Amtrekker

Hey Team,

Last night was kind of a rough night. Danielle used to call it “male PMS.” It may not be quite as regular as the chick version, but the results are always strikingly similar.

I wouldn’t exactly call it depression and I wouldn’t exactly call it loneliness…maybe more of a general malaise, or a low-grade frustration with life. It never really makes sense…and it’s rarely attached to any particular cause. But it’s usually characterized by me, in a bad mood, wanting to escape. Unfortunately, I’m kind of in the middle of my most complicated escape attempt to date. So where do I go from there?

In most cases I just want to get away from everything and everyone and do some good solid Goth style brooding (minus the creepy makeup and hair and clothing…and coffee…and clove cigarettes…and bad poetry…and the strange conformity to one given look that goes beyond any conformity that the Abercrombie mob has ever had. But otherwise JUST like that).

And it usually culminates in me getting up suddenly and going for a long, long run, by myself. But with a heavy pack full of tech I’m not very well equipped to go out for a long run these days.

Instead, I just started walking barefoot in the dark until I came across a neighborhood bookstore (my favorite places to kill time). While I was in there I started reading the preface to the original “scroll” version of “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac. It was just published this year, fifty years after the heavily edited version first saw print. (Incidentally, “On the Road” is the only other book besides “Travels with Charley” that I considered bringing with me on this trip. If not for lack of space I would have brought both.)

It was nice having something interesting to read and escape into (metaphorically of course, I would never have fit INSIDE the book, it was much to small) but reading the preface about how he went about writing “On the Road” only really served to desperately make me want to write a book. So, I guess, on the whole, the experience was kind of a wash. I still left the bookstore in a funk.

Before anyone starts to freak out I should say; I’m feeling much better today. I’m finally on the road (I didn’t mean for that pun to happen but I like it, so I’m going to leave it and pretend it was on purpose…shoot I just gave away the truth.) again and I get to stare out the train window at the endless blur of green in upstate New York and listen to the wet sounding snores boil gentle out of the throat of the fat man sitting behind me. PLUS I got to write a little bit last night before I went to sleep (um…and right now, I guess, if you want to get technical).

So, life’s good again after a minor hiccup. I wouldn’t have written about it but I feel like I owe everyone as close to the whole truth as I can represent on a page a day and since I experience so much cool stuff it’s only fair that a tiny little negative sneak in there on occasion. Regardless, this was far and away the toughest story to write so far.

Okay, I’m on a train on my way to Illinois to knock off #30 and #33 this weekend and hopefully it’s not too late to find myself a firefly. Wish me luck! And on that note:

I’m done.

Brett.

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

I have two very important words for you. Couch surfing. Wait…maybe that’s one word. Couchsurfing. Hold on…let’s start over.

Hey Team,

I have one very important web address for you. www.couchsurfing.com. I’m sure you all know about my stubborn insistence on refusing to pay for lodging during my trip (hence the occasional sleeping on park benches). But how do I go about finding lodging when I’m not sleeping at a friend’s house or on a park bench?

Couch Surfing! (Or couchsurfing!)

It’s the coolest thing since liquid nitrogen! Couchsurfing.com is a huge worldwide network of travelers who all like to do things on the cheap and experience new cultures. And it’s absolutely the best way to discover a new city.

Before I left on this trip I was worried that having thoroughly explored California (after a lifetime spent in The Golden State) I’d already seen everything I was likely to encounter in the rest of the country. This was especially worrying when I was on my way from San Francisco to Los Angeles via the Central Valley a week before I left. In other words, I went from one of the world’s most important cultural centers to the second largest city in the country via a road riddled with tractor crossing signs. What else is there to see?

Turns out…a lot.

And I have couchsurfing.com to thank for a lot of that. On the surface there ARE a lot of similarities around the country. And if I were just walking across the top of the local color Gerridae Ranatra fusca style and getting the Holiday Inn experience I probably wouldn’t even notice the differences. But when you’re staying with the natives you’re instantly thrown into their own personal network of friends and acquaintances. And from those networks an entire hidden world opens up, not just of local culture but little known points of interest that otherwise would have escaped view.

