The last night of high school, two of my closest friends and I solemnly swore to keep in touch and to meet up in NYC in college. With two of us going to college in Massachusetts, and the other in New York, and to assuage the NY friend’s FOMO, we decided to have our grand reunion in New York.
So, within one month of living in college, we feverishly booked tickets for a long weekend and this was going to be the first time I truly traveled alone. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve traveled via flight many times, but this was different. My parents have always served as a guardian angel, and a constant safety net of sorts, but this time, I booked my tickets on my own, and had to actually adult (verb) for the first time.
Here are some thoughts I had while traveling alone!
1. Navigating alone leads to heightened confidence! Since my friends in college and I started exploring Boston, I completely relied on my friends to navigate the Boston T, sheltering myself from the realities of public transportation. I triple checked the station at each stop, to count down the number of stops until the one that I had to get off at. I refused to sit down. I soaked up my surroundings, and I successfully got off the T at the right stop. It was incredibly self-affirming to be able navigate myself, and now I see public transportation in such a different light!
2. Little moments of happiness. I witnessed a man feeding a little sparrow some spare pieces of bread. A kind woman helped me get up after I klutz-ily fell when the train jerked to a stop. I saw a girl tuning her guitar in the middle of a sunny spot in Boston. I saw a violinist jamming to some pop tunes at the station. These little times of joy mustered my confidence through my travels.
3. That iconic moment of “being lost in a city". I walked out of the station with my suitcase with absolutely no clue of where I was. Enveloped by tall skyscrapers, dodged by hustling businessmen, and sunkissed with warm weather, I stood lost in the middle of South Station, Boston. It was bewildering and exciting all at once. I felt so adult!
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4. Going to the wrong terminal and not realizing…Blurred by all the movement, I mindlessly walked to what I thought was the bus terminal, which was actually the train terminal. There, I sat there for 1.5 hours in tranquility, without realizing that I was in the wrong place. But not to fret, I eventually figured out my mistake, and made it to the bus terminal in time!
5. Asking for help results in different responses. I asked a receptionist where to go, to which he sarcastically replied, “New York City, of course!”, reading off of my ticket verbatim. I smiled, and he eventually led me to the right gate.
5. It’s such a small world. Eventually, when I got on the bus, I was relieved to have finally made it. I even made new friends. One of whom went to an elementary school in Shanghai that was 15 minutes away from mine. The other was friends with one of my best friends from 5th grade. And I had a quality 5 hour conversation with the guy I sat next to- we discussed everything from election politics, TV shows, to favorite moments in college.
6. Reunion! When I finally arrived at the New York Subway, my friend football tackled me and surprised me. We squealed and hugged each other in absolute euphoria. Promptly after, we feasted on some well-deserved Chipotle and commenced our long anticipated reunion.
Jumping neck-deep into solo traveling is absolutely terrifying, but through the process have I acquired a new-found confidence in the Boston T, the New York Subway, and myself.
