alone in a sea of people

a couple of weeks ago now i took a new job, i had been told about it by one of my agents (a man i trust very much to advise me honestly) this job involved working for a large company at their birmingham office. Things didnt start exactly as we would have planned, i got a call from the agent late friday afternoon asking if there was any chance i could start earlier than we had planned (i wanted a week so i could tie up any other loose ends) . his call comprised of a "can you start on monday?" question, then in the same breath "can you start in york on monday?" (york is about 150 miles away). we arranged things, no interview, client to cover costs of hotels etc.
So that next monday i drove up to york, i wasnt nervous or anxious, infact i was quite happy. i have always liked york and spent much time there as a child.
the point of this post is, as i was there for several days and nights i had to walk around the city. york is a very placid place and i think this showed in my mood. i was able to walk around what could be described as a semi strange place at night and day without looking around me other than to observe my surroundings, even with several thousands of pounds worth of laptop on show.
what amazed me was how comfortable i felt, i had no need to run or hide just to enjoy life.