I guess this is kind of a love note to all the new friends I’ve already made so far on this trip. I’d specifically like to think all the couch surfers who’ve let me stay with them. Mike, George, Aaron, Cassie, Phil, Nickola, Margaret, Kelli, Cari, Eamon, Veronica, Vida, Todd, Matt. It takes a special kind of generosity to let a stranger (even one as kind as myself) into your house and show them your life and your town.

Thank you all so much!

I’m done.

Brett.

Okay, so lodging’s under control but there are still plenty of other expenses!

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

Here’s the video for the beer tasting in Brookline, MA. You’ll see some honest opinions, a few confused looks and Mike shares the sound of his pants. Enjoy.

If you can’t see the video on the site click here to go directly to youtube and watch it there.



Leave a comment and let me know what you kids think of the video style. Is this the type of thing you’d like to see more of?



I’m done.

But you don’t have to be, you could always take a second and…

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

I went up to Boston (again) to celebrate a friend’s Birthday and to try and catch up to an important package…and true to form the city sucked me in again. One day turned into three but it was a great three days so I guess I wont hold it against Boston. Here’s the quick outline.

Friday found me running down the middle of a street with a backpack full of technology and holding a door above my head trying to get to a park before the “Surprise!” portion of a Surprise Party.

Saturday was chock full of one adventure after another. Highlights: I spent several hours at a beer tasting with some of my favorite Bostonians and learned more than I’ll ever be able to remember about New England craft breweries. One thing I won’t forget…Haverhill brews taste like rancid lemonade (just to clarify: that is definitely NOT a compliment).

It was a great time and really well organized. Seventy-five different beers were out and I met a TON of interesting people. There’s a lot of video to go through but hopefully I’ll have another quick and dirty cut up by later tomorrow.

From there I went to “The Aquabats!” concert! They’re a California ska band and easily in my top 1 favorite musical groups. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let me bring my camcorder inside (again) so I had to walk down the street and hide it in another construction vehicle a la San Diego. But once I was in they put on an awesome show and I totally recommend checking them out if you get the chance. It was a REALLY young crowd though; apparently their music is something you’re supposed to grow out of. Oops.

We were up front and center getting crushed by waves of sweaty kids and jumping around like we had pogo sticks for feet. Every time I touched another fan (usually out of a desperate desire to protect the poor kid, Lucy, that came with us to the show) it was like sticking my hand in a pond.

Once we were back at the house there was a quick round of charades followed by Soccer Jersey Saturday!

Which mostly consisted of a bunch of people wearing soccer jerseys…plus, you know…it was Saturday. It also consisted of going out and making new friends at the party we crashed and stayed at until three in the morning. Which admittedly made Sunday’s ultimate game a little rough.

In other news: As soon as that package arrives (hopefully today) I’ll be on my way to Illinois and my first experiences with the mid-west! AND I have #30 and #33 all lined up for Labor Day weekend care of “Hog Days” in Galva, Illinois! Ka-Kooow! (<—– That’s my “I’m excited” noise. Sound it out and say with some feeling.)

I’m done.

Brett.

Fact: Awesome people give away money.

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

I started my day wandering the streets of Providence, RI without direction. I had a map…but my inadequacies towards directions rendered it fundamentally ineffective. (That sounded kind of hoity-toity…let’s just say I suck at trying to get places.) So, next thing I knew I was in what can only be described as the slums of Providence as I passed one adult movie store after another. My impressions of Rhode Island were definitely spiraling downward and despite my usual tendency to avoid backtracking at all costs I decided to head back the way I had come, towards the only civilization I knew existed.

Once I was back in the “heart” of Providence I started making my way to the nearest geocache to knock out another 1/48th of an objective. On my way I realized my map had fallen out of my back pocket. Despite the fact that it was completely useless in my hands I still felt the need to go back. (I’m prone to extreme guilt when it comes to littering…save the planet, people!)

I made an abrupt about face and for the second time in a day started heading back the way I had come.

“That was a quick turn around,” The voice came from a little old lady, five feet tall with white hair and a smile on her face.

“I think I dropped my map somewhere.”

“I might have one in my car.”

Here’s the turning point of any conversation with a stranger. Everything in my body wants to say, “That’s okay, I should go get mine.” And walk away. Which is perfectly reasonable. We’re trained not to talk to strangers after all.

