Window shopping...

Have you ever walked down the street window shopping? You know, looking into the windows, wanting this, wanting that, probably can't afford this, probably can't afford that. You can do it on any high street, but Oxford Street or Regents Street is a perfect place. At first, you just see what's in the window. Quite literally, you see mannequins dressed in this or that. You might see some toys. Or the latest flat screen TV. If you stand there long enough, you might see further into the shop. See what else they're selling. Then you start to notice the people in the shop buying things. Then the people in the shop selling things. Yet still you're outside. Disconnected. Just glancing. Just taking it in. Then you move along to the next shop, and look in their window. At the different goods. The different people shopping. The different people selling. Well, I'm window shopping into other people's lives right now. I'm turning up in different cities, and if you only stay for a short time, you just see what's in the window. But stay a little longer, and you see further in. You learn about the person, you learn about the city, you learn about their friends, you learn about the strangers on the bus, you learn about the lady in the convenience store. And you're not disconnected, behind a window. You're in there. Breathing it. Feeling it. And then you move on to the next city, the next window, the next life.

I've been in Pittsburgh since Friday just gone, and I've been travelling with Drew since last Monday. I've peered into his world and his city. I've met up with Dennis too, and peered into his world. I'm learning about other people's lives every day of mine at the moment. Tomorrow I'm moving on. Alyssa, who was on the road trip last week, lives in Bucks County, further east in Pennsylvania, and said I could go stay with her for a few days. From there I will travel to Philadelphia, where I have organised to couchsurf with someone, and from there I will probably go to Baltimore, home of my favourite TV programme in the world, The Wire. And then it's Thanksgiving. I have a plan for thanksgiving. But I don't want to jinx it. So I'll leave that for now, I have a bag to pack. And a 6:30am bus to catch...

(Drew is a film maker, and this is one of his short films)

Gallery 7 from Drew Nicholas on Vimeo.