What Justin is thinking…

I was writing that last post on the bus to Portsmith and as soon as I finished I walked up the front to ask the bus driver if we would get to the ferry terminal if we were late, he shrugged and said that we should. A strapping young Texan chap over heard me and said that he was catching the ferry as well. So I sat down and started chatting to him, and we didn’t stop chatting until 9 hours later when we fell asleep on the benches of the cafeteria on the ferry at 4 in the morning. He was the perfect travel buddy as he was full of stories, intelligent, personable, honest, opinionated and modest. Growing up he and his father were homeless when he was quite young, but they sorted themselves out and he studied very hard and got good grades. He is now studying criminology at the London School of Economics which Mike had told me in New York was a very good university – up there with Cambridge and Oxford. We talked about travel, philosophy, religion, economics, relationships and family – the whole shebang.  Upon reaching St. Malo at 6:30 we shared a taxi to the trains station where we said goodbye and as I owed him two pounds but didn’t have it on me I told him I would shout him a drink when we meet up in London again. And I hope we do.
From St. Malo I caught a few trains to get to my little village. At one of these villages, St. Breiuc I was pretty keen to use the ‘facilities’ as I had been up all night talking to a Texan chap that I met on the Ferry and hadn’t had the chance. I wandered around, with pack on back and found one outside near the railway tracks. In typical French style I had to pay 20 centimes to get in, and I was willing to do so. Once my coin dropped in the slot, the door slid magically open, I stepped inside, and after a pause the door closed. I sat my bag down and looked for the lock, I slid the only lever there and the door opened again, and stayed open for about 5 – 10 seconds and then closed. Hmm, I thought, no biggie. Whilst sitting on the can however, I pondered what would happen if someone else put a coin in the slot, and just like reality followed the direction of my thought, it happened. My cries were too late and the door opened right up and stayed open for a very very long couple of seconds. All I could do was apoligise to anyone who walked passed. I felt quite the goose indeed.
I had about five hours to kill in St. Breiuc so I grabbed a caramel tea (amazing!) in a bar, ate a packed sandwich and then wandered around the town. I was a bit hampered by my large pack, but thankfully a guard told me to leave it at the door of a shop so I took full advantage of it. I walked around a music and book store for a while – Australia’s musical representatives being ACDC, Kylie, Nick Cave, Empire of the Sun and Midnight Oil – I figure if we are known for these acts then we are doing alright. In the book section I flicked through a kids book, but could only read the first page, so I moved on to the dictionary section. Here I found a French-English dictionary and I looked up ‘excuse me, what’s the time?’ which would actually be quite useful as I didn’t have a watch and I needed to catch the last bus to Rostrennen at 5:30. I tested out my new vocab on the first person near me and with my hand gestures he understood, and answered in French. I didn’t catch what time it was, but I was on such a high that I didn’t mind. I then proceeded to ask another five or ten people with mixed results ranging from confused looks to answering in English even before I did my gestures. I felt like a right local.I then sat in the cold reading a very average book to pass the time as I waited for my bus to come. I was then joined by Caely and Julie who I would spend the next month with in Plelauff.

So my time here in New York and America is coming to an end, and I think it is time to assess the goals that I laid out for myself. The Walking Tours is something that I am quite proud of. Not because they were outstandingly successful, but because it was all my idea and I followed through with it. I ended up making close to $200 in profit and would have shown around 25 people around Harlem, a place they probably wouldn’t have visited otherwise. It didn’t provide me with my main source of income, but I’m not sure how things would have worked out if I had started them sooner in the peak summer season as I had planned. So ill planning there – but if it wasn’t for Mike’s pushing me on, then I wouldn’t have started them at all. I remember having a sunken, defeated feeling when I was living here and not doing what I had planned to do, and I don’t have that anymore. Yesterday I emailed all the 21 hostels that I displayed posters at and told them that the tours are no longer operating. This might normally be a sad moment, but I was still quite happy. They had served their purpose.

So I got to experience what it was like running the whole show myself, and I have learned from it. Just as I did being a cog in the big TOMS machine, and I know that there are benefits to both. Experiencing life lived on a tight budget has also been beneficial, I now know that I don’t want to live my life on a tight budget, but I can if I have to. Which is still quite handy, as I’m not exactly going to have any unneeded money for the next few months and I’m not sure where my next paying job will be.

