Strangers with Candy

I made some questionable decisions to get to where I am now.  A stranger called me "either completely stupid or way too trusting," but hey, I got here and I'm safe!


The part where I came to Chicago and met someone who was to be my roommate and that backfired has already been covered in the first entry.  And then I mentioned I went to craigslist to find a place to stay, and I found one where I can stay temporarily until things get settled here.

After establishing that, a day or so before I arrived I went to craigslist yet again for a Rideshare.  Flying into Midway and needing to get to Rogers Park is no stone's throw away.

As you can see, it's really, really, really kind of far.  If I were to take a taxi (I looked it up on a taxi calculator) it would have been in the ballpark of $70.  Especially because I flew in right during rush hour.

So I had a few replies from CL, most of them saying, "you know you can take the train!"  Wonderful suggestion!  Did I forget to mention I had a 50lb suitcase with broken wheels, 2 duffle bags, one of which had its handle broken off in Sea Tac, and a giant camera bag that holds my 17" Macbook Pro, a large, clunky dSLR, and whatever other things I happened to shove in there to save space.

Well, yes, I did forget to mention that.  But that is the case!

In this ad that I published, I had a kind of bullshit preface that claimed "friends give friends rides from the airport, so let's be friends!" but I was very honest and upfront with the fact that if I never see this person again, it won't be any skin off my back.  I just needed a ride.  One person offers some pretty negative feedback on the bluntness of my ad.  One person said, "sorry, I would, but I work, even though I work near MDW and live in Rogers park!" and send me pictures of an impossibly muscular guy with no shirt on and said we should hang out sometime.  Tonight.  Alone.   This was not one of the questionable decisions I had to make.  That was obviously out.

I did have a reply from someone who mentioned he would, he has a wife and two kids and a part time job but would need money for gas.  We spoke back and forth a bit and I was all about it, but when he mentioned in his emails that he was shocked I wasn't getting any other offers due to the fact that there are many sick people out there who would do anything for some action, I started to see some red flags.

I asked him, "How do I know you're not one of those people?" to which he replied something like, "I'm not sure, you tell me.  I guess if I was one of them I would have offered you a ride home if you are naked."  That's it.  No "haha" or anything else to sort of ease out of that creepy statement.

So I ended it there.  Didn't say anything more to him.  So it came as a bit of a surprise when he called me yesterday.  During the landing into my connection city, MSP, the plane was approaching the runway, and then steadily lifted back up no more than 20 feet above ground.  We spent a good 20 or 30 minutes flying over the Minneapolis/St. Paul area (which looks absolutely gorgeous, by the way!  So green!) before we actually landed at the airport.

The bad news:  My original connection was only 50 minutes, which has now been greatly reduced.
The good news:  The gate was literally the gate right next to the one we parked at.

The plane seen here flew me from SEA>MSP

The wing seen here is part of the plane that 

took me from MSP>MDW

So I rushed as fast I could onto a plane that was already boarded, luckily into an isle that had no people.

(side note: both of my flights were booked full, and on both flights, I had the only empty seat on the plane next to me.  win!)

As I got settled in, my phone started to ring.  Surely a call from a far away but not forgotten friend from back home wishing me a fond farewell.

Nope.  The number was from Illinois.  It was him.  HE'S CALLING FROM INSIDE THE PLANE.

No, not really.  But he was calling to ask me why I didn't get back to him and if I still needed a ride.

Oh, right.  Still didn't have a way up to Rogers Park.  Uhh, sure.  Okay.  I thought about saying no and assuming during this really quick connection that my bags were not going to make it from one plane to the next.  That would be perfect.  I could take the train with my two carry ons and the airport could deliver my lost luggage to me later!  Perfect!  But could I really take that chance?  I decided to go ahead and agree to have him pick me up, mostly because his voice didn't sound like that of a serial killer; I've watched a horror film or two in my day.

Into Chicago Midway I landed.  I get off the plane and down into baggage claim where not only do my bags show up, but they are the first ones off the plane.  Makes sense since they were the last ones put on.  So I supposed I'm glad I decided to take this guy up on his offer for a ride.  I felt only slightly apprehensive about the whole thing, so all-in-all good.  It was 4 in the afternoon, 80°F outside, so what's the worst that couple happen?  Maybe don't answer that.

