Looking for open space amid COVID-19’s Pause, a crew of Only NY’s creative friends packed up a car and headed north to the Catskills for an extended weekend in the trees. Fellow traveler and writer David Aaron Brake describes more below.
“It was late May and by that point, we, alongside thousands of non-essential New Yorkers, had been stuck in our apartments for months, only to leave the house for a socially distanced walk around Brooklyn. It was time for a change of scenery and some fresh air. With the help of Only NY, we booked a car and headed Upstate.
Our close friend Alex Cody Nguyen, his partner Zoe, and their pup Theo stopped by my apartment in Bushwick to pick up me and my girlfriend Claire before we headed to the Northwestern Catskill Mountains. Our destination was a 100-year-old renovated barn off Highway 23, surrounded by sprawling wild grass and a creek which snaked through the edge of the woods. Time was spent exploring the sleepy surroundings of Harpersfield, New York including kayaking, wading through a cold stream, and climbing to the top of an abandoned fire tower.
The trip only lasted a few days before we had to retreat back to the city and our realities, but for a few days, it was a positive and reenergizing experience."
Words by David Aaron Brake
