New Year Ahead

A new year is coming, and along with the new comes thoughts of the past, 2007 was a solid year. I left my job, then my apartment, and took on the life of a traveler. I've met a variety of people, and saw places that I'd only heard about and talked about one day seeing.

What I enjoyed the most was the freshness of it all, in every direction. I'd look back a week, look at the day I was in the midst of, and guess at the day in the next week, and each would be completely unique. I've been in Astoria for about a month now, and while I've still bounced around to Philly and CT a bit, and while I enjoy the familiar faces around here, I'm very much ready to get back on the road.

It's a great feeling to have no idea where you'll be in a couple weeks, and under what circumstances. I tire quickly of waking up to the same ceiling, the same street outside, and expectations comparable to the day before.

New Years Eve will be spent in Astoria as it was last year, but it'll be only a day or three until I move west again. As much as I look forward to moving west, it's good to know that these last few days in Astoria will more than likely be awesome regardless. Here's to good times behind and in front of us, happy new year.

A Poem For My Favorite Hobo

This poem was written for me by someone who probably wishes to remain anonymous, I dig it. I linkified some of the references in the poem...

There is a hobo that I know
Not just your average 1.0

He keeps in touch through all his days
Some pics, the net and bubbles the ways

His blog will keep you up to date
On how the week has showed his fate

His map for all who want to see
The things that unfold his destiny

He tries each week a video to post
That's how we watch him coast to coast

He works on sites from travel to slice
And I must admit they're all rather nice

Good times are always rolling his way
That's why sometimes we wish he'd stay

Yet travel round and round he must
Lest he become an old man crust

And for each time our paths may cross
We'll hope that hour will not exhaust

So off he goes our beloved hobo
With the lifestyle he lives at 2.0

Life is his for enjoying and he's set on that
Good Times Great Oldies No Refunds at that!

Christmas Time In The City

Astoria has the same general vibe as it did when I left in July, but the last few weeks in New York have produced a handful of new memories, most notably getting arrested in Grand Central on my way out of the city.

There were a few Wednesday night jams with the exception of Sean's birthday night at Doyles, there we shot an episode of Visibly Drunk. Carolina also made her way back to town, which means plenty of candy and good times. Another trip or two to the Jack Kerouac exhibit, party here and there, plus plenty of great beer and food like burgers at Shake Shack.

Yesterday, the sunday before Christmas, we'd all planned to my family's christmas party in Connecticut. Mark & Sean, Kelly, Carolina and I all made our way to grand central with drinking and cocktail hotdogs on our mind. Somehow we lost Mark and Kelly in the subway, but figured they'd catch up with us. We'd only just went through the turnstile making our way up the Grand Central terminal when I was stopped by two police reaching for my pocket, where they slipped out the knife in my pant leg.

"This is a weapon" they told me. I told them it was under 3 inches and should be fine, expecting them to give it back and let us get on our way. They insisted it was over 3 inches, which apparently it was, but they were suddenly conflicted. We told them we were in a dash to get to the train to see family, and it was clear I wasn't the stabbing type... but here they were holding the knife that would be illegal to give back to me, and would "lose their jobs" to keep themselves and let me go.

We talked about what to do for a bit, they said it would only take a few hours if they did arrest me, either way we'd be missing the party at this point. Eventually they cuffed me and we stood around talking while they filled out some paper work and waited for the police van to arrive. It probably looked ridiculous to the hundreds of people walking by as I stood their cuffed, laughing with the officers and demanding they try the greatness that is the Double Shack burger.

My friends waived goodbye as I rolled away from grand central in the back of the police van, down towards the station near the A-C-E stop on canal street. Once there they checked all my stuff and put me in the cell where I sat for a while, answering paperwork type questions here and again, letting me out to grab my fingerprints and mug shot. It wasn't way too long before they let me out, and I headed back to the trains where Sean and Mark had cigars waiting for me. Sean will take any opportunity to smoke a cigar, and who can complain? (maybe Carolina...)