He said he was running a bit late (traffic) so I sat inside the airport trying to lug all my gear around while trying to find an outlet that worked so I could charge my phone and use my Mac.  Also, is Sea Tac the only airport in the world with free wifi?  Everyone else wants me to sign up with this Boingo Hot Spot shit.

Eventually he got there and picked me up and we figured out the best route to get to where we were going.  We shot the shit a bit, talked about Chicago and a little about Seattle, about travel and moving and all of this other stuff.  We talked about street fairs and craigslist and we talked about looking for jobs.  He told me he wasn't having much luck with craigslist and looking for someone to pass out flyers for him.  It was obviously one of those I-want-to-tell-you-about-it-but-will-wait-for-you-to-ask moments, so to carry on the conversation, and for genuine curiosity, I asked.  He told me I was going to be shocked and appalled and get out of the car if he told me.  Without my bags?  Fat chance.

He said he wanted a young guy to be shirtless and pass out flyers while saying things like, "I want you to taste my nuts," and "Put my nuts in your mouth."  Okay, so he was selling nuts at gay pride.  

The shock.  

The horror.

I explained to him that I was just at a bar in Seattle where young boys dressed up in (not much) leather to resemble dogs were being paraded around the bar on leashes by hairy leather daddies and forced to sell jello shots.  The dog tails were butt plugs.

Then there was some other story about last year how to guy who did it had an offer to piss on his underwear and sell it to someone.  Not my thing, but not shocking in the slightest.  But this guy had told me before he was married with kids.  I guess he never said he was straight.

Anyway, he managed to get me all the way to Rogers Park without murdering me, so I gave him a $20 and called the other craigslist guy, the one who was letting me stay there.  I went inside, met the guy, saw the place, met the cats, and all of it was awesome.  We sat and talked for a while, discussed our travels and his part in the diamond trade while living in Africa (pretty sure it wasn't blood diamonds but I can't say I know too much about that) and then off he went to a dinner with his friends, and I went to my new room to unpack.  So I threw everything from my suitcase onto the bed until I found something cute to wear out that night, took a shower, and headed out the door.

Pre Shift

And so it begins.

I am sitting in the S Gates of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where my flight boards in about 20 minutes.  It's been a morning... sort of one.  Mostly smooth sailing with a couple of hiccups, such as when I paid $35 to check my bag, then it was 5 lbs overweight which they said would be an additional $90.  No thanks, Jose!

I moved some stuff around and threw away one of my favorite backpacks, one I had bought in Canada and travelled with me throughout Europe and the Caribbean.  It was time for it to go... it was getting saggy and all that, and all though had no holes or anything of the sort, I figured it was a bag I really didn't need.

Brought it back to check in and I had managed to shave 8 lbs!  Good for me.  Except then when I was toting around my carry on, the strap snapped off and broke, so now I have to carry a number of things by hand.  I'm travelling with 2 duffle bags, a giant suitcase with broken wheels, and a camera/computer backpack.  That's my life.  This is everything I currently own.


The past few days have been mostly exhausting whirlwind events of seeing friends, grabbing many drinks, and eating at some of my favorite Seattle dining establishments.  Last night was pretty much the final goodbye and probably the closest to any emotion that I really showed... not sure why.  I can be an emotional person, but I think I've been too tired for tears or anything, plus all the excitement and stress that comes with the move.

And so it begins... boarding is soon, so there isn't time to write a novel, yet at this point there really isn't much of a novel to write.  For now I'll sit here and enjoy the stale Seatac Airport air and appreciate Seattle before my final departure.

Beautifully shot with my somewhat broken iPhone 4 camera.

The Wrap Up

I leave on Friday.  It's Tuesday.  That's almost frightening.  But not quite yet because I don't think I've let this whole thing actually hit me yet.

Today was the day I decided to go out to Bremerton, where I grew up, to see my family.  Uh, funny thing is I haven't seen them for years.  Like, a lot of years.  My dad for maybe 2 or 3, and my mom for maybe twice as long.  So it was due.

It was interesting to say the least.  I've never been close with them.  No one I've dated has met my parents except for when I was maybe 16.   They haven't really been a significant part of my adult life in any way except the occasional phone call here and there; birthdays, holidays, "Did you hear someone you went to school with for a month in 3rd grade has a brand new puppy?" etc. 

It was still a bit emotional, but in ways I can't fully understand.

Family is important.  That is what people have been telling me forever when I tell them I'm not that close with my parents.  I never let that sink in ever.  Always said it's different for some people, and I'm some people.