Currently I still have not heard back from the job that I applied for in LA, so I will just plan for what I know and see what comes. Either way I will be facing a new adventure with different positives – I’ll have a steady job, or I’ll be in a foreign country where they don’t speak English. Whatever’s clever.

I have also been quite fortunate to meet some very cool people along the way who I have really learned from. I’m sure we’ll keep in touch and see each other again somewhere down the track. Right now I’m going to head on out to catch up with Devika for some Doughnuts. I’ve had a stellar day so far which has differed substantially to my normal working ways. I’ve met up with Kim for a coffee, Mia for lunch and later on tonight I’ve got a dinner party to attend – fancy that! What a way to get sent off. Tomorrow morning we are planning on seeing the film Precious which is set in 80’s Harlem, in the Magic Johnson theatres actually in Harlem. I’m quite excited as I have spoken a fair bit about the cinemas on my tour.

Not only have I had a good time in the US but I think I have learned new skills. It was a worthwhile venture.

Progress report:

Tours

I broke even a few weeks ago and am now making a steady profit (when it isn’t raining). The money that I make from it tides me over well for miscellaneous things through out the week (which have increased – read further)

So far the number of people per tour are as follows: (Sunday then Wednesday)

2, 1, 5, 2, 0, 4, 6, 0

Other jobs

I’m still working at the youth hostel, but I’m living at another one in the chain, because our one failed some fire regulations. No biggie, as long as it stays open I should still have a job there, and I can just live here. Works out alright as they will even get me an unlimited metro card

Ticket selling is going very very slow and I’m thinking of it as a few extra dollars rather than a per hour job. I’m averaging about 2 a day ($18), but that is money I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Temp work is going great, I’m getting about three jobs from them a week, doing coat checking, or box shifting or other random things. It pays good money (ten to twelve an hour) and there are great perks – like tips and free cutlery and vegetables.

Fun stuff

I’ve been hanging out with a girl a fair bit recently who I met when I tried to sell her tickets on the street. We have been d0ing lots of different things like going to karaoke bars, plays, movies and comedy shows. I’m having a good time. Not always good for saving money, but good for having fun, and I’m not going to be in NY for that much longer. I should still just have enough to pay for the course in France in a few weeks, if I am still going ahead with that……

04/10/09

I just had my first tour today! Two Slovenian chaps turned up and everything went off with out a hitch. I had good fun doing it, and I”m pretty sure they enjoyed the whole thing too. Now that it is underway I think there is some tinkering that I can do. First up with hooking up a list at the Jazz at the park where I might actually meet people there to take them for the tour – this apparently gets more people in.

I also had my audition for the extras company the other day. It went pretty well, I got called back and they would like to have my head shots. The company takes 10% of everything that you earn, which seems like a fair deal. I don’t have any head shots, but I’m thinking of just sending in some pics that I do have after I play with them a bit on photoshop (replace the background with a plain one).

I tell you what though, it can be hard work rustling up all these different ways to get money. My ticket sales have been consistently poor since I saw the show, I just can’t muster the enthusiasm that I had before, but they still bring me $30 or so a day, which is better than a kick in the pants.

09/30/09

I have received the posters for my tours and today I went around to different hostels setting them up, which is a very cool feeling as it shows that it is actually going to happen. Right now people could be looking at the posters or picking up a flyer and planning in their diaries to go on the tour this Sunday. I have a list of thirty three hostels to visit, and today I successfully put posters in eight. It is actually hard work finding the hostels, and getting to them as this usually involves a fair bit of walking. This was actually made somewhat more time consuming with me having to back track twice having left first thirty dollars worth of flyers and thumbtacks on a bench at a hostel and then my sticky tape. When I realised that I had left my tape behind I was torn between just leaving it there and carrying on and going back. I decided to go back, however when I was there I didn’t find it, the room was empty except for one woman sitting at a table. Just one woman.

Rewind.

