Just What The Doctor Ordered

So it's a bit overdue.

Sick of the monotony of everyday life? Don’t see the point of dragging yourself out of bed? Are the hands of the clock seemingly stuck? Well, have no fear, Dr. Lee is here with a diagnosis, and perhaps more importantly, a cure for all your ails.

Go on vacation.

For months, my Yahoo Astrology horoscope has eluded to a getaway, a trip, a vacation. And ordinarily, considering that I have not set foot beyond the boundaries of the Greater Toronto Area, I would just dismiss the notion. But for once, the good doctor decided to heed her own advice, and the will of the stars.

Apparently, I wasn’t alone. My cousin Maggie was equally eager to wander beyond the expanse known as the GTA so she took the initiative to sign us up for Jacco Tours’ New York City shopping tour. No sightseeing tour for me. Let’s not sugar coat the trip and call it anything other than what it was – it was all about the shopping. And so it was that armed with my trusty pictureless birth certificate, adequate amounts of spending money and a sufficiently large duffle bag (to put all the purchases in), I ventured across the divide and onto foreign turf.

While the trip itself lasted for only three days, being on a bus for upwards of eight hours to get to your destination and then to have that repeated on the return trip makes the trip feel like an eternity. And oddly enough, when I got back to town, it was almost surreal, as though the trip never happened at all. As though it was merely a figment of my imagination…but I have the receipts to prove that I was indeed there.

But it truly was an experience. I got to live and breathe all that is New York City, if only for a few hours. And I can tell you that of all the places I’ve been (and the list is rather short), Times Square is among my most favourite. I guess one of the things about working at a monotonous and repetitive summer job is that it eats away at your soul. It takes away from your optimism and your vigour and zest for life and living. Sounds dramatic, I know, but it’s really not that far from the truth. Anyway, I doubt that there’s anywhere in the world that comes close to New York City, and in particular Time Square, in terms of the energy it exudes. The energy there is so palpable that it’s able to awaken and invigorate even the most drained of souls.

I did the touristy-type things and purchased souvenirs to commemorate the experience – a shirt from MTV and a t-shirt from ESPN. I regret not getting this Apprentice-type t-shirt from the NBC store. Next time…

Needless to say, 5 hours in NYC is a severely inadequate time to take in the city. They really weren’t kidding when they say that NYC is the city that never sleeps. I can’t get over how much is going on at one time. In small doses (i.e. vacations) I think it’s the perfect remedy for a case of the blues, however, I could never imagine living there. One’s life shouldn’t always move at the speed of a New York minute. So here’s my suggestion for an ideal life pace at which to move: in between a New York minute and a public service minute. LOL.

In stark contrast to the bustle of the big city, the rest of the trip was comprised of time spent in massive outlet malls/complexes. These monstrous buildings are located in the middle of absolutely nowhere, surrounded by pastures and grazing cattle. Maggie and shopped until we dropped, literally. But we managed to keep a good check on our expenses, the fact that the sales weren’t dirt cheap and that the things that were on sale weren’t really to our tastes helped on that front. There were people on our bus who did take full advantage of the shopping tour though, bringing bags full of goods back into the country. We got a kick out of the fact that most of their purchases were things that we saw in the stores, pointed at, and tried to stiffen our laughter. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. These people were very professional about their shopping experience, keeping in constant contact with one another via their set of walkie-talkies. Now, that’s hard-core!

I got exactly what I wanted out of the trip – distance from home. But by the end of the three days, and as much as I enjoyed NYC, I longed to be back at home, in the comfort of my own bed (although the beds at the Hilton were very comfy) and with my wireless Internet connection. I’m an Internet junkie. My fingers started to twitch after three days with absolutely no Internet – the telltale sign of an addict. And the time staring at the miles upon miles of greenery – trees and grass – that line the highway, I longed to go back to civilization. With my separation from everyday life, I began to miss it. So when the CN tower and the skyscrapers that paint the Toronto skyline came back into view, I felt my heart beat a little faster – I was home.

And then it was back to reality first thing Tuesday morning. It’s amazing how long weekends always pass you by faster than the run-of-the-mill weekend. A New York minute…and what a great minute it was.