humor

By Liam Walker

My trip to Ocean City, New Jersey is one I will always remember. I felt so out of place, but also like I belonged there. It was, and still is, one of the weirdest feelings I have ever experienced.

Someone shook me awake, and I managed to read the clock on the wall.

3:45 am.

Disgusting.

Absolute mayhem engulfed the house as we all wrangled our suitcases and pillows to fill the van before we got out on the road. Jake’s mom made a point that she will absolutely leave us if we were not in the car by 4 am. When it comes to punctuality, Dawn does not mess around.

With Jake’s mom in the driver’s seat, his two brothers passed out in the second row, and Jake and I smushed in the third row of the Honda Odyssey, we set out to beautiful New Jersey. I had never been on a trip without my family, so I could barely wait to go to the ocean and visit a real-life boardwalk. The trip, in total, was around eight hours, but thankfully we were asleep for about five of them.

The whole car ride felt like a fever dream. Dawn stopped at least 6 times for bathroom breaks, and every groan we made was followed by a rant about how having children messes with your bladder. Jake and I cannot hear this spiel again, so we put our headphones back in and try to fall back asleep.

We arrived at his aunt and uncle’s house, and it was gorgeous. I never knew what a 1.5-million-dollar house would look like, let alone what it would feel like to live in one for two months.

Coming from a single-parent household, they had things that I never imagined people would need. An outdoor shower for when you get back from the beach, which I may add was a 4-minute bike ride from their house. And a garage full of beach bikes, kayaks, innertubes, jet skis, and a dock in the backyard that was connected to the marina. I would have been content with living there for the rest of my life, but it was time for Jake to show me what we really came here for: the boardwalk.

Originating from a small town in Ohio, I found the diversity of food and people that occupied this boardwalk almost overwhelming. After the initial shock from the sheer beauty of my surroundings passed, I decided it was time to take it all in. Never had I seen a place with a pizza shop every ten steps, hundreds of gift shops, and people genuinely enjoying themselves with no consequences. My unrequited nostalgia was interrupted by a high-pitched scream. A little girl was sharing her ice cream with the friendly seagull that swan dived onto her head. Or at least, that’s what her parents were trying to tell her. It took every muscle in my body to keep me from smiling, but I looked over at Jake and his brothers and they were already cackling. I had to give in and join in on the fun.

Did people actually live here?

***

It was a magical place where anything was allowed. Bikers and pedestrians shared the boardwalk simultaneously in perfect harmony while, back home, if you don’t get hit by a car, you’d chalk it up as a good day. In a place so foreign to me, I felt truly at home and accepted by those around me. No one person could be singled out as weird or out of place. Even the performers at The Freak Show were celebrated for being themselves. Complete strangers would give nods of approval and the occasional whistle with a “good job.” It was absolutely amazing to see such pure balance.

Ocean City Boardwalk at busy night hours with the Ferris wheel lit up

Throughout my time in Ocean City, I realized that I wanted to live like everyone on that boardwalk. Happy and unapologetic. And to live like this, you have to be stable within yourself and have the means to back it up. I had been surrounded by people with financial distress all my life, and it made them miserable. That trip was the final push for me to apply to college. And I am so happy that I did. I needed that change of perspective to see that life is what you make of it.

Life does not run you.

You are in control of your own happiness.

By Liam Walker

As I step outside onto the shimmering asphalt, my feet feel as if they are about to melt. I have been dared to see how long I can stand the smoldering blacktop on my bare feet. Long story short, I only lasted about 2 seconds. After putting my flip-flops back onto my raw feet, I feel immediately relieved. Next comes the hard part.

The art of crossing the street in Phan Thiết, Vietnam is a skill that takes years to master. The sound alone of the motorists zooming past and people speaking to relatives across the road is more than enough to give you a migraine for days. The only piece of advice I received from my girlfriend was, “Whatever you do, don’t stop moving. They will go around you.” At the time, I didn’t understand that what she had just said would be a golden rule.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you found tadpoles in the pond? If you’re from the city and have no idea what I am talking about, let me fill you in. When you stick your finger in the water, all of the tadpoles will disperse in every single direction away from you or act like you aren’t even there and swim around you. When you are crossing the street, you are your finger and the motorists are the tadpoles.

DO NOT STOP MOVING.

FEAR CANNOT EXIST OR YOU WILL GET HIT!

After my experience with the tadpoles moving 65mph, I had to stop to reapply sunscreen. Even with this melanin I still get sunburnt! We all rave about how nice hot weather is, that is until we are actually in direct fire of the sniper we call the Sun.

As I stuff my sunscreen back into my bookbag, a street vendor offers me phó. Phó is a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup and is served in North America usually as a dinner, but in Vietnam, it is an all-day food. I learned this the hard way when my girlfriend’s family ordered phó for us all at 8 am for breakfast. Now don’t get me wrong, I love phó, but not at 8 am in 97° weather.

Looking around the busy downtown of Phan Thiết you will see so many different people, food choices, and even some wacky pets on leashes. The food selection is my favorite (what a surprise, right?), but let me explain why. There is one older woman who walks around every day downtown selling this delicious coconut ice cream on a stick. Mango and dragon fruit are to die for. The mangoes almost have the texture of butter and there are no fibers that get stuck in your teeth, and the dragon fruit is grown only 15 minutes down the road. This is a freshness you could never get back home in the states, and to be honest it sucks that I have to travel this far for my tongue to be this happy.

My favorite part of the Vietnamese food culture downtown would be the small street restaurants. You would never know they were there if you didn’t have a local from the city to let you in on all the best eats because they don’t look anything like our restaurants. The vendors have around three chairs and a small Blackstone they use to cook on, and usually only specialize in one specific dish. And let me tell you, they don’t need to cook anything else because wow, is it amazing.

After reading about my time in Vietnam, I’d like to let you in on a little secret. I’ve never set foot out of the United States. All of these accounts were a merging of stories and descriptions provided by my girlfriend Zoë along with my imagination. Because of the pandemic, most of us cannot travel right now (and you shouldn’t be!), but the purpose of this essay was to show my readers that traveling does not need to involve movement in space. Travel is whatever you want it to be.