Childlike

Being here in New York has definitely reverted me back to my childhood. I find myself feeling as if I am on vacation everyday. I don't want or need to do adult things like work. I just need to walk around, look at buildings, go to shows, meet people, eat, and sleep. My childlike ways are brought out in me as if I grew up here, as if I was never meant to be any place else.
I walk around the city, ride around the city not even thinking about where I am or where I'm going. I just know, almost instinctively. I think that in a small way, I'm reliving my childhood. It was then that I first came to the city. I was shielded from the evils of the city by the love and protection of my family. I was led about, seeing wonders I had never imagined, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Bronx Zoo, the Subway, and Yankee Stadium.
Riding the Subway was such a thrill for me as a kid, I don't know why. The idea of riding a train underground is what did it for me, I think. Now that I do it everyday, it's even more exciting! Now there are even more trains, and I know where they lead, and I know the many wonderful places they can take me. It's a bit like entering a warp tube in Super Mario Bros. You go downstairs to the Subway in Chinatown, you come back up in Central Park. It's a whole different world.
Now that I'm an adult and I have more freedom, it allows me to explore my childlike inclinations without any hindrance at all. The other week I traveled to Philadelphia, and I was instantly brought back to my childhood memories of walking around historic downtown with my family, eating cheese steaks, taking horse and carriage rides.
So much of what I love about this city and the east coast in general is solidified in my memories. It makes me wonder if being here in New York is actually letting me grow up at all. Am I here to grow up, or am I here trying to cling to whatever childhood I have left?