I'm preparing to go to a conference in Boston, MA later this fall. I will be staying downtown near Boston Commons (wherever that is.) I have only been to Boston once in my life and I think I was maybe 15 years old. Most of my travel has been international and I think it shows, because after my sister suggested I go check out a bakery that a distant relation owns, I replied, "but will it be safe for me to walk there? I don't know about using some other city's public transportation."My sister (exasperated) then pointed out that I have navigated public transportation systems in about every major international city I have been to, including non-English speaking ones: Cairo, Taipei, Paris, Budapest, Tokyo...And that I have lived in seedier areas than downtown Boston and walked home at 4am. I'd be okay in Boston.
I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about American cities that makes me much more anxious than foreign countries. Maybe I've watched too much TV?
