October 22, 2015: Sunnyvale, California
Murphy's law. The name of a neon-lit Irish pub right at the centre of downtown Sunnyvale, California. Sixth day of my nine days long trip. The event was a live concert by a two-piece acoustic band who graced the mellow evening. The past few months time-lapsed right in front of my astral projection as I gulped down my fifth and last pint of beer.
Gainesville, Florida. My new home. Although it's been four months since I moved in, the thought of living in a foreign country is still sinking in. I've tried to deliberately force it into me but the feeling is unwavering. The reason could be the fact that I've found a good number of people from the home country. Homies are invading the world I guess. These days mostly involved getting to know stuff. The rest of the days, we let the world know through Facebook that we are officially in the USA as we smiled for pictures that cropped out the painful goodbyes we had to bid. After numerous tests, assignments and unnoteworthy mentionable career fairs, we were scheduled to go for a fall break. Without having afterthoughts about it, I decided to pay a visit to my best buddy Sakti who's in California. We were planning to make trips together in this beautiful country for five or more years and I was meeting her after three years which was convincing enough to make this decision. I also needed a break from the things that were happening since three months, over which I had no grasp. My problems were decentralized to a point where I decided to think of solutions to emotionally respond to all of them differently. As a passive witness to the things that constantly changed right in front of my eyes, my worries were concerned only about the goodbye that I could not bid to my parents. The day I was departing from India was so messed up due to some baggage docking issues that I had. I left in a hurry without looking back at the things that mattered. Staring at the flight window, I realised that I did not express farewell to them. I wanted to hug both of them and say goodbye. The thought that I would not return back in two years haunted me. Mom was apparently expecting that I would come back to say bye but I had to turn her down as I was going through security check. Though I was away from home for a while, I was hoping that I would spend some time with them at least when I was about to leave. Regardless, I discovered a group of eccentric individuals who would take care of me, feed me when my stomach growls and love me like their own (I had to push aside a certain number of aholes to reach this point). To a guy who was yearning for someone to make a cup of coffee or for a single seated table with food cooked with love, this was the dream. So this trip had to be somehow life-changing in several ways, to give me the resilience to put things back in perspective and finally allow me to drop the dead-weights and move forward. I thought I'd write everything on the beach so that the waves would wash them away.
We were meticulously sketching out the details of the tour which consisted of activities like camping, hiking, kayaking and meteor-shower gazing. Pinterest allowed us to quickly track down locations, the surrounding camping sites and the breath-taking views it offered. Every inch of the plan was laid out perfectly and after ages, I was actually excited about something. The weather forecasts for the upcoming week showed that there was a 60% chance of rainfall in all the places of interest. So camping in Yosemite, Tahoe became a fiasco overnight and we had to look for new places. Sakti rerouted our entire travel itinerary to include camping at Fort Bragg on Day 1, a stopover at Los Angeles and the points all the way along Pacific Highway 1 on Day 8.
The thrill of the travel became dormant as I got into some deep conversation with the an old Uber lady who picked me up from my apartment. She told me that her husband was a World War II veteran who was deployed in Germany, how she got along with the wives of other soldiers during the war. After relocating to the US, she said she studied to become a mason and that she's responsible for most of the buildings at University of Florida. She said she has a beautiful ranch up north with three horses and invited me over. I promised that I'd visit her with Indian food. The flight journey was horrendous as the weather was bad at Miami. I saw the couple sitting next to me holding hands with their eyes closed. They were visibly terrified because of the turbulence. My mood lightened up when I saw Sakti and of course food! My soul and body liberated after seeing the plate full of bisibella bath with appalam waiting for me. I was craving for Indian food for weeks then. Frozen food isn't my type of thing.
My first camping experience. We pitched the tent in the camp-ground which was accessible from the beach. Thanks to Walmart's return policy, we decided to return all the gear back to them after this trip. Gloomy skies accompanied by numbing chill winds greeted us at the Fort Bragg beach which seemed like the Shutter Island with a canopy of scary dark clouds. We cursed posts from Pinterest which boasted striking landscapes of this place. Nevertheless we walked along the coast trail hoping to find something attracting. As soon as the sun gradually began to show its face, the rocky cliffs turned from greyish tint to a warmer yellow. Buzzing tourists and locals started to unearth colourful stones from the shore. Sakti and I jumped in to the treasure hunt yet found only boring lifeless pebbles and I insisted that we walk further down till end of the trail. Surprisingly the sun was at it's zenith by the time we found those one of a kind stones shimmering as the waves hit them. I picked up a few stones for my collection. Rewarding it was, I grinned at the thought that this was going to be the one among many lands that I will be touching. We returned to the campsite at nightfall to have our dinner and campfire. A few slices of bread, salsa, nachos, chocolate milk made me happy that night. Though there wasn't anything much to do, I was delighted to just be a part of nature.
