And it's a wrap!

Expectations can be a killer. I should know; I think I might just have a black belt. But strangely enough I started this adventure with surprisingly few expectations. Sure I expected to travel to these destinations and stay in these places, but apart from that I had unusually few plans (for me at least). And of course, at the beginning of the year, as I was planning the North American trip, I had absolutely no expectation of also heading to London to see Kate Bush.

If anything, as the trips got closer, my expectations became more and more centred around what might go wrong; Icelandic volcanoes, conflict in Europe over the Ukraine, terrorists, Hong Kong unrest, Ebola … I know it's very narcissistic of me to focus these potential tragedies on my little life, but at more than one stage I was close to convinced that the bottom was about to drop out of one or the other of the trips. I don't think I let go of the last of these fears until I boarded the train from Washington DC to New York. The fact that I made it through is a lesson I must hold on to.

So, in that light, how do I feel now that I'm back home? I feel utterly satisfied and hugely fortunate. Of the entire experience I can only think of one thing I would definitely do differently: I would have spent an extra day in Washington DC rather than Toronto. There are other things I had considered, like fitting in some night life or making more effort to be social, but I'm comfortable acknowledging my limitations and accepting that I always did what I wanted or felt capable of doing at the time.

I did have some doubt midway through though. In Toronto I briefly wondered if taking this trip on my own had been a mistake. All practicalities aside, once or twice I could even have happily just come home. Luckily those thoughts disappeared when I reached DC and they never surfaced again.

It was weird waiting in Hong Kong airport to come home. As I ate my ramen and sipped my frozen beer (yes, the head was actually intentionally partly frozen), I reflected on how differently I felt between the trip out and the trip back. I remember feeling a lot more anxious before; I was scared of the unknown and, to be completely honest, not even 100% sure the trip was still such a good idea. I feel much more relaxed, certain and fulfilled now. And sitting in the same spot 4 weeks later it would be easy to dismiss the intervening time as a dream. But what I learnt from going to Europe back in 2010 is that travel leaves a lasting impression and a lasting legacy. Now the last 2 months have become part of those impressions and that legacy. One thing's for sure, after spending most of 2014 either planning or looking forward to these adventures, it's going to be strange not having them on my horizon anymore.

And now it's over what have been the highlights of the last 2 months? Without doubt New York was the standout of the North American trip and easily justified making the journey all on its own. And then of course there's Kate Bush … well anyone should know how I feel about that one.

But just to be specific I've compiled my top 10 for my travel adventures this year, in no particular order:

- Seeing Kate Bush live, from the 2nd row

- The Empire State Building by day

- The Empire State Building by night

- Stanley Park, Vancouver

- The Canadian, Vancouver to Toronto and all the amazing landscape in between

- The Guggenheim, New York

- Circumnavigating Manhattan by boat

- The 9/11 Memorial

- Waking up to the New York skyline 12 mornings in a row

- Being able to spend some more time in London, STILL my favourite city

I know some people have been following this blog. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it, but at the end of the day this blog has been for me. My way of sharing these moments with the Ian of the future, when recollection of the smaller details gets harder and how I actually felt at the time begins to fade.

This will be the final post for this blog. But I do have another ongoing blog on the futurismgrey website; I had plenty of time to reflect while away and have a mountain of material that's bound to inspire something sooner or later. And when it does, that's where I'll post it.

Farewell New York City

I guess from childhood I was expecting New York to be a city of endless skyscrapers where the only sunlight has been reflected or refracted off buildings down to the street. And yes, NYC is a bit like that, but only in a couple of places. Generally it's much more open, expansive and light than I had expected.

I also expected a cold, unfriendly, smelly, fast, impersonal metropolis. Again, only partly correct. There was an unexpected warmth and a surprising politeness.

So in a way, NYC was everything I expected and nothing like I expected all wrapped into one.

