Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Traveling to Niagara Falls

Korrin B.

August 7, 2009 - 10:00 PM

I love traveling. I love everything about it, in fact. I love getting lost on New York City subways. I love seeing people coming and going. I love the moments of comfort and the moments of confusion. I love exploring new foods and stores. I love flying. I even, oddly, in some way, love the hassle of airport security lines.

Today I traveled with three other counselors from my camp to Niagara Falls. We are actually all program specialists at camp. I teach art to the younger kids, one of them teaches art to the older girls, another teaches photography, and the other teaches outdoor living skills. We decided to fly to Buffalo from New York City because it was only $10 more than the train and took an hour and a half as opposed to eight and a half hours.

First, we had lunch at possibly the cutest Mexican food restaurant ever. It was in Manhattan and was decorated very classy, but with a modern flair. The lights hung from the ceiling in all sorts of bright colors. Their chicken enchiladas with mole sauce were incredible. Next, we set off to initially go explore Times Square. However, we decided to just head toward the JFK airport instead because we didn't want to carry around all of our heavy backpacks. It's a good thing we left when we did!

It took us a few hours to figure out how to get from where we were to the airport via mass transit. I loved it though. Subways are a neat place to people watch. We eventually got there and it was the perfect time to check in. We had some tasty airport dinner, bopped around shops for a bit, and then headed to board our plane.

I'm beginning to realize that flights out of JFK are just delayed for the most part. There are just so many planes leaving from it, that you have to wait forever for your plane's turn. Even after we had boarded and left the gate, our plane taxied forever. We were sixth in line to take off. When we did take off, it was dark out and as I looked out the window I could see about ten other planes in the distance that were all taking off too. It was pretty cool!

As our plane climbed in altitude, I continued to gaze out of my window. Right by my side was the glowing, white moon. Below me were the bright lights of New York City and the moon's reflection on the waters outside Manhattan. It was one of those magical moments. I am a traveler. I am meant to wander the world and find poetry in what I see.

We took a taxi from the Buffalo airport to our hotel. We were too tired to hassle with public transportation at that point. Our hotel is a five-minute walk from the Niagara Falls Park and I can see Canada from my window! It is so incredible to find yourself in a new part of the world. Now, I am off to bed and when I awake, I will be seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the World.