New York

2016 has been a particularly reckless... or, umm spontaneous(?) year for me. This new found spontaneousness (it is a word, I googled it) has been good and bad; it has brought me many many great memories, but it has also brought me heartache, stress and left me with 2 camper vans. 

I had toyed with the idea of going to New York off and on throughout the year, the main reason I kept shying away from going was that I didn't have anyone to go with. I was feeling stuck, like my life was on hold because my friends and family didn't have the time or money to travel with me. There is so many places I want to see in the world but no one to see them with. Now, I'd like to tell you that I thought long and hard about the pro's and con's of traveling alone, but I didn't. I made up my mind that I wanted to see Central Park in the fall (my favorite season) and I booked my flights. In hind sight I should have done a little bit of research about when the leaves change colors in New York, I was about a month too early. I would leave the day before my 23rd birthday and return home 5 days later, I was so excited I immediately called my mom to tell her my wonderful news. She was less excited then I expected, in fact she wasn't very excited at all, she was worried. 

I had never noticed before but the first question people ask when you tell them you're going on a trip is "who are you going with?". The look of bewilderment on people's faces when I would tell them I was going alone was entertaining to say the least. Everyone I spoke to about my trip seemed to have the same concerns my mother did. Nevertheless I was not changing my mind, I was determined to travel on my own and explore New York completely solo. Keeping with the spontaneous travel style I have developed this year, I planned almost nothing ahead of time. In fact I actually only had one activity planned for the entire trip. I researched a general list of things to do your first time in New York and used it as a base guideline for what I wanted to do each day. Luckily a week before I left I realized that I messed up my airbnb booking and needed to find a place to stay my last night in New York! I quickly booked another airbnb just up the street. Whew! 

The month flew by quickly and before I knew it I was standing in line on my way to New York! I was taking the red eye so the security line was over in a flash, I sat down at BP's for a quick bite to eat before I caught the plane. I'm not used to eating in restaurants alone, so I called K to chat while I waited for my food.

 Apparently the speakers in this airport didn't announce in the restaurant because when I walked up to my gate the gentlemen at the desk called me by name. Apparently I had confused my boarding and take-off times, and the plane was just about to leave the gate! Luckily the gentlemen called somebody and they allowed me to board the plane, I ran as fast as I could down the ramp and on to the plane. My seat just so happened to be at the very back of the plane in between two large gentlemen. The gentlemen's arms filled up both of my arm rests, I felt very "tucked in" sitting between them. I wrapped my self up in a blanket put on my neck pillow and "eye bra" and quickly drifted off to sleep. I'm off to a great start!