Yesterday I was having a pretty lousy day of sales, though having a lot of fun talking to people surprisingly. In my third hour after lunch I got talking to a Brazilian woman who was very nice and spoke quite good English. What made this a little different was that instead of holding my display out infront of me facing her, I held it facing me and I stood next to her. For some reasons it just made it seem like we were on the same team, like old friends discussing what to do next. As it was we got along like lentils and rice, she gave me some money for a ticket that I discounted for her and I raced into a Starbucks to get her some change. Just after she left I noticed that I felt a feeling of guilt, like something wasn’t quite right. And then I realised, I hadn’t told her about the two drink minimum. And it put me in a bit of a downer for the rest of the afternoon.

Fast forward.

This one woman in the room was that Brazilian woman. The same one. She recognised me first and I was so happy and I told her so and explained about the two drinks minimum. She said that I had already mentioned it though. So perhaps I was just feeling a bit guilty about selling something to someone who I was just being friendly with?

Tomorrow I will complete putting up all of the posters and have a trial run through the tour with Mike. I’m feeling pretty good about it now. The posters look quite professional – much better than the vast majority of other tour posters there, and I’m also feeling quite confident with my knowledge of Harlem. This will be put to the test when I actually have to start talking to actual people – the test with Mike will be very useful I think. Especially in comforting my fears. Mike knows far more about Harlem than I do, so if I can give him a tour, then I should be able to give a tourist one.

Price list:

Colour posters (60): $35

Black and white flyers (300): $30

Clear display packets (100): $10

Thumbtacks (200): $2.79

Sticky Tape: $3

Estimated loss of income: $27

Total: $110. 79

This means that I need 12 people to come to break even. I’m only running tours twice a week which enables me to still work a five day week selling tickets which is the maximum allowed. For the moment I’m still working part time as I’m just now looking into doing some ‘extra’ work for films and what not. I’ve got an audition tomorrow but I’ve got a feeling it might just be another ‘give us money and we’ll get you a job (possibly)’ kind of thing. Worth a shot though.

23/09/09

My last week of ticket selling was my best ever, though my last two days were deplorable. This is in a large way due to my being worn out but also to a new factor. I have now seen the show. It wasn’t that the show was bad, but it wasn’t exactly what I had been told it was. There were non professional comedians and it really brought to light the whole ‘two drink minimum’. Everyone there was getting a bit drinky drinky. And after that although I was trying I could only sell 3 tickets the following day and only a half ticket the day after. I just couldn’t do it – I did try, really try a fair bit of the time, though I was telling the truth now as I knew it. ‘The only club to have all professional comedians who must be on network tv at least five times’ was now ‘The only club to have almost all professional comedians with many being on tv at least five times’. This despite not really working well, juxtaposed greatly to people who would talk during our lunch break of deliberately leading people astray. And the gravy on top of my mashed potatoes of disappointment was that when I met special people (like the Irish couple on their honeymoon) I would give them a drinks voucher for free because it would make them happy. But I really don’t like supporting drinking. I like making people happy, but not drinky drinky happy. So I’ve been hunting around and I’ve applied for a dog walking job which should pay similarly, and give me more time too.

This week I have been working at the Clinton Global Initiative which is a giant meeting of very important and influential world leaders. In the last two days I have seen Bill Clinton, President Obama, Al Gore, Muhammad Yunus, the Prime Minister of Ireland and an ex president of Nigeria (who I took a photo of with a journo). It is very interesting being involved with such a large event and seeing very important people. However my primary job is pretty basic. I escort the press from room to room – even the bathroom. Still seeing how they are dealt with is interesting, especially compared to the speakers. Basically even though everyone needs the press, they are herded about, crammed in rooms tight together and shuffled along regularly. It is a very educational experience as I get to listen into many sessions and I get to learn about social issues and professions that I am interested in. Also on a more basic level it floats my love boat too, here’s why…

I get to walk around all day wearing a tie and fancy pants feeling very professional and like a true New Yorker.

I get three massive meals a day and they are amazing. So much quality variety and quantity and I can eat as much as I like. These are all good things.

The people that I work with are all really cool and come from all over the world.

I get to see famous people! (Matt Damon, Barbara Strisand, Demi More, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt and Ricky Martin are all here)

09/08/09

I’ve very much taken up my original challenge of Harlem Tours and I’m making some headway. So far I’ve completed almost 70% of my initial research, mapped and walked my course, written content for the posters, contacted the designer and written a business plan. I’m enjoying having a project to work on during the day and am feeling more and more confident about it, though I still hesitate before telling people what I’m doing. That makes sense though, as I have already bailed from it once before – once bitten twice shy and all. I’ll work again tomorrow but the following day I will work on a website, secure a domain name, do some more research and have another walk of the course and try to get familiar with my content and the area.

