Two days in Philadelphia showed me that your travel experience depends more on how you plan the trip based on what you want out of it than on the destination itself. One place, two days, two totally different outcomes; both nice, both good, both useful.
Even new can feel old
Halfway through my 2018 Work and Travel stay, I started to feel like the days were becoming all the same, like I was just creating another routine. Since I simply can’t stay in any routine for too long, I decided that it was time to take a break from it. I had just one day off every week, so I had to ask my employer for an extra one. Once she agreed, I decided on the destination and planned it all out. I picked Philadelphia because it wasn’t too far from where I was staying, so I could reach it by bus in three and half hours hours. Earlier that year, I heard about an app where people let you sleep in their house for free and I decided to try it out. It wasn’t easy to find someone, since I was new there, and I had no references. After a week, though, I found a guy named Ari who accepted my request for one night.
Day 1
I left at 6 in the morning so I could be in Philly early and have as much of the day as possible. Once I got on the bus it started to drizzle, but the closer I got to the final station, the harder it poured. When I got off the bus, I received a message on my phone: “Flash Flood Alert”. My phone had never showed me anything like that before, so it threw me off a little. As I walked through the station, I looked out at the road, and it wasn’t a road anymore; it was a river. The wheels of the cars parked there were about 1/3 under water. I had no idea what to do. I was stuck at the bus station in shorts and a T-shirt without any jacket or raincoat. “Whatever, I am not letting the weather ruin my trip!” So I went out and ran to the closest CVS to buy an umbrella, and I walked out with it proudly.
The plan for the day was to see most of the sights on my list. I just put my Beats on and followed my offline maps. I walked in between huge dominos in the Board Game Art Park, heading to Love Park to take a picture by the famos statue. There I actually had a small talk with three sisters who took a picture of me, since I took theirs. I saw a museum and a few old buildings and fountains on the way to the Rocky statue. I asked a stranger to take a video of me running the steps like Rocky did. I saw a golden statue of Joan of Arc. The park was great. After that, I was heading to meet the stranger who invited me to stay over.
Once I got to his house, it was kinda awkward. We had no idea what to talk about, but after a short while, I felt like we had known each other for years, like we are old friends. We talked all night, and it was about 3 a.m. when we decided to go climbing together in the morning.
Day 2
We woke up around 8 and went straight to the climbing wall. I don’t know if Ari just had nothing better to do, but he wanted to spend the whole day with me. He took me to Edgar Allan Poe’s house, where I had really wanted to go. But with him, it was much more fun than if I had gone there alone. We watched a short movie about E.A. Poe’s life, and walked through the house reading a guide we were given. Reading the true story, editing it with our funny comments; it simply became my favorite memory of Philly.
“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity “
Edgar Allan Poe
After that, we went to a few parks and we ended up in Chinatown buying some food items we had never seen in our life (if you ever have the opportunity to try longan, do it! It’s yummy) and sharing them on a park bench while saying our thank you’s and goodbye’s because I had to catch the last bus.
On my way back, I was just thinking how great that day actually was, even though we were just planning it as it went. I never imagined it to be like that and I couldn’t ask for more. That’s when I realized how totally different these two days were, despite the fact that I was still in the same city.
Conclusion
The first day was great, I was just walking around with my Beats on, seeing all the sights I wanted to see. The plans were just up to me. I could do whatever I wanted to do, I could go wherever I wanted to go to see whatever I wanted to see. I went to places I had never been to before. I learned a bit of history so I understood the city a little better, and it was quite a chill day. On the second day, I had someone to share those fun moments with. It was not as much about getting to know those places as having fun and enjoying whatever we did. I would normally say that going climbing in a new city, where you only have 2 days, is a waste of time because you can do it anywhere. But for this trip, it was just that one piece I needed to complete the puzzle.
On the scale from touristy to fun, I was on both ends during that trip. (touristy-Rocky stairs, fun-climbing). But there must be a perfect ratio of those two where you simply enjoy getting to know new places. For me, it was right in the Edgar Allan Poe’s house.
Where I have been 
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