That changed for me last year when I went to Puerto Rico to see some of my family who I haven't seen since I was maybe 8 years old.  There was a crazy connection there, and it was intense.  I started missing them almost retroactively.  I was going through the emotions I was missing out on by not having family for about 10 years.  After my time in Puerto Rico I might have had a mini breakdown on the subsequent southern Caribbean gay cruise.   Family is important.

So seeing these people who I haven't taken time to visit in years (and to be fair, they've shown the same courtesy) was a bag of mixed and confusing emotions.  After seeing my mom, I went to see my dad, and leaving my mom we said the I'll miss yous and I love yous and it didn't register with me right away, until I followed those sentiments with the word "mom."  Bullet.  Almost cried.

Then hung out at my dad's for a bit.  Watched some TV, chatted, he looked at my camera in envy, and I soon left to catch a ferry back to Seattle.  I said goodbye to my dad.  He followed me out the door, I walked through the yard and waved back.  After I left the yard and started crossing the street, I didn't look back, but I imagined it was probably very emotional for him.  His son was leaving for a new city across the country, a son who hasn't visited him much over the years, and not at all in almost 3 years.

I turned a corner out of view of his porch and I was gone.

I was depressed.  I don't know what I was feeling.  I don't know if I was missing them or if I was sad about something else.  Something else involves the reasons I have kept my distance over the years.  Let's not get into it, because I haven't really let myself have feelings about it for a very long time, and today was too close of a call.

A picture on my mom's fridge.  It's her and me, long long ago obviously.

It's a good picture.

Decisions

My home

Hey guys.

Welcome to my blog.  I've started many of these in my days, but this one is actually pretty special.  It's a travel blog.

You see, I'm currently living in Seattle, where I've lived for the past 10 years, and have been enjoying for almost my entire life.  I've had an urge to move to a new city and try something new for a long time now.  Many cities have crossed my mind, such as New York, San Diego, Austin, Munich... the list goes on and on.

Last month I went to Chicago.  The reason I went is because someone I was dating was going to visit his parents and I was to go.  So we bought tickets (there may have been drinking involved) and said that was that.  We were going to Chicago.

But that relationship ended.  I bought travel insurance, but since there was no loss of job, loss of family member, or loss of limb or dismemberment, I couldn't cancel.  So I thought ... I'm going to Chicago!

And so I went.

The architecture in Chicago was amazing!

And had a really, really, really good time (can anyone name the reference?)

While there, I explored Craigslist, and asked people about places to stay and whatnot.  I met a guy there who had a place, and we met up, we agreed that I was going to make this move and live with him.

Also while in Chicago, I met a guy who owned a bar and said he'd let me bartend for him at his jazz bar downtown.  I was set!

I kept this pretty hush hush upon my return to Seattle.  Only a small handful of close friends knew initially, and I let it slip here and again to a few friends.  Then I created an invite on Facebook to a night out on the town, celebrating my departure from Seattle.

There were a lot of questions ... initially, "Where are you going?" because I wanted to keep that a bit ambiguous.  Then, "Did you know it gets really cold there?? AND REALLY HOT?"  That's pretty much how it's gone with 100% of the people I've talked to about this.  Apparently it gets really cold in Chicago.  And really hot!

About a week after my return, maybe not even that, I went online, looked at tickets, and booked myself a one way ticket from SEA>MDW.

In the weeks since, some shit went down.  The guy I was to live with got a bit spastic.  Spastic probably isn't the right word, but I spoke with the realtor/landlady and turns out the rent was a lot higher than had been discussed with the guy.  I spoke with him, he apologized and told me he would try to work things out.  Yadda yadda yadda, a while later, the landlady told me he was trying to spread out the deposit amount over several months and they can't do that so they are returning my application fee and moving on with someone else.

The guy tried working it out with me, but after talking back and forth with him, the landlady, and the realtor, I decided -- this guy is not someone I want to sign a year lease with.   So back to craigslist... found a bunch of nice people and decided to temporarily stay with a guy at a furnished place for rent that's quite a bit cheaper than the initial amount discussed with the other guy.

So off I go!  I leave this Friday, May 31, 2013, on probably the biggest adventure of my life to date.

And Chicago might not be the end!  I hate the cold/snow, so perhaps I'll be moving on before winter hits.  Then my blog 'Seattle Boy In Chicago' is going to have an unfitting title, but for at least this summer it'll be the document of my life on this summer's great adventure.