Choosing to stay for a decent length of time was a really good call. I feel I've had sufficient time to do what I wanted without getting frantic and now I'm ready to come home. I've loved this trip and my time in this city. It's been enough to satisfy both my appetite and curiosity. And yet I know I've still only scratched the surface; sampling the parts of New York life that I have felt willing and able to explore.

I doubt I would come back here again solo, but with someone else it would always be a possibility. 

No wonder my feet are so sore

My feet hate me. Particularly my heels. But at least it's been good cardio and generally great weather for it.

I've been keeping track of my travels on a map. The thick black lines are the main routes I've followed over the last 11 days, plus or minus a few streets and blocks. The yellow circle is the hotel.

Reflective

I've had a lovely day so far. Haven't left the hotel room. First time I've had a "day in/off" for over 3 weeks and it feels good; restorative. Ordered a delicious breakfast, played around with photoshop and Instagram, read, thought ... all the time with this amazing city as my wallpaper. 

And it's been a day of reflection. With two days left to go, what are the most important "must do" things left for me to pursue? 

Rain, at last

Finally, a rainy morning. Perfect for staying in bed and maybe ordering room service breakfast. I've been waiting for one of these; an opportunity to be truly lazy without the guilt of what I could/should be out there doing.

Stairs to nowhere

This building directly next to my hotel has intrigued me during my stay.

It's clearly an office but I've been trying to figure out what type. I think it might be something to do with a magazine, or fashion? Anyway, I've noticed that one office has a very nice white spiral staircase.

Except that above it is a standard office with desks and no visible exit point! Maybe it's just for looks? Maybe it's for photo shoots? I wonder.

Fortunate

Thursday in New York and it's another beautiful morning! Clear and crisp - just the way I like it. Can't believe how many great days of weather I've had. Feeling very fortunate. 

Smile

As I mentioned previously, one aspect of tipping I really like is leaving a tip and a note for house keeping. This morning I added some extra words to my note. When I got back to my room the note was still there ... plus smile! Nice.

Jitters

As part of yesterday's journey to the Air and Space Museum I took the Metro which is Washington's underground. It looks quite new and I quite like the appearance of the stations. I really wanted to get a picture but I wasn't sure if that was a wise thing to do or not. Being infrastructure, I kept my eyes open for any signage that might indicate a ban on photography. There was none that I could see. So when I got off at the end of my journey I paused to briefly take a couple of pictures.

A man walking past almost immediately cautioned me against taking pictures, saying something like "you'll get yourself arrested if you do that". I immediately put my camera away. The man was polite and he was only trying to be helpful. We spoke a bit and he recommended I should limit my photography to things that were of an obvious tourist nature. At the time I wasn't sure if his advice was general opinion, urban myth or based on official guidelines. But it was enough to shake me up a bit so I just kept my head down and got out of the station as quickly as I could.

That night I did some research. If the internet is to be believed, it would seem that there is no law against photographing any public space, including trains and stations. However, the underlying message was, if you take photos of certain places be prepared to explain yourself. The thought of being interrogated by security is rather uncomfortable, so I will definitely choose my subjects very carefully.

It was worthwhile research to also find out if there were any differences in law here around photographing people in public. It seems that it's the same as in Australia. That eased my mind. I'll still be very careful about people walking into my shots but at least I know that legally, I have every right to take the picture if people are in a public place.

The conversation at the station, followed by news of the terrible events in Ottawa have given me a case of the jitters. On edge a little bit and watching my step very carefully. 

Things I've noticed or experienced in Canada

In no particular order ...

People here are generally really friendly and really polite. Noticeably so!

Traffic lights often flash green. Haven't worked that one out yet. 

The other day in Vancouver I saw a squirrel run across a main road. He survived.  

They've started some Halloween decorations already. Some supermarkets have massive crates of equally massive pumpkins on the sidewalk for sale.

It's doing my head in working out whether to look to the left or right before crossing a road. So I just look everywhere. Twice! At least!

I read it's customary to tip housekeeping when staying in a hotel. One article suggested leaving it with a note. So each day I write "Thank You" on a piece of paper and put my tip on it. A lot about tipping doesn't really gel with me, but this I like. It makes it feel more personal. 