At the light of day, we began driving back. A Kayaking plan from Pier 39 to the AT&T Park was in the works. The huge, larger than life, Bay Bridge above the head and the San Francisco skyline in the front offered spectacular views.
These days included checking out local sites. I shuttled from Sunnyvale to SFO in Caltrain. Trains have been a part of me all my life in India and I told Sakti that I wanted to travel by train here in America too. Watching a group of granddads gambling in Chinatown, climbing up the streets that looked like streets in the movie Inception, hopping into random vintage trams, tasting the Ghiradelli chocolate milkshake relaxing by the sea and getting back to a nostalgic journey to Sunnyvale in Caltrain were the agenda.
I plugged into the ever omnipresent song, Death Cab for Cutie's I Will Possess Your Heart that has been playing in my head since I landed here in the USA. Me, myself and I. Life of a solo-traveller. Day in and Day out I walked through the streets of San Francisco. Longest walks I ever had in my lifetime. Not as exciting as holding hands in downtown Gainesville with random American girls and drinking shots of vodka that sent an electric shock through the spine. It was fun in a different way.
Witnessed a meteor shower for the first time atop Mt.Hamilton. Me, Sakti, Suge, Lakshmi (Sakti's car) and Pattaabi (Suge's DSLR) sat on the road tracing meteors. I felt the presence of something of cosmic proportions. A sky full of stars and a head full of dreams.
Snap back to the present. I decided to take a stroll in the streets as my vision of a couple who were dancing, began to fade. The music traversed to the back of my head as I walked away. To grab this drink, I had excused myself from a birthday party that I was supposed to attend.
We drove all the way to Los Angeles to drop Suge off and return via Pacific Highway 1. Malibu beach was one of the best beaches I've been to. Soft sand kissing the feet, blue skies, pleasant sea and beach bodies made it worthy of the name, Paradise cove. We drove along Highway 1 to see amazing views on either sides of the road. The happy part of the trip ended.
I was reminded of the neon hoarding that said 'Murphy's Law' and I remembered how one adventure of a lifetime turned into a lackluster trip. Between surviving the gloomy weather, thinking about the right people who should have accompanied us during this trip, the disappointment because of not being able to visit some of the spectacular places, absence of any life-changing moments, I was rambling to myself. You must wondering why Murphy's law is part of the title of the post. Well it says, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
I was ready to pack my bags again to explore more places as soon as I was on-board the return flight. I thought I wouldn't be doing justice if I didn't acknowledge the other astounding landscapes I visited. I didn't come all the way across the world to get knocked down by Murphy's law. The expected view of the place or the people that I'm willing to make trips with. None of it matters now. I'm already throwing darts at the map to mark my upcoming trips. If you know me, I will stop at nothing to feed my wanderlust. Some day, I'll conquer the Colosseum, dance with the mountains in the Alps, sing to the waves in Hawaii and serenade under Aurora Borealis. In the deathbed, I will have a huge canvas painted with stunning moments of my explorations.
P.S: Meanwhile after reaching Gainesville, the next day in my class, Professor Selwyn talked about Murphy's Law. IT FOLLOWS. Middle-finger ready.
We were meticulously sketching out the details of the tour which consisted of activities like camping, hiking, kayaking and meteor-shower gazing. Pinterest allowed us to quickly track down locations, the surrounding camping sites and the breath-taking views it offered. Every inch of the plan was laid out perfectly and after ages, I was actually excited about something. The weather forecasts for the upcoming week showed that there was a 60% chance of rainfall in all the places of interest. So camping in Yosemite, Tahoe became a fiasco overnight and we had to look for new places. Sakti rerouted our entire travel itinerary to include camping at Fort Bragg on Day 1, a stopover at Los Angeles and the points all the way along Pacific Highway 1 on Day 8.
Day 0: Gainesville Regional Airport -> San Francisco International airport
The thrill of the travel became dormant as I got into some deep conversation with the an old Uber lady who picked me up from my apartment. She told me that her husband was a World War II veteran who was deployed in Germany, how she got along with the wives of other soldiers during the war. After relocating to the US, she said she studied to become a mason and that she's responsible for most of the buildings at University of Florida. She said she has a beautiful ranch up north with three horses and invited me over. I promised that I'd visit her with Indian food. The flight journey was horrendous as the weather was bad at Miami. I saw the couple sitting next to me holding hands with their eyes closed. They were visibly terrified because of the turbulence. My mood lightened up when I saw Sakti and of course food! My soul and body liberated after seeing the plate full of bisibella bath with appalam waiting for me. I was craving for Indian food for weeks then. Frozen food isn't my type of thing.