BUT, the one thing that has made this trip stand out from all others is the incredible people I’ve met and all the exciting things that happen in between the exciting things I actually expect. So instead (Focus on this, people. There’s a lesson to be learned here.) I decided to see where this conversation was going to go.

“You’re offering your only map to a stranger?”

“I’m a volunteer tour guide for Providence.”

And that, my friends, is the exact moment my day turned around. Suddenly, I found myself with my own personal tour guide for the next two hours! Louise literally and completely turned around my impression of Providence. It’s amazing how much history this tiny city has. (Especially considering my hometown’s only historical claim to fame is having the first sub-franchised McDonald’s.)

Here’s my soapbox speech: Everyday we run into friendly people and we don’t even know it. If someone says something to you…anything, then they’re willing to talk. If you just tripped over a curb, proving to the world your inability to walk and chew gum and someone says, “Are you okay?” don’t be afraid or embarrassed. Have that conversation, that’s when life happens. If you don’t interact with the rest of the world then you’re the only one missing out. I knew that, but today was one of those days that it really hit home.

Be nice, kids.

Just mentioning McDonald’s made me REALLY want an In-N-Out burger…THERE’S something I can hold against Providence.

I’m done.

Brett.

Want to pay for free advice?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

I just renewed my North American Rail Pass and jumped on a train bound for the tiny state of Rhode Island and it occurred to me that even though I’ve been traveling almost entirely by train I’ve yet to talk about those crazy kids at Amtrak.

Let me just start off by saying, “I love traveling by rail.” There. Done. Over with.

Now let me say, “You have to be a freakin’ mathamagician to figure out how they come up with their menu prices!”

Take a look at this handy little snapshot of their drink prices.

If you take a close look you’ll notice that:

1. It costs negative $0.25 to carbonate and put syrup in water. (Soda = $1.25; Bottled Water = $1.50!)

AND

2. There’s an 80% discount on water if you’re willing to let it cool down. (Hot Water = $0.25; Bottled Water = $1.50! Still!) So the energy loss in heating up water costs an additional negative $1.25?!

My brain hurts.

I have a couple more things to say about Amtrak food service. First of all it should be a federal offense to serve a Girl Scout troop Frapachinos and Red Bulls. I HATE horror movies and it’s like watching a low budget Grudge re-remake as those little terrors crawl up and down the walls.

Also, I spent quite a bit of money on a cheeseburger. You know how sometimes in burgers you get that little crunchy bit that kind of freaks you out. It’s way too hard to be meat but you just swallow it anyway, more out of fear than anything else because you have NO desire to find out what it really is. But most of the time you can enjoy a burger without ever once running into one of these mystery bits.

My burger was the burger they put ALL the mystery bits into that they took out of all the mystery-bit-free burgers to maintain an average of one mystery bit per burger. (You might have to read that a couple times but I promise it makes sense…maybe.)

Further more, this is what $2.50 worth of fries looks like in Amtrak’s world.

Even after all that I still prefer the train. But I think I can fix that.

The big problem with air travel now days is security. It can take hours to get through TSA at some airports (Hartford, I’m talking to you.) and it can destroy an otherwise great travel experience. Because I only ever fly one way or on short notice I’m consistently flagged as a terrorist and forced to empty the contents of my carefully packed backpack. Every trip through an airport is a grueling experience. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the concept of air travel. Who doesn’t love getting where they’re going as quickly as possible?

“So, Brett, how do we solve this ugly situation,” you ask?

First, let’s examine how we got here. Some guy tries to blow up a plane with his shoes…now we all have to take our shoes off. Some guys try to blow up a plane with liquids…now we have to throw away all of our liquids.

How do you get rid of something you don’t like? Break it. All we need to do as a country is to find ourselves a scapegoat willing to attempt another bombing. Here’s the important bit though: he has to try to blow up the plane using his pants.

If that doesn’t work we’ll just have to find some lady that’ll try to blow something up with her bra.

Come on people, there’s has to be a point where we as freedom loving citizens say, “I don’t want to take off anymore clothes…I just want to fly to Denver.”

Where was I?

Oh yeah…I like the train.

I’m done.

Brett.

Want to help pay for travel costs?

Seriously, don’t let me stop you.