Photos from the last three days of my No Baggage Challenge.

My No Baggage Challenge is officially complete and raised a total of $525 in donations for Give Kids the World, surpassing the original goal of $500.  Many thanks again to friends and family for your generosity.  Your support made this trip not only fun, but also meaningful, and your donations go toward helping the dreams of dying children come true.

If you pledged to sponsor me, you can donate directly online on Give Kids the World's website.  Contributions are tax-deductible.  

Here is additional information if you'd like to read more about Give Kids the World or about how my trip raised money for them.  (People sponsored me for $1/day for each day I traveled without luggage, for 15 days.  My travels with no luggage ended up going so well, I extended the trip by two extra "bonus" days in New York City.)

Here are some photos of my visit to Give Kids the World a couple weeks ago.  I volunteered there on a weekly basis for about 7 years when I lived in Orlando.  I used to dress up like a wizard, do magic tricks for the kids, and help Mayor Clayton (a giant rabbit and mayor of GKTW village) tuck the kids into bed at night.  I count these experiences to be among the best things I've ever done.

Below is a photo of me volunteering at GKTW, fresh out of undergrad.  You can see Mayor Clayton in the background. This is at a party a few minutes before Clayton and I went around the village doing tuck-ins for the kids. Somehow the little girl next to me managed to steal my magic hat.

On my last night in New York City, I went to see a fantastic Off-Broadway show called Fuerza Bruta. The best I can describe it is what would be the offspring of STOMP and Cirque du Solei if they ever got together. Below are a few videos I took to give you a flavor for the show -- including women dancing and swimming overhead.

What also made this performance unique was that the audience stood and constantly had to move around the theater as the set changed and moved throughout the place.

During the show, I was the only guy picked from the audience to dance on stage with the performers. More on this soon...

In the meantime, here are my videos:

I finally got home late last night after 17 wonderful, fun-filled, friend-filled, bag-less days of travel.  I took the Bolt Bus home from New York to DC yesterday and had a wonderful experience, as usual.  With free (but slow) Wi-Fi and only $15-$20 one way, what's not to like?  It would cost me more in gas and tolls if I were to drive myself -- not to mention the headache of finding/paying for parking.  Being able to read and play with my iPad along the way only sweetens the deal.  I had two seats all to myself last night and got home around midnight.

I continued to use the Lose It! app for the iPhone during my trip to keep track of what I ate.  I only gained 0.4 pounds despite eating out with friends non-stop for 17 days and having more than a fair share of large meals.  I've successfully kept my weight off for a month now and am 25 pounds lighter than I was four months ago to the day.  Not only that, but I weigh about a pound less fully clothed and fully loaded with all my No Baggage gear than I did in my birthday suit on September 16th.

Some of my favorites from today's visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I only got to visit the European 19th & 20th century paintings and Japanese art sections. I look forward to exploring more of the museum on my next visit to New York City.

A few videos I took of random scenes on the New York subway: