When Trevar texted me a few weeks ago that he had booked flights for us to travel to Boston, I felt my anxiety kick up a few notches. I am a homebody and absolutely hate the thought of travel. There are so many variable when traveling to a new place. Would I be safe? Would the people be rude? Would I feel depressed if the weather was rainy? Would I stress about finding things to eat? Concerns that suck my peace away, but concerns nonetheless. These concerns consumed a big chunk of my energy. It was not until we were on the train to the airport that I found myself relaxing just a teeny, tiny bit.
The flight was full and I found myself sandwiched between Trevar and a beautiful blonde, co-ed from BYU. The blonde girl was vivacious and I suspected she was probably in student government and cheerleading before college. When I asked about her plans for Boston she explained that she and a group of friends were running away for the weekend. I asked about where she was staying, "Oh, we are using this service called AirBNB where you can rent a room from homeowners. And were getting around town on Uber. Have you heard of it?" I suddenly felt old as she patronized me by describing the inner workings of Uber. Since when had I stopped looking young and hip? (When was I EVER hip?!) I just nodded and smiled. The fatigue was making me feel very, very old!
The flight was uneventful. It felt strange traveling when I am usually sleeping. JetBlue offers awesome built-in televisions. I found myself riveted to HouseHunters, International on HGTV, but kept falling asleep just before the couple would announce their choice. This happened through three episodes! I imagine this would be a version of hell from the Far Side creator, Gary Larson.
We landed in Boston at 5:55 am. Our flight was early. We now had two hours to kill before we could drop off our bags at the apartment. (A gorgeous brownstone in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston). The guys bought weeklong mass transit passes and we found ourselves getting dropped off at the finish line for the Boston Marathon. A group of people were gathering at the square to pick up race packets for the Boston Halloween 5K later on in the morning. Other than the runners, the streets were deserted.
We walked down the dark streets to a coffee shop. The sky began to glow dark pink and peach. The quiet of the morning was interrupted by a white compact car screeching up beside us. A woman in a fur-lined parka jumped out from the driver's seat and ran to the middle of the road to shoot a picture of the gorgeous sunrise.
"Never mind me", she said. "I am just a crazy tourist!"
We laughed and said we were tourists, too.
The lady asked where we were from, we shouted "Utah".
"Are you Mormon?", she asked.
"Yes!"
"Me, too! Only I am from Oregon and my mom here is from St. George. Do you guys need a ride anywhere?". We declined her gracious offer and waved goodbye.
It was this moment that I began to feel really calm about our trip. The random mormon lady's goodwill really set the tone for our time in Boston. We saw some beautiful places steeped in history and culture, we encountered gorgeous fall foliage and stunning architecture . But the trip was the most remarkable for the people whose paths we crossed. Each encounter was unexpected, thought-provoking and prized. It was like stumbling throughout the day upon gifts of kindness and goodness.
The flight was full and I found myself sandwiched between Trevar and a beautiful blonde, co-ed from BYU. The blonde girl was vivacious and I suspected she was probably in student government and cheerleading before college. When I asked about her plans for Boston she explained that she and a group of friends were running away for the weekend. I asked about where she was staying, "Oh, we are using this service called AirBNB where you can rent a room from homeowners. And were getting around town on Uber. Have you heard of it?" I suddenly felt old as she patronized me by describing the inner workings of Uber. Since when had I stopped looking young and hip? (When was I EVER hip?!) I just nodded and smiled. The fatigue was making me feel very, very old!
The flight was uneventful. It felt strange traveling when I am usually sleeping. JetBlue offers awesome built-in televisions. I found myself riveted to HouseHunters, International on HGTV, but kept falling asleep just before the couple would announce their choice. This happened through three episodes! I imagine this would be a version of hell from the Far Side creator, Gary Larson.
We landed in Boston at 5:55 am. Our flight was early. We now had two hours to kill before we could drop off our bags at the apartment. (A gorgeous brownstone in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston). The guys bought weeklong mass transit passes and we found ourselves getting dropped off at the finish line for the Boston Marathon. A group of people were gathering at the square to pick up race packets for the Boston Halloween 5K later on in the morning. Other than the runners, the streets were deserted.
We walked down the dark streets to a coffee shop. The sky began to glow dark pink and peach. The quiet of the morning was interrupted by a white compact car screeching up beside us. A woman in a fur-lined parka jumped out from the driver's seat and ran to the middle of the road to shoot a picture of the gorgeous sunrise.
"Never mind me", she said. "I am just a crazy tourist!"
We laughed and said we were tourists, too.The lady asked where we were from, we shouted "Utah".
"Are you Mormon?", she asked.
"Yes!"
"Me, too! Only I am from Oregon and my mom here is from St. George. Do you guys need a ride anywhere?". We declined her gracious offer and waved goodbye.
It was this moment that I began to feel really calm about our trip. The random mormon lady's goodwill really set the tone for our time in Boston. We saw some beautiful places steeped in history and culture, we encountered gorgeous fall foliage and stunning architecture . But the trip was the most remarkable for the people whose paths we crossed. Each encounter was unexpected, thought-provoking and prized. It was like stumbling throughout the day upon gifts of kindness and goodness.
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