travelers that have been written about, who are self-aware that they have become "characters" in a long-running story — like characters in the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show.

WHMMR: acronym for "Western Hemisphere Monday Morning Rush"; an unofficial deadline to get new content up by a Monday morning, in time for readers in the western hemisphere (i.e. the majority North American audience) heading back to their computers.

1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.




Spelling or grammar error? A picture not loading properly? Help keep this blog as good as it can be by reporting bugs.

The views and opinions written on The Global Trip blog are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official views and opinions of the any affiliated publications.
All written and photographic content is copyright 2002-2014 by Erik R. Trinidad (unless otherwise noted). "The Global Trip" and "swirl ball" logos are service marks of Erik R. Trinidad.
TheGlobalTrip.com v.3.7 is powered by Expression Engine v3.5.5.