NYC adventures Day #4 - the a.m. grumpies
The trip was definitely winding down. Despite getting plenty of sleep in an excellent hotel bed, I woke up and was just...done. Done with walking and sightseeing. I had hit my travel wall. My feet weren't particularly sore, nor was any part of me in distress. It was more of a mental state and I was more generally overwhelmed by everything we had taken in but I had not been able to process.
Although I was not surprised, the timing wasn't great, because we had to be out of the hotel by late that morning and we would then be out and about until our plane left....in the evening.
As I mentioned before and what I know from experience but seem to to have still not learned the lesson, is this: if I don't schedule down time while traveling, there comes a bad day. Not only for me, but for the others with whom I am traveling. However, with such a short time in NYC and so much we definitely wanted to do, it is not clear what I would have changed. But I will firmly say this - I know I should not do 4 days in a row of walking around all day - my body and spirit need downtime.
From my Kenyan experience, I wrote on this very topic:
- Take breaks: When I got to day 10 and almost had a meltdown due to getting overheated and having very little downtime, Jeff kindly encouraged me to take the following day off. I begged off of a hike and a boat trip, and ended up sleeping, reading, and being dive bombed by a bat while lounging on the front porch of our guesthouse. Half a day off and I was good as new. We've experienced this phenomenon before (Disney), and it was a good reminder that taking every 3rd or 4th day during a major trip is important for one's mental health. The fear of missing out on something special is very real, but if you don't take it, you'll miss out on something else eventually because you just. can't. take. it. anymore.
Anyway, I was quite grumpy for about the first 4 hours of sightseeing, from the (admittedly delicious) Shake Shack burger stop in Grand Central, to navigating the subway with my suitcase backpack. Jeff helped me get the pack up and down which was helpful, but the subway was hot, and within 3 days I had become that person of whom I wondered "why do people sleep on the subway....it's so exciting!" to "I totally get it, and I'm going to close my eyes and rest here a little while and hope nobody panhandles me."
Things slowly turned around as we took the No. 7 subway and exited the Mets-Willets Point Station...
Although I was not surprised, the timing wasn't great, because we had to be out of the hotel by late that morning and we would then be out and about until our plane left....in the evening.
As I mentioned before and what I know from experience but seem to to have still not learned the lesson, is this: if I don't schedule down time while traveling, there comes a bad day. Not only for me, but for the others with whom I am traveling. However, with such a short time in NYC and so much we definitely wanted to do, it is not clear what I would have changed. But I will firmly say this - I know I should not do 4 days in a row of walking around all day - my body and spirit need downtime.
From my Kenyan experience, I wrote on this very topic:
- Take breaks: When I got to day 10 and almost had a meltdown due to getting overheated and having very little downtime, Jeff kindly encouraged me to take the following day off. I begged off of a hike and a boat trip, and ended up sleeping, reading, and being dive bombed by a bat while lounging on the front porch of our guesthouse. Half a day off and I was good as new. We've experienced this phenomenon before (Disney), and it was a good reminder that taking every 3rd or 4th day during a major trip is important for one's mental health. The fear of missing out on something special is very real, but if you don't take it, you'll miss out on something else eventually because you just. can't. take. it. anymore.
Anyway, I was quite grumpy for about the first 4 hours of sightseeing, from the (admittedly delicious) Shake Shack burger stop in Grand Central, to navigating the subway with my suitcase backpack. Jeff helped me get the pack up and down which was helpful, but the subway was hot, and within 3 days I had become that person of whom I wondered "why do people sleep on the subway....it's so exciting!" to "I totally get it, and I'm going to close my eyes and rest here a little while and hope nobody panhandles me."
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| You can see the exhaustion on our faces. At least the ceiling is pretty. |
dfghmn.n
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