Last week I only worked three days but I still made $158, which was only a sliver less than the week before when I worked full time, so I’m still in a good place financially. I only actually expect this venture to cost me around $100 in start up costs, so if it can make that back and anything more then I will be cheering!

On another note it is starting to get just a bit nippier here, so I have been thinking about my cold weather gear. I’ve got a lovely woolen jumper that I have worn everywhere – but it is starting to look a little ratty as it’s got some holes in it. I might just throw it away and get another one….Ha, as if! I’m thinking that I might go to a sewing store and purchase some patches to cover it up. While I was in a Ralph Lauren store looking at some high brow TOMS the other day, I saw that the latest fashion there is to have large letters sewn across a jumper. I might also throw some patches onto the sleeves too though.

Oh and I heard back from TOMS, I was the first person to return the surveys and pics – and as an additional prize I got an extra pair of shoes! I’d already planned to give the first pair away, but I don’t know what to do with the second. What a dilemma!

09/04/09

Flash back!!! Here is a brief recount of some of my earlier travels. After I left TOMS I stayed a while with some of my intern buddies in San Francisco. Ryan and I had deliberately left the TOMSmahal early on Saturday so that we would be prepared for the Bay to Breakers running race the next day. Though running and racing were actually quite far from our intentions. This is a road race that attracts over 80 000 participants every year and stretches the 10 miles from down town to the beach. Each years Ryan and his pals dress up, and this year thanks to a suggestion from Claire one of our house mates, we decided to go as Octomum – a mother who became quite famous here for having Octuplets. So Ryan’s step brother dressed up as a mother, and nine of us dressed up as babies (whose really going to count) in actual adult nappies and baby bibs. That was all. The girls wore singlets and some special male undies as they offered more coverage. Ryan carried a backpack with a change of clothes for us and some spare alcohol to fill up his babies bottle when the white russian ran dry. The race itself was brilliant, lots of people music and costumes. My favourite was a man dressed as Obama who was pushed on a lectern and surrounded by fifteen security guards who would attack anyone spraying him with a water pistol. Though running a close second was a man who wore nothing more than a tea bag tied around the knob of his penis. He was the only one dressed like that, so I guess points for originality. When we made it to the beach we dashed across the incredibly hot sand and plunged into the painfully chilling water. It was the coldest water I’ve ever been in, and only a half hour lay in the sun was able to thaw me out. After wards Ryan and his friend Vanessa and I decided to explore the beaches and cliffs a bit so we parted from the rest of the group and scampered all around some marvelous rough land with wicked views. We discovered a maze made out of rocks and at the centre was a geo cache. Geo Chacheing involves putting coordinates for a specific place online, and challenging people to find it. If they do they leave a small token to acknowledge that they found it. Ryan left the key to our TOMS intern house. We left the ragged cliffs and made our way back to civilisation through a golf course, and it was here that I started to feel bad that Ryan and I were fully clothed, while Vanessa was only wearing a tea shirt and the mens underpants as the nappy had got soggy in the water. I thus proposed that we play a game of scissors, paper rock and the loser loses their pants for an hour. I lost and for the next hour walked through the streets of San Francisco wearing a tea shirt, undies and joggers – not surprisingly I received many a strange look. When it came time to replay for the pants, we decided that in order to be entirely fair we should probably all just go sans pants and not isolating the individual. So we all walked in our tighty whities into a chinese shop for some tucker, across crowded intersections and finally caught a bus back to Ryan’s place. Upon arrival Devika and Claire were there with Claire’s parents. This was the first time we had really met them and we wanted to assure them that we were trustworthy people. I tried really hard to be sincere and wholesome, though you can only try so hard when your standing in Y fronts. The look on Claire’s mum’s face was priceless – it went instantly from shocked ‘what the?’ to ‘okay, I’m very worried but these are Claire’s friends and I’ll try not to let it show’. This would have to be the best way I’ve ever exposed myself to a city.