Of course I’m happy to be back in New York. It’s miserably hot and humid, but my work is inside a  warehouse-y air conditioned building in Chelsea, so its really not that bad.  But I guess it was sort of lame timing to start of a travel blog. I’ve spent the last four years exploring and now, I’m afraid I wont be doing any major traveling for quite some time. I feel weirdly settled for the moment, and maybe that’s because I was away for so long. But I know myself, and if I’m honest, I know it won’t be long til the wanderlust is back with a vengeance. That’s why I’ve been working on a new life skill. I’m never as present and as able to live in the moment as I am when I’m traveling. I believe that’s because when I am traveling, I feel the pressure of leaving, which forces me to take advantage of things and gives me the confidence to make spur of the moment decisions which can sometimes be rash, but more often than not lead to some pretty random adventures. But the thing is, I am convinced that there are ways to get a little bit of that feeling- that freedom, in my own city. I know because I’m pretty sure I’ve experienced it on occasion,  when I don’t let the rhythm of city life suck me into the black hole of Manhattan scene-dom. Hence the new section of this blog: How to Feel Like You’re Traveling Without Leaving New York.