The Circus of The Sun and Its Power To Transport

On August 7th, my mom and I drove out to Newark, NJ to see the premier of Cirque du Soleil’s newest show Saltimbanco. This being my 5th journey into the world of Cirque du Soleil, I’m no stranger to this phenomenon, which is the brainchild of former street performers Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier. Although I haven’t seen anything that quite competes with their last show “Quidam” that came through Randall’s Island a few years ago, I am always overwhelmed by the ability of the show’s creators to transport me into another world entirely. From the clowns, who come out before the show starts to play seriously funny pranks on the crowd, to the use of unintelligible made up language, the show is universally accessible because the story is delivered through the acts themselves. The theme of Saltimabanco was the metropolis and all of the quirks and eccentricities that one can find in any large city, but when I watch Cirque du Soleil, I always feel as if I have landed on a different planet. I laughed with the beat-boxing clown as he swam through an imaginary closet of sewage. I teared up at the sheer capability of the human body during the Spanish rope duet and double trapeze. And then, when it was all over, I stepped back into the real world with a refreshed sense of wonder.

If You Can’t Bring Yourself Around The World, Bring the World Around to You

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.