Setting Off Gaydar .

Through AirBnB, I have made a friend in Orlando. He is unable to drive so he rides a bike or takes buses everywhere. When I spend the night, I try to help him run difficult errands or enjoy a dinner out someplace he doesn't normally get to go. Like every one of my AirBnB hosts, …

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There You Are

Icebreakers: Be they steel hulled ships, hand held picks, or cutesy words to nearby strangers; they have always been incredibly difficult for me to command. I made a new friend here in Carolina after being introduced. She was never married, but incredibly charismatic and social. Her charm filled a room and some spilled out. She …

Met at the Gym .

I've been riding too much, just sitting, no exercise. My legs have lost some strength when I hold the bike at a red light, or try to push it back from a curb. So tonight I once again hit a local Anytime Fitness gym using my universal access keyfob. I tried to put my stuff …

Is that your Burgman out there? .

I stopped at a quickie mart for a coffee refill, and a  county sheriff paused across from me. Then he really paused. ... and made eye contact. "I like your Burgman". (Think fast : how'd he know it was mine? Oh, the red safety jacket, the day-glo yellow vest, the dripping wet helmet on my …

An Angel, with Cinnamon Tequila

She appeared in my life like a thunderbolt, she disappeared like the morning dew, and in the middle she changed the very way I have been looking at life. It had been raining the 2 days of my stay in Delaware, so I decided to press on to Chincoteague, the small coastal Virginia tourist town …

Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo .

My Grand Rapids AirBnb stay was way out in the country. One of those houses you pass by and ask “why would somebody live there?”. Well I met two of the nicest people, and I can answer the question. Their house is modern, on a huge tract of land, surrounded by corn fields, on those …

New Friends: West Michigan Edition

My time in Traverse City, and now Grand Rapids has been filled with the most interesting, informative, inspiring, and delightful people. I met all of these in the last third of my time in Michigan, in just the one week after AMUUSE csmp. In Traverse City, I first spent a day in Empire, with a …

Rochester to London, Sans Windshield

I had 5 days to get to my AMUUSE summer camp in norbythern Michigan. It was apparent I did not have time to get a replacement windshield overnighted to me in Rochester, so I would have to drive across Ontario using only my facemask and a positive attitude. I spent my last day getting used …

Upstate NY: New Platz to Kingston

My experience in New Platz was weird, but I just roll with the punches. After driving from the Bronx, I encountered a total downpour as I approached Newburgh, NY. I tried to wait it out, but it would not stop. I finally drove on, into the dark, in full rain gear and soaked to the …

People in NYC .

.My time in the Bronx was amazing for my exposure to a new location: homes, geography, transit. But this story relates to the people, situations, and conversations I shared in that area: I got stuck in Roanoke, VA when my plans suddenly changed. My friend Jack, who I met on the atheist cruise the previous …