Mark had to stay back since it was late now, but the four of us left hopped the train and arrived in CT to watch the last few people leaving the party. They say three's company and four's a crowd, so I'd say we had a good time either way. After a good night and a good day, it's christmas eve and a what's probably a great month ahead. I'm already set on heading west just after the new year, but because of the whole knife thing I'll have to be back in NY later in January to appear in court. No worries though, I guess the worst case is I pay a $25 fine, best case they say sorry and give the knife back.

Familiar Faces and Places Video

Episode 15 has been posted, if you don't see it embedded here, you can see it here.



This episode includes the trip from north carolina to maryland with family for thanksgiving. I then rode most of the way north with family after, but jumped out early to catch a train to NYC, from there bouncing between NY and CT.

The Book

I'm happy to reveal "the book", it's pages filled with drawings and artwork from, well, anybody. It was first given to Mark Tubridy as a gift from his brother Sean. Mark started adding to the pages, and decided to pass it around to his artistic friends in Queens. We thought it would be cool if I started to carry it around with me, being that I find myself in a new part of the country meeting creative people pretty frequently.

Being that this is Hobo 2.0, I took it in the direction I always do, and decided to put it online with pictures of all the pages and a map to show where people have added to it. The hope is that even if the book gets lost, or left behind, we can still track it down, and everyone can always see what great new stuff is being put in.

Go to: http://www.HoboLifestyle.com/thebook to check it out, there's already several pictures of great pages. There's still plenty of blank pages too, so if you see the book in your area (NYC at the moment), and want to add to it, just give me a shout.

Feelings on Philly

Philadelphia first reminded me a bit of Park Ave in New York while I was on Market Street, but quickly developed it's own feel. The city is screaming with art and design.

South Street in particular has murals on the walls every block you go, and also a fair share of bars, quirky looking shops, and plenty of food. I was told to go to Jim's for my first cheese steak, that was on South Street.

The liberty bell was pretty unimpressive. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the tiny bell in the back room of what looked like an unfinished wing to a school building didn't do anything for me.

The most impressive sight was the view from the steps at the art museum, although I never made my way inside the main building past the $20 fee. There was a free part to the museum I saw, but it was fairly limited.

Next time I go it'll be with some friends, as good food and beers always taste better with someone to share them with. Mark and my friend Jordan both thought about going, but both were stuck in NY with work. My couchsurfing host was also working most of the waking hours I was in town, but I none the less enjoyed exploring on my own.

Anyhow, back in Astoria once again. I look forward to a week I know nothing about.

New York to Philadelphia

There's a Jack Kerouac exhibit in the New York Public Library for a few more months, I'm glad I was able to check it out a couple times. "On The Road" is on display, the first 60 feet of the scroll he typed it on. Surrounding that is a big room full or journals, notebooks, calendars, poetry, writings, pictures, drawings, and plenty more from Kerouac. I recommend you visit if you're in town.

There was another jam night in the mix, a different flavor than last week. A lot more people showed up, and each set started off all over the place, but eventually everyone would find each other resulting in some pretty solid sounds.

There were a few nights out, including a trip downtown to for thai food and bonzais (sake, plumb wine) followed by some cigars in union square. The cigar smoke brought up the idea of a hookah trip, which brought us back to Astoria for peach flavored smoke, and then we sealed the night with beers back at the apartment.

Now I find myself in Philadelphia after a short chinatown bus trip last night. I first headed to South street for a cheese steak last at Jim's, and then met up with my couchsurfing host, Ariel. This morning I got up and did a lap around the city, seeing a cracked liberty bell, another cheese steak, and an art museum.

There was something about being back in NYC that solidified my excitement for traveling and this whole thing I call Hobo 2.0 Lifestyle. It's amazing how I can be having such a great time, and still bursting at the seams with thoughts of getting on the road again. Philadelphia is doing the trick for me.

How heavy is your life?

