the best time to travel

the best time to travel is late in the night.  i find that this is the time when people in the city, and the person you're with, becomes both stranger and intimate.  late in the night, the city becomes a place for anonymity and intimacy.  both.  at the same time.  and all the nuances in between.  we can sit on the pavement, on a street bench, if there's any.  i will lean on the lamp post, we can share the only cigarette left, passing it to each other.  and until it's gone, we can preoccupy ourselves with many other things.  trivial, or otherwise.  like the night.  and the cars passing by.  what kind of lives do those people have.  how do they get by.  had we been younger, we would have been impatient.  might already be drunk, even.  beer, or something like it.  and we'd be recounting triumphs and heartaches, and dreams, grand, achievable, or otherwise.  we most likely would end up laughing at ourselves.  finding comfort in one way or another following one or another's crazy idea we'd be lucky to promptly forget the next day because of hangover.  or being not young anymore, we'd decide in the night.  the nearest cafe, or home.  or if you're up to it, we can find a way to travel the next few hours to the nearest shore.  the best time, too, to leave the city.  the crisp wee hours to see sunrise from there.