On July 4,which I declared to be my independence day, I put all my belongings into storage and got a one-way ticket to Honolulu, where I was going to stay for 10 days with a friend who lives there. Beyond that, I had no plans and liked it that way. I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was going. The idea was to be footloose and fancy free, allowing my trip to unfold and reveal itself along the way.

I discovered that I did not like Honolulu. I also discovered several things about traveling: First, it was a pain in the ass to try and travel with a bus, because so many factors were outside my control. Sometimes there were smokers (of all kinds) at the bus stop; other times the bus stop was on a very loud street, setting off pain in my delicate ears; and still other times, there was nowhere to sit and wait.

In addition, the bus could be crowded, with nowhere to sit down, as the bus lurched when it turned – putting my delicate ankles, and therefore entire body, in danger of a pain episode; […]