Wanderlust

Brooklyn, NY

Mar 18, 2026

Dammit. I keep getting distracted.

One more skip before the third and final thread about surrogate pet care and personal growth. Not that any of your are counting.

Chronologically plays before Greece.

Growing up, it was always my older sister that wanted to travel. She saved all of her chore money in high school to spend a summer abroad in France. It did not end there. In fact, she has not lived in or near our home town since she finished her Bachelor’s degree at Gonzaga in…well, I don’t know exactly. I was an angsty self-indulgent teenager at the time.

I have often said I live vicariously through her and bro-in-law in their lust for travel. Historically I was game if it was easy and cheap. When you have young kids, those things don’t really go together.

Honestly, I also never felt like I traveled easily (besides with my sister).

I hate planning things, especially big things. I don’t like feeling responsible for other people’s happiness. I get pouty when I have to compromise. Energy levels, entertainment preferences and rigid schedules are what come to mind when I think about traveling with another person. I am a pain in the ass to travel with (probably).

After living alone several years post-divorce, boarding pets, developing in my space, having kids graduating from high school and on to college, I started thinking about things I might want to do and see, outside of the bordering states.

On a whim, I bought tickets to a concert in Williamsburg, NY. The band from Isle of Wight was new at the time and concert tickets were $25. They sold out in Seattle and Portland. So I bought them for a show at Brooklyn Steel a few months out.

I didn’t know if I would actually go and if I did, who I would go with. I figured for $50, I wouldn’t lose sleep if I did not commit in the end.

My oldest heard me talking to a friend about the purchase and nonchalantly mentioned she wouldn’t mind visiting New York. I absolutely was going to make the trip happen from there.

I booked our flights and hotel and started mentally preparing myself for the journey ahead. This planning did not feel painful. It was different, because I was doing it for my daughter.

Mostly.

Sort of.

We boarded a plane to the MSP hub, bought a Golden Girls coloring book and Prince magnet, before jumping on our connecting flight to NY, arriving at our destination without any trouble.

Our hotel was modern, cheap and in a cool spot. It was embedded in an urban neighborhood with access to everything within blocks. There was also a waterfront park with paved running paths and mind-blowing skyline views a few blocks from the hotel.

The only thing she really wanted to do on the trip was to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Nintendo store in Rockefeller Square.

I didn’t really have any plans other than the concert, so there was some give in our timeline for whatever else came up.

Besides our set plans, we shopped at a few book and magazine shops, surveyed a few dining options and chilled.

On our trip to Manhattan, we started at the Vessel in Hudson Yards. I thought we would be able to tour the towering art installation but alas, they had closed the walkway to the top for a period of time. I won’t go down that sad path here.

At least there was a great candy store inside the fancy mall behind this.

Most of our day was spent at the Met. My daughter had an early passion for art history and majored in that area later in college. It is hard to express the pride I felt as she tutored me in art styles, influences and personal artist details. We easily spent several hours in a small number of wings that afternoon.

The last stop before finding our way back to the hotel was the Nintendo store. Apparently one of a small number of its kind. We are a family of nerds, sorry.

Other than some nasty blisters my kiddo acquired from walking a couple miles from through Manhattan in Doc Martens, and a brief panic attack in the subway tunnel (after I finally found an entrance), pleading with my brain to understand the route map on the platform before throwing in the towel, climbing our way back to the street and hailing a cab, the trip was going really well.

Oh, and the concert. That was fun too. At least from my perspective.

This trip was the biggest leap I had taken to date.

Traveling across the country to a destination I knew very little about for reasons that felt painstakingly whimsical as the date grew nearer. Embarking on the journey with my first born, who left the house sparingly during teen years. Feeling fully responsible for both of our welfare.

But you know, I did a great job. And so did she.

I planned ahead but not overly. We monitored each other’s energy levels and didn’t push each other to concede on any point (besides the subway). We didn’t need to spend every minute together, but made a valiant effort to remain engaged the whole time.

We learned about each other in subtle ways that felt very special.

I love these memories of our first big trip together. We have had several more concert adventures together since. And she’s joining me in New Orleans later this year. I can hardly wait.♥

Thanks for reading!

-Melanie❤️