Slightly Unshelled - by Magdalena Scott

Last week I went to New York City for the first time ever, to attend the Romance Writers of America conference. 

But this blog is about what happened to me in NYC before and after the conference.

When my plane landed at LaGuardia, I ventured out to the Ground Transportation area. The young man who was facilitating bus transport was about my son’s age. I asked him, if it were his mom needing to travel to Manhattan, which option he would suggest. “If she has lots of money, I would say cab. If not…” and then, in his delightful accent, he went on to tell me about the bus. It sounded doable.

I bought a ticket and waiting for the bus to arrive, started talking to a young man who was going to another airport to join his band members on a tour of Europe. At one point while we waited, I said I was stressed. He shrugged and said stress is a waste of life energy. Just talking to him relaxed me. He had more on the line than I, after all—trying to make a connection to get to Europe, for goodness sake.

After boarding the bus, I started chatting with a young woman across the aisle. Of all things, she was originally from a town about 20 miles from where I live! The bus started to fill up, and a young man sat next to me. He had been all over the U.S., but was on his way home to India. We had a nice chat during the long ride, and he even offered me a bite of his sandwich. (Yum—chicken salad!) It smelled great, but although stress is a waste of life energy, my stomach was still a bit fluttery. Due to traffic, the bus ride was slow, which meant I had time to look at some of the city. The bus was also comfortably air-conditioned, and there was classical music playing softly over the speakers. Cabs wormed in and out of traffic, people busily walked along the sidewalks, horns honked constantly. The honking became just part of the background music for the four days I was in the city.

The bus dropped me at a station a few blocks from the hotel, and the nice people there said I could either take a free shuttle to the hotel, or walk there in approximately 7 minutes. I chose to walk, and struck out down the teeming sidewalk pulling my little carry-on bag. At one point a woman crossing the street dropped an envelope from the pile of papers in her hand, and another woman kindly called her attention to it so she could retrieve the item. (Um. New Yorkers not caring about each other?)

I had loads of fun with roomies Ginny Baird and Raine English, took furious notes in some of the workshops, met new people, reconnected with others, and ate lots of delicious food at restaurants in the Theater District/Times Square area. Ginny wrote a fabulous post here about the annual conference. Please read it if you haven’t already.

When the conference was over, Raine and I shared a cab from the hotel, but she got out at Penn Station to catch a train home. Then I was a single traveler again. The young cabbie was pleasant when I asked questions, pointed out a few interesting sights we passed, and as we drove along the freeway, gestured toward the residential area where he lives. It was a quick trip because of the light Sunday morning traffic, and I cheerfully gave him a big tip when he delivered me to the airport.

It seems a different person was in NYC. Now I’m just little ol’ me again, writing this blog while Attila is draped across my leg. But each experience changes us, and coming out of my shell a little bit certainly made the trip more enjoyable.

It just occurred to me that I failed to adhere to some advice I was given before starting out on the trip. “Don’t make eye contact.”

Oops.

Do you chat with strangers when you travel, or keep to yourself? I’d be interested in your stories.

~*~

USA Today Bestselling Author Magdalena Scott writes sweet romance with small town settings. Visit her website: www.magdalenascott.com

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