The Unexpected Love for #travelswithjuhi

A little over a year ago I began commuting to New York City, daily, for my new job at FIT.

Around the same time I began to document what was occuring during my daily commute on Twitter. Truly, I was venting and complaining. I was mostly using the hashtags #commuterlife #commuterprobs. I hadn’t really thought of coming up with any other tagline for it. Until a fellow SAPro on Twitter mentioned to me that Joe Ginese, s/o to Joe, had been documenting his travels in and out of NYC with the hashtag #travelswithjoe. She suggested I go ahead and create #travelswithjuhi. I had no idea at the time that Chelsea, thank you Chelsea, was onto something so beyond me.

I would have never thought how many folks followed #travelswithjuhi let alone how many would tell me in person how much they love reading what I chronicle on my daily commute to and from NYC.

I’ve had the fellow NJ to NYC commuters who tell me they understand and appreciate reading my chronicles about what they’ve experienced themselves. I have the live in NYC folks who follow along as they get it too but in a different way. The cool thing is though, most of my Twitter followers just appreciate reading what my day to day travels are like. Some have told me they love seeing what might be different one day to the next. Others say they get a laugh out of what happens, while others say they experience similar struggles on their day to day commute to and from work but appreciate that I chronicle my journey as they do not wish to chronicle their own.

Either way, I never truly thought folks would like following along so much. To me, #travelswithjuhi is just one long venting session. Let’s be honest, I complain. I complain about traffic, frustrating people, the cold, the heat, the rain, really anything. I just complain. I add in my sarcastic flair and volia you get the daily dose of #travelswithjuhi. I write about taking the bus, the train, the subway and the LIRR. I’ve done it all at this point. I tweet about looking like a tourist and still not understanding NYC. But I wouldn’t say it’s anything too noteworthy. I don’t take myself too seriously and I guess that’s the whole point; no one does. That’s a great thing.

I appreciate knowing folks resonate with something so small. I like knowing someone got a laugh out of my venting or complaining. I hope I bring a smile to everyone’s face. That’s the best part. Sure, in the moment of my tweeting I may be far from smiling but truly at the end of the day life’s too short to focus on staying irritated. I figure each tweet gives me the space to vent and move on. I never use names. I mean let’s be honest I don’t know these people. I keep identities general. I’m not looking to shame anyone in particular. Who knows. Someone may be tweeting about my irritating behavior. I hope they keep it vague too. I’ve had my moments.

Folks that follow along have mentioned that I should write a text dedicated to #travelswithjuhi or even have a dedicated blog but I feel it may lose it’s true essence if I make it something more than a Tweet. The great part of #traveslwithjuhi, in my opinion, is that it’s quick. No need to read a 300-500 blog post, or a book. Just read a quick short tweet when you have a moment and you’re all caught up. If you miss a day it’s no big deal. I’ve missed a day or two myself. I’m not sure folks would follow along as easily if it morphed into something more than that, but never say never. Who knows what the future holds for #travelswithjuhi. After all the journey has only just begun & I thank you from the bottom of my heart for following along.