I get by with a little help from my friends

I travel for work.

Last year I had a work related trip during ten out of the twelve months. I went to California twice and Texas three times (four if you include a trip to Austin last summer - for fun). In total, I spent one month of the year in the state of Texas. I think that gives me voting rights. My suitcases never stay tucked away. I've racked up enough JetBlue points for a free flight over a period of nineteen months - and I didn't even fly JetBlue every time.

Traveling is great. I love having a nice clean hotel room all to myself, ordering room service, not even making my own bed, getting to see a different city and getting out from behind a desk. It is also so tiring. Preparing to be gone from work and catching up after I come back is stressful. I don't dislike flying but it wears on me. And I always feel like I'm missing something great here in NY when I am gone. Last December I was really feeling the stress of constant travel after I had been to Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Dallas, Orange County, Boston, El Paso, San Antonio, and San Fran again all within weeks of one another.

I just got back from my latest work adventure - this time to Chicago. I must say I do love the city of Chicago. I'd never been and it was definitely one of my favorites of all those I've been to. Prior to this trip, I'd gone the longest stretch of time ever since I began my job. I spent three whole months in this city without getting on an airplane. During this time I relaxed, I enjoyed the ups and downs of the day to day, and I didn't have a constant feeling like I had to cram life's experiences in between the next take off.

But sitting here right now I wish I was still in Chicago.

I have always been a mess of contradictions. I'm not happy unless things are perfect and since things are never perfect, I'm always reaching for more. Certain stressors associated with this most recent trip have left me feeling down and the constant and consistent feels strained. I have tomorrow off. I haven't had a day off almost two weeks. Maybe a little vitamin D and Central Park R&R will calm me down.

Yesterday I walked out onto Broadway to find that Paul McCartney was serenading the city of New York from atop the Ed Sullivan theater. Hoards of people lined the street and those in the office building across from the concert lined up in rows of office windows with their faces practically pressed to the glass. I caught the end of Sir Paul's set. I could vaguely see him through the trees and neon lights of the Late Show sign as he rocked clad in a pink shirt. After Helter Skelter and Back in the USSR, I walked up Broadway to my sitting job, confident that I'd chosen the coolest city in the world to live in, pissed that my camera battery was dead, and feeling momentarily calm in the decisions I've made - while the crowds passed by.

That helps a bit... If only he could play for me every day.

Me walking through Millenium Park (Chicago)