I only realised the other day that their 5 cent coin is bigger than their 10 cent coin. No wonder I was getting confused.  

To me, the pedestrian crossing noise here sounds like bird chirping. There appears to be more than one sound. Is it just my imagination?

I was surprised how many French speakers I overheard in Vancouver. I assumed they were mainly over in the east. 

In Canada, a drug store is more than a chemist. It's often more like a mini-mart.  

I realised on the train for the first time that others sometimes have trouble understanding MY accent. I always thought it was just the other way around. So stupid of me. 

All the buildings in downtown Vancouver have exactly the same colour glass. You notice it when you go to another city. It makes Vancouver feel very homogenous, but in a good way.  

The difficulties of train photography

I've learnt a bit about photography and my camera since my trip in Europe last year. All the same it took a bit of trial and error to get settings that were going to deliver sharp enough pictures while the train was in motion. My aim was to get the shutter speed to 1/2000 or below. That meant raising the ISO higher than I'd like to, but in the end I think the results are worth it. Unfortunately I has meant that many pictures were taken with a wide aperture with a somewhat narrow depth of field.

I was able to flip between my newly discovered focus modes to try and get the right one with the right metering. Having said all that, the trick was more about framing and focusing the shot and then quickly taking it before a tree, pole, sign, freight train or other obstacle got in the way. Not an easy thing to do. And a large number still had focus problems after all that. So I worked on the principle of taking as many as I could to increase the likelihood of some decent ones and, hopefully, a few really good ones. In the second half of the trip I used the continuous shooting mode which gave me more shots to choose from. Wish I'd thought of that earlier.

For a while I used the 50mm lens I'd bought for Europe. It certainly helped keep the shutter speed low, but I just wasn't getting enough of the scenery in the frame at once, so I reverted to my newer 18-200mm lens for most of the trip. That also allowed me to really zoom in when required. 

Unsocial

After walking all morning I was exhausted again by 2:30 so I decided to call it a day. The weather was turning nasty and soon the constant rain on the windows validated my decision.

Sitting in my room, thumbing through the pictures of the day and writing down words is fun. But I can't stop that little voice in my head that keeps telling me I should have been more social. I've certainly had the opportunity. Davie Street is filled with places to go and part of me feels I ought to have made an effort to meet some locals.

I think the real reason I haven't is that I know it would just have been a "box ticking" exercise.  There are things I don't do out of fear; fear of making a mistake or looking stupid. This trip has suffered from a couple of those moments, but not too many so far. Then there are things I don't do because I really don't want to; I just think I should. So far, being social (or unsocial to be precise) is a bit of both but mainly the latter. I know that later in my trip I will be forced to get out more; I won't have the sanctuary of an apartment to retreat to. There will be many social opportunities for the taking. I just need to stop beating myself up about the now.

Records

5 days and 1,500 photos already. With roughly 23 days to go I think I might just blow my previous record out of the water. But it's not about the numbers. As soon as I get the camera out I feel at home, at ease, in my element. 

11 October ... the sunset

After calming down (and a glass of Rose) I didn't want to waste the sunlight.

I headed westward to catch the sunset. Last night I went to the same location and there were only a couple of other people in sight. Tonight it was the place to be. People were sitting on logs on the beach as if they were waiting for a performance to begin. For a moment I wondered if I'd missed the memo; maybe this was the end of the world and they'd all come to watch.

In the end, the world didn't end (as you know). People just liked watching the sunset over the pacific. Couples, groups, individuals, joggers, dog walkers, cruisers ... all enjoying the final remnants of warmer weather. 

And of course I took one or two pictures.

Very glad I made the effort.

I was planning to go out tonight. There are bars and clubs all along this street.  But after today I don't really want to be around people. I think I need some time to recharge. It's a long weekend in Canada; maybe tomorrow night?

