It should have taken Bruce Northam two hours to get from Westport to Saratoga by train, but downed trees across the track slowed the ride to over four hours. Delays like that can be expected when you take a 23-day, 2,000-mile odyssey across New York state.
Northam is on a break from traveling the world to explore the Empire State.
A travel author and journalist, Northam has visited 105 countries worldwide in an effort to satisfy one of his life’s goals.
I’m on a mission to visit every country on earth, said Northam, but, he added, `I want to take a time-out to rediscover my backyard.`
Northam, who is from Long Island and lives in New York City, started his journey 15 days ago in Niagara Falls and has traveled just about everywhere in the state since.
Just the day before Northam found himself in Saratoga Springs. And even though his train was running late, Northam said he arrived in time to enjoy an open mic night at Gaffney’s.
This night, said Northam, featured an 11-year-old guitarist/singer `phenom.`
`He stole the show,` said Northam.
Gaffney’s wasn’t the only stop of Northam’s short-lived Saratoga stay. Northam rode a thoroughbred and groomed the track atop a harrow tractor.
`A piece of cake,` said Northam.
The tractor and the horse are just two of the many modes of transportation Northam has used in the 15 days of his venture.
From rocketing at 85 mph across Black Lake in a fishing boat to go-kart racing a Mark Twain impersonator in Elmira, where Twain is buried, Northam is trying to travel in as varied of ways as possible, using, amongst other things, stilts.
And it’s not just transportation that has become varied but, at least once, so too have Northam’s clothes as he roamed across Saratoga’s battlefield in full costume.
The battlefield wouldn’t be the only piece of area past that Northam would encounter as he boarded the U.S.S. Slater, the only remaining World War II Cannon Class Destroyer Escort left afloat in the United States.
While uncovering the state’s `unsung heroes` Northam was surprised by the changing face of the state’s larger cities.
`What’s been enlightening to me,` said Northam, `is the cosmopolitan and funky nature of metropolitans like Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester.`
In Buffalo, Northam said, he bathed Buki, an 8,000 pound elephant at the Buffalo Zoo and in Syracuse he viewed the toothpick city at the Museum of Science and Technology featuring, what he called, 30 of the world’s architectural gems, built to scale with toothpicks and glue.
A Manhattanite, Northam said he prefers to avoid visiting places when they’re jammed with people, something, he said, he sees enough of a home.
`I focus on off-season travel,` said Northam, who, for instance, said, `I would avoid Saratoga in track season like the plague.`
Northam, who climbed Whiteface with four 46’ers and rode a stagecoach in Cattaraugus County, said, `I fear boredom more than death.`
It would seem that Northam is in no danger of succumbing to boredom anytime soon.
Northam is the author of `Globetrotter Dogma` and a travel columnist for The Improper, a New York-based monthly magazine seen by 500,000 readers from Manhattan to Montauk.
To read Northam’s journal documenting his journey and to see pictures, visit www.iloveny.com/detour.
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