- Oh, man. (intense music)
Uh oh, this is not gonna easy as I thought it was.
I'm an outdoorsy person.
So, sometimes living in New York City
can feel constraining.
Friends started sending me articles
about a guy from New Jersey who actually kayaks to work.
So, when I heard about a company
that made a collapsible kayak that could fit in my closet,
I decided I had to try this out.
But first, I had to talk to him.
How did this happen?
Like, how did you come up with this idea?
- Kind of uneventfully.
A buddy that I used to work with
and I were working long hours,
and taking the bus typically back
out of Port Authority at, you know,
12, one, two, three o'clock in the morning,
and thinking about better ways to get to and from the city
if we were both living over in Hoboken.
Kayaks seemed like a great idea.
We had them on the Jersey side,
and then kayaked across really early one morning.
And had, you know, no idea about,
you know, which direction was the current going.
It was sort of like, let's just get to the other side.
- And how quickly can you cross?
- It's about 15 minutes in the water.
- What should I know?
What should I be worried about?
- Bring a bottle of water, I always have a life jacket on.
- Zach lives in New Jersey,
and travels to Manhattan via the Hudson River.
I live in Queens.
So, I'm gonna have to travel to work via the East River.
(energetic music)
I live just a few blocks from here.
And this is the nearest kayak launch.
But the water's pretty clear.
If I die, this video still gets edited though, okay?
(energetic music)
So, it is, right now, 8:30.
I had a 10 o'clock meeting at work.
So, I left myself about an hour and a half
to be able to get there in time,
and then walk the distance from 14th Street,
the rest of the way.
I had about maybe 10 minutes
to be able to put this together.
(energetic music)
All right, so now it's about 8:45.
I should probably able to get there in the next hour,
and then head into
work. (gentle music)
This isn't so bad, there's no boats anywhere.
(gentle music) The water's pretty clear.
You know what, I'm actually going pretty quickly.
It's much calmer than I thought it would be.
I really expected this to be like a real rolling river.
(gentle music)
Oh, man, uh oh. (suspenseful music)
Oh, man, all right.
So, I just got like flipped around by the current.
Man, I am flying now in the opposite direction.
This is not gonna be easy as I thought it was.
Let's see if I can try this again.
(gentle music)
I was reading that the current would be pushing me south.
And I'm being pushed the other way.
I'm gonna flip this around. (gentle music)
All right, you see that?
You can almost see the current there.
Oh, this is crazy.
Going towards it really quickly, really quickly.
And let's see what happens when I hit it.
Oh, man, it's gonna turn me right around.
Yeah, not a shot, not a shot at that.
All right, this is third attempt.
I'm gonna give it everything I have.
(intense music)
(sighs) (lighthearted music)
Going right back to where I started.
I think they guys that are riding their kayak to work,
they're not going downriver.
(lighthearted music)
They must just be crossing.
'Cause like, I'm right now within a short distance of land.
And I could probably cross no issue.
All right, well.
I think I'm gonna be late for work.
(lighthearted music)