If you were like I was, you have a decent amount of stuff, a room full of stuff, maybe a whole apartment full of stuff. If you're like how I am now though, you're constantly thinking of what you can get rid of or what can be replaced with something smaller or more efficient. That's life on the road, when you need to be able to carry everything you have.

It's a bit more complicated than packing for a week long vacation, you need to consider every possible climate and situation you may find yourself in. You're also leaving everything behind for good, so you need to pack everything you care about without weighing yourself down too much. I managed to walk away carrying everything I needed, but have since lightened my load considerably.

My sleeping bag takes up the most space in my pack, but is also one of my most valuable items. There would have been some almost unbearable nights hitchhiking cross country without it, and it even gets it use while couchsurfing.

Clothing takes up another big chunk, closely followed by electronics (laptop, phones, camera, chargers, adapters, cables, etc). Other than those space hogs, I also have toiletries, a few random trinkets & tools, and the much debated cooking pot. All of this equates to a filled-to-the-brim hiking backpack. While this better than how I started (add stuff hanging off the backpack, plus another smaller pack), I'm still "that guy" in a crowded subway or elevator, and trying to bring my pack into a popular bar or movie might get me turned away.

I'm shooting for a "school" sized pack or smaller. Here are some of my plans for slimming down.

Kill 3 birds with one phone
I have 2 phones right now, which also means a few chargers including car chargers. One is a regular phone, the other I use for email/text/internet. Redundant as all hell, I know. It would be even better if I could get a phone with a really really nice camera built in, then I'd be killing 3 birds with one phone. Suggestions?

Hobo Jack Pack
An idea I had, and I've seen things similar online, but not exactly what I want. It would be a sleeping bag with sleeves that unzips in the middle (waist area) so the top half could be used as a winter jacket, and the bottom half has straps to be used as a backpack. You'd also be able to take the shell off the jacket for use as a light windbreaker/rain jacket. This would be a huge space saver. Anyone seen anything like this, or wanna help build one?

Pants/Shorts Zipper Jeans
I know I've seen these before, where the legs zip off to become shorts. I can't seem to find a pair now, at least one that isn't goofy looking. Getting these would let me throw my shorts away... not a bunch of room, but everything counts.

Beyond that, it's little tweaking. I have two pairs of shoes to which is pretty annoying. I grabbed a pair of Keens, which is kinda like a sandal but covers most of your foot and has a solid toe cover, they're made for hiking and work in almost any situation... until it gets cold. I had to get hiking/trail sneakerish kinda shoes too. All ideas to save space in here are appreciated.

I suppose perfection will be when I can effortlessly tote everything around everywhere I go, free to get up and go at a moment's notice. I guess it's not too bad now, I'm never more than 30 minutes from gathering all my stuff and jumping in a car shooting across the country. One day it'll be 30 seconds instead, here's to that.

The City Still Works

The wine store gig didn't work out, they're not busy enough until closer to christmas. My old temp agency in NYC hasn't called with any work (yet). I did get one gig delivering flowers one afternoon in Connecticut, and pick up an envelope full of money tomorrow for that. For that I just had to go to a few flower places and pharmacies in town to pick up all the flowers, and they each had an address on them. I brought my laptop in the car and set up a Google map to plot out all the drop points and pick the best route. That worked out great until the battery died... but I managed to find my way anyhow.

I'm enjoying spending time in Queens in the old apartment, this time as a guest. All my old stuff is there, most of it exactly where I'd last placed it. Mark and Sean are having good times, and I got to check out the new digs for jam nights. They rent out rehearsal space a few blocks away and it's a great spot. Emma, my replacement in the apartment, is rarely around, but also seems to be having good times. I managed to run into two dozen or more familiar faces only within a couple days of being back in town, this week I'll try and see a few more with some beers along the way.

Sometime soon I should be going to Philadelphia for a weekend and Boston for a week before or after that. Mark's on board for the phili trip, assuming he can get off work. I have a couple couchsurfing hosts already setup there, and Boston should be a snap. December should be jam packed with good times.