In the Beginning...

Huddle 'round, kids. I wanna tell y'all a story.

*Flashback to May 30 - June 1, 2009*

The week prior to my move to New York was less than exciting by any measure. Because I love the stress that comes with doing things at the very last moment, I moved out of my apartment and packed for a summer in the Big Apple in four days time. Awesome idea, I know. On Saturday, May 30, I departed from Austin and arrived on The Mountain (my hometown: Beaumont, Texas - more to come on this) late that night and went through my luggage to make sure I didn't pack my lighter fluid, meat cleavers or swords in my luggage. After a few hours of sleep, the family loaded up the truck and we made our way to Houston for my grand departure. We said our goodbyes and I made my way through security and boarded the plane. I was exhausted at this point and would have loved nothing more than to curl into the fetal position and sleep for three days.

On the plane, I was determined to get some sleep. I was green with envy as everyone around me snuggled into their seats, selected the "sleepy time" playlists on their iPods and dozed off. As my eyes started to close, I was jerked back to reality by the screeching of a small infant. The mother tried her best to hush her little one, but he was persistent and cried for what seemed like an eternity. The mother's other child was about 5-years-old and sat directly behind me. He had fun pinching my ears and slapping me across the top of the head when his mother wasn't looking. Yea, you guessed it - no sleep for me on the plane.

Finally, I land in New York Citay! Before I get on the Super Shuttle, I do a self-check to make sure I have all of my belongings.

"Wallet? Check. Two suitcases? Check. Backpack? Check. Looks like I'm good to go."

I get on the Super Shuttle and ride around for about 2 hours as the other passengers are dropped off. We get to my place and an overwhelming sense of joy washes over me. Like a dehydrated man in the desert, I run towards the mirage of my summer housing, ready to unpack my bags and take a nap. I take my bags and go into the lobby and perform another self-check while I wait for the receptionist to set me up in a room.

"Wallet? Check. Two suitcases? Check. Backpack?....umm, backpack?!? Oh *insert expletive here*!"

I run outside and place my hands on top of my head as I see all the cars driving by with no Super Shuttle in sight. Let me give you a little rundown of the treats in my b-pack and you will understand why I'd rather walk barefoot on flaming coals than experience this again.

My backpack contained:

• Laptop (No explanation needed)
• Passport (Ditto)
• External hard drive (8000+ songs, work samples from prior internships and important documents)
• 2 checkbooks for different accounts (Wrong thing to lose)
• Check card (Even worse thing to lose)
• Important papers for work (I was given explicit instructions to bring these on my first day)
• Phone charger (My cell was down to 30% and I had some serious phone calls to make)

Basically, everything I needed to survive for the summer and everything anyone off the street needed to steal my identity.

I frantically call Super Shuttle and was reassured that my bag was safe with the driver. The dispatcher took my number and said the driver would call me later when he wasn't on call to work out a time to drop off the goods. My dad and I spend the next 24 hours going back and forth with Super Shuttle as they worked to locate the driver with the nondescript North Face bag holding my most prized worldly possessions.

The next day, the driver makes contact with me and returns my bag. A hasty look through its contents revealed that everything was accounted for! I gave him a generous tip and said a quick prayer of gratitude as my heart stopped trying to jump through my chest to punch me in the head for doing such a foolish thing. I still haven't told my mom this story - she would flip 12 kinds of crazy if she knew.

That night, I went to La Linea to have a drink and calm my nerves. I spoke with the bartendress, Robyn, and explained my journey from Texas to NYC. "Welcome to the city," she said. To which I simply replied "Thanks, Robyn, it has been quite an adventure thus far. Lord knows what will happen next..."

Lessons learned:

• Get plenty of sleep
• Don't pack all of your important things in one bag
• When traveling, keep your phone charged
• Be nice to service people - they handle your things

dw