11 October ... the bad

As I made my way under the bridge to the Island I paused to look back at the lines of the bridge. I framed a shot. A couple walked into my frame so I paused, lowered my camera and waited for them to pass. I'm usually conscious and nervous of getting strangers coming towards me in my pictures. I thought my intent was fairly obvious.

As the couple passed, the man agressively addressed me. I'm not exactly sure of the words but I soon realised he was accusing me of taking the picture; of photographing them. It was an honest mistake; I can see how he may have drawn that conclusion.

I explained. I showed him my pictures. I proved that they were absent from my camera. I thought that should be enough. But he continued to give me "advice" on how my actions could have been perceived; not in a friendly, constructive way but in a belligerent abusive way; still taking the line that I was in the wrong. 

I was polite. I accepted his "advice". But inside I was fuming. I don't respond well when my integrity is questioned. I had done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite of what he accused. And what made me most upset was the total lack of acknowledgement or concession on his part.

In the end I get it. He was an arsehole and nothing I could have said would have changed the outcome. But I didn't deserve being treated that way. It stayed with me for hours until I eventually let it go. 

But it does make me more cautious about people. 

Among angels

I came across this scene on my wanders in downtown Vancouver today. Sure, it's been constantly in my consciousness since Before the Dawn, but Among Angels immediately came to mind.

The night before ...

Bags packed. Apartment cleaned. Post trip supplies procured. Beard trimmed. Documents printed, duplicated and saved. Plans organised within a millimetre of their lives. I think I'm ready. 

Thankful

Without a doubt, a factor in amplifying the experience of finally seeing Kate Bush live has been the comments, camaraderie and shared emotion on the various forums dedicated to this event. Before leaving London I posted the following because it sums up how much of a difference all my fellow Kate fans have made. I would like to share it here also.

Tomorrow morning I head back home to Australia, to my before the "Before the Dawn" life, and a world of relative Kate obscurity. But before I leave I'd like to say thank you to you all. I may not have had the pleasure of meeting many of you but your posts and comments have turned a potentially solitary experience into very much a shared one. My adventure would not have been the same without you. All the best to those of you yet to see her, those of you who didn't manage to and those of you, like me, who are dealing with the emotional aftermath.

Flight #3

On the advice of the airline I decided to get to Heathrow as early as possible. The added bonus was that I could take the Piccadilly line before peak hour hit. I wasn't keen on navigating through those crowds.

To my surprise, when I got to the airport check-in went as smoothly as normal. The check-in clerk noted my middle seat and looked to see if an aisle seat was available instead. So glad she didn't find one because it turned out that my seat was in the row that only has 3 middle seats - a really good spot! I must note the seat location details in addition to the seat number in future. 

The flight was fine. Being a night flight, I intended to try and sleep and organised myself accordingly. But unfortunately, despite best efforts and ideal conditions, it was not to be. 

So I have the day in Singapore. I had planned to catch a bus tour from the airport but I'm just too tired. Plus I think I've picked up a minor cold, so not feeling 100%; preferred to potter around the airport. 

I noticed this sign with lovely words on the door to the butterfly house. 

This time tomorrow I'll be home.

Bad ideas (or trying to ride the wave)

I had a feeling it might be a bad idea. Listening to Kate on the flight home … in public. I wanted to hear it again, to remember - but not too much; not so much that I'd get carried away.

You see, since the second show in particular, I've been a bit emotional. Think about the whole experience too much and tears well up. As they are while I'm writing this. It's been a bit embarrassing at times; not a good look. Those notes, passages and lyrics that were already special, now have new significance as they trigger memories of those nights. Even the once benign now has the potential to set me off.

And yet it feels so adolescent, so immature to be reacting this way. As concerts and performances go, it was up there. An amazing show but, in its own right, not enough to have this effect on me. I figure it must be the fulfilment of a lifelong hope, and the fulfilment in such a big, close up way, that must be the reason for the emotion.

So I straddled the line between satisfying my need to enjoy and engaging too deeply in recall. Pull back from the edge and think of something else when you start to feel it swelling up.