旅行日誌:從紐約"漂游"到內華達
When Andy Malone, 30, and Rebecca Grixti landed in New York on June 22nd, they had no itinerary planned for their trip across America. “We want to do what the Americans do on normal days and normal weekend” said Malone, who is from Dublin, Ireland.
6月22日，當30歲的安迪•馬龍和麗貝卡•格里斯蒂到達紐約時，他們壓根兒沒有爲橫跨美國的旅程計劃好路線。“我們想做美國人在平時及普通週末時所做的事情，”來自愛爾蘭都柏林的馬龍說。
紐約
And what better way to do that than to leave all of the planning and travel decisions to the American people? “We're putting the faith of our trip in other peoples' hand and it's worked out amazingly so far,” Malone said. Malone and Grixti, who are friends and work as travel consultant came up with the concept that's guiding them from their starting point in New York to their final destination in Nevada at the end of August. “Ten week two people, one direction: You Decide Where,” said Grixti, of Melbourne, Australia.
還有什麼其他方式比把所有的計劃及旅遊決定留給美國人自己去做更好呢？“我們把旅行的決定權交到其他人手裏，到目前爲止，效果非常不錯，”馬龍說。既是朋友，又同爲旅遊顧問的馬龍和格里斯蒂一起想到了這個主意。就是這個主意指引他們以紐約作爲出發點，然後於8月底到達位於內華達州的最終目的地。“十個星期，兩個人，一個方向：‘你來決定去哪裏’，”來自澳大利亞墨爾本的格里斯蒂說道。
You Decide Where, , is a social networking experiment Malone and Grixti set up before coming to the United States using websites such as , Facebook and Google Buzz. The site allow followers to suggest and/or invite the pair to U.S. cities and towns. People often offer free places to crash or advice on where to go, what to eat and what to do. “It's different than planning your hostels and planning where you're going to go—it's just a complete adventure, and we've met some brilliant people doing it,” Malone said.
“你決定去哪裏”（）是馬龍和格里斯蒂在來美國之前，利用諸如, 臉譜網以及Google Buzz這些網站建立起來的一個試驗性社交網絡。這些網站，允許關注者建議以及/或者邀請這對同伴到美國的一些市鎮去旅遊。人們通常會提供免費住宿的地方或者提供有關去哪裏，吃什麼，做什麼的建議。“這跟那種一早計劃好住宿以及去哪裏的經歷很不同——這完全就是一次冒險，我們遇到了很多很不錯的人也在這麼做，”馬龍說。
The adventure has so far led the friends to Harlem, N.Y., where, a woman suggested they go see Shakespeare in the Park. That led to seven hours of camping out to get free tickets to Merchants of Venice, starring Al Pacino. Then it was on to Times Square. “Someone got in touch with us and said to show up at 6 p.m. in Times Square and to bring bubble gun you know, like the bubble guns you get when you're a kid,” Malone said. “We arrived there, got off the subway and about 100 people flashmobbed in for this bubble party, and we got to be five years old again.”
目前，這次冒險已引領這對朋友去了紐約的哈萊姆區。在那裏，一位女士建議他們去看公園裏上演的莎士比亞戲劇。最終，他們通宵露營排了七個小時的隊纔拿到阿爾•帕西諾主演的《威尼斯商人》的免費門票。然後他們又來到時代廣場。“有人與我們聯繫，告訴我們下午6點在時代廣場出現，還要帶上泡泡槍，就是你還是小孩時拿的那種泡泡槍，”馬龍說道，“我們到達那裏，出了地鐵就發現有100人涌到那裏上演了一幕泡泡槍‘快閃’派對。我們彷彿又重回到了五歲。”
From New York they headed to Boston, where they stayed with a young woman, and found themselves at a Red Sox game, befriending a group of men sitting in front of them. The men taught Malone and Grixti not only the rules of baseball but the songs and chants throughout the game. “By the end of it we were Red Sox fan” Malone and Grixti said.
從紐約出發，他們前往波士頓。在那裏，他們與一名年輕女士一塊去看了場紅襪隊的比賽，並且與坐在他們前面的一羣男士攀談起來。那羣男士不但教會馬龍和格里斯蒂棒球的比賽規則，還教會他們比賽上所唱的 歌曲。“到比賽結束後，我們都變成紅襪隊的‘粉絲’了，”馬龍和格里斯蒂說。
內華達
One of the men, a guy named Brian, suggested they go to Cape Cod for Fourth of July and spend the day with his family in Provincetown. So that's what they did. “[Cape Codders] are just so amazing and 're strangers who are welcoming us into their home on their boat to their family barbecue to watch a parade,” Grixti said. “(They are) strangers who don't know us but want to get to know us.” The entire weekend on the Cape was like a weekend hanging out with family and friends they've known for year Malone said. “By staying at other people's house we got to do and see things we never would have been able to find ourselves.” The pair left Cape Cod and headed to Newport, R.I., where a Matthew Valetta had an over stuffed L-shaped couch waiting for them.
那羣男士中有一個叫布萊恩的，他建議他們7月4日那天去科德角，並且與他家人一起在普羅溫斯頓度過那一天。他們真的這麼做了。“（科德角的人們）是那麼棒，那麼友善……作爲陌生人，他們邀請我們到他們家裏，到他們的船上，參加他們的家庭燒烤聚會，去看巡遊表演，”格里斯蒂說，“作爲陌生人，他們不認識我們，但是想要去了解我們。”在科德角度過的整個週末就像與他們認識多年的家人和朋友度過的週末一樣，馬龍說，“通過呆在其他人的家裏，我們可以見識到許多東西，而這單靠我們自己肯定是不可能見識到的。”這對夥伴離開科德角後就前往羅得島的紐波特市。在那裏，一個名叫馬修•瓦萊塔的人已經爲他們準備了一張超級舒適的L形沙發，等候他們的到來。
The You Decide Where trip across America is a completely different kind of experience than either Grixti or Malone has had before. In the past, they would plan their trip, stay in hostels and meet people from their own countries. CouchSurfing on the Cape, in Boston and New York has really opened their mind allowed for them to meet new people and truly experience American life, Grixti said.
這次“你決定去哪裏”的美國之旅是格里斯蒂和馬龍他們之前沒有嘗試過的一次完全不同的經歷。過去，他們會計劃好行程，呆在旅店，遇見的是來自他們自己國家的人。而在科德角，波士頓以及紐約的沙發旅行經歷則真正地開拓了他們的視野，讓他們結識了新朋友，並且真正地體驗到美國生活，格里斯蒂說道。
“We've met people of all different age and all different backgrounds and different types of housing and job so it's been a complete diverse experience,” Malone said. “We've gotten to see a country in a way that allows us to see it through (Americans') eye in a day-to-day experience.”
“我們遇到不同年齡、不同背景，住在不同類型的房子裏，擁有不同工作的人們，所以這完全是一次豐富多樣的經歷，”馬龍說，“我們得以用一種通過（美國人的）眼睛的方式，逐日地去體驗和了解一個國家。”