Day 1: Glass Beach, Fort Bragg
My first camping experience. We pitched the tent in the camp-ground which was accessible from the beach. Thanks to Walmart's return policy, we decided to return all the gear back to them after this trip. Gloomy skies accompanied by numbing chill winds greeted us at the Fort Bragg beach which seemed like the Shutter Island with a canopy of scary dark clouds. We cursed posts from Pinterest which boasted striking landscapes of this place. Nevertheless we walked along the coast trail hoping to find something attracting. As soon as the sun gradually began to show its face, the rocky cliffs turned from greyish tint to a warmer yellow. Buzzing tourists and locals started to unearth colourful stones from the shore. Sakti and I jumped in to the treasure hunt yet found only boring lifeless pebbles and I insisted that we walk further down till end of the trail. Surprisingly the sun was at it's zenith by the time we found those one of a kind stones shimmering as the waves hit them. I picked up a few stones for my collection. Rewarding it was, I grinned at the thought that this was going to be the one among many lands that I will be touching. We returned to the campsite at nightfall to have our dinner and campfire. A few slices of bread, salsa, nachos, chocolate milk made me happy that night. Though there wasn't anything much to do, I was delighted to just be a part of nature.
Day 2 - Day 6: San Francisco, California
At the light of day, we began driving back. A Kayaking plan from Pier 39 to the AT&T Park was in the works. The huge, larger than life, Bay Bridge above the head and the San Francisco skyline in the front offered spectacular views.
These days included checking out local sites. I shuttled from Sunnyvale to SFO in Caltrain. Trains have been a part of me all my life in India and I told Sakti that I wanted to travel by train here in America too. Watching a group of granddads gambling in Chinatown, climbing up the streets that looked like streets in the movie Inception, hopping into random vintage trams, tasting the Ghiradelli chocolate milkshake relaxing by the sea and getting back to a nostalgic journey to Sunnyvale in Caltrain were the agenda.
I plugged into the ever omnipresent song, Death Cab for Cutie's I Will Possess Your Heart that has been playing in my head since I landed here in the USA. Me, myself and I. Life of a solo-traveller. Day in and Day out I walked through the streets of San Francisco. Longest walks I ever had in my lifetime. Not as exciting as holding hands in downtown Gainesville with random American girls and drinking shots of vodka that sent an electric shock through the spine. It was fun in a different way.
Witnessed a meteor shower for the first time atop Mt.Hamilton. Me, Sakti, Suge, Lakshmi (Sakti's car) and Pattaabi (Suge's DSLR) sat on the road tracing meteors. I felt the presence of something of cosmic proportions. A sky full of stars and a head full of dreams.
Snap back to the present. I decided to take a stroll in the streets as my vision of a couple who were dancing, began to fade. The music traversed to the back of my head as I walked away. To grab this drink, I had excused myself from a birthday party that I was supposed to attend.
Day 7 - Day 8: Pacific Highway 1
We drove all the way to Los Angeles to drop Suge off and return via Pacific Highway 1. Malibu beach was one of the best beaches I've been to. Soft sand kissing the feet, blue skies, pleasant sea and beach bodies made it worthy of the name, Paradise cove. We drove along Highway 1 to see amazing views on either sides of the road. The happy part of the trip ended.
I was reminded of the neon hoarding that said 'Murphy's Law' and I remembered how one adventure of a lifetime turned into a lackluster trip. Between surviving the gloomy weather, thinking about the right people who should have accompanied us during this trip, the disappointment because of not being able to visit some of the spectacular places, absence of any life-changing moments, I was rambling to myself. You must wondering why Murphy's law is part of the title of the post. Well it says, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
I was ready to pack my bags again to explore more places as soon as I was on-board the return flight. I thought I wouldn't be doing justice if I didn't acknowledge the other astounding landscapes I visited. I didn't come all the way across the world to get knocked down by Murphy's law. The expected view of the place or the people that I'm willing to make trips with. None of it matters now. I'm already throwing darts at the map to mark my upcoming trips. If you know me, I will stop at nothing to feed my wanderlust. Some day, I'll conquer the Colosseum, dance with the mountains in the Alps, sing to the waves in Hawaii and serenade under Aurora Borealis. In the deathbed, I will have a huge canvas painted with stunning moments of my explorations.
P.S: Meanwhile after reaching Gainesville, the next day in my class, Professor Selwyn talked about Murphy's Law. IT FOLLOWS. Middle-finger ready.
