New York, New York

I didn’t’ get much sleep in the night bus to New York. But according to my seat neighbor you can easily go there without, because electricity will keep you awake. And he was right. After 10 hours in the bus and 2 hours delay I arrived at Bobs, my host in Manhattan. I already knew what to expect, so I wasn’t surprised when Bob welcomed me completely naked. Since more than 30 years, Bob has been a nudist. I really hoped he’d say: “Christoph, you look so tired, do you want to lay down a bit?” Instead he asked me if I wanted to join him, a flatmate and another couch surfer to go to Sandy Hook Beach. Since I wanted to stick to my principles (never saying “No” to an offer from one of my hosts) I of course said “Yes”. So just an hour after my arrival we were on a ferry to the beach. I could imagine what kind of beach it would be and soon a sign confirmed my assumption: “Attention, there may be nudists.”

At that weekend I was able to check off one point of my to-do-list: Visiting a music festival in the USA. After seeing the line-up of a festival taking place in Queens, which included headliners like Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gorillaz, I didn’t hesitate. I was thrilled about that line-up, which made it difficult for me to decide which performance I wanted to see. That kind of line-up was standard for the Americans. They told me it has been even better the previous years. But this didn’t temper my enthusiasm and I enjoyed every single beat.

Whenever I meet Austrians during my trip it’s always a little “bad”, as the evenings can get really long and usually end up to be very “liquid”. At a couch surfer meet-up in Manhattan I met a couple from Styria. They were spending the last days of their round-the-world-trip in New York.

Some would say that people in New York aren’t friendly and that the city is very insecure – I can’t confirm that. Even if you wake up in the middle of the night in the Bronx after falling asleep in the subway, you’ll still have your cell and your wallet and people will help you find your way home. That’s why it wasn’t a difficult decision for me, after a short stop in Boston, to stay in Bobs apartment in New York for two more days. I will miss his greetings in the morning: “Good morning handsome guy! How was your sleep?”