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
