I moved to New York City at the start of 2008.
Exactly three weeks later, I found myself on a photo adventure in Long Island City, of all places. I don’t think I’d even heard of this Queens neighborhood before coming here – and if I’m being honest, I probably saw it mentioned in one of my cheesy New York books, such as “1000 Cheap or Free Things To Do In NYC”.
Sign #642 that you’re not a winter person: Every time a snowstorm hits, you instantly think of warmer times. Of sunset bike rides, picnics in the park, island getaways, sunburnt naps on the beach, tanktops and flip flops.
I’m always deliberate in telling people that the walk from my apartment to the Graham Ave subway stop takes 12 minutes. Exaggerating to 15 is a surefire way of ensuring that no one will ever visit me in my little Brooklyn nook, while rounding down to 10 just doesn’t do this long-drawn walk justice.
As terrible as it’s been being hit by snowstorms and polar vortexes (vortices?) this winter in NYC, I remind myself that a mere 7 years ago I was trudging uphill through snow just to get to class every day at Cornell University – things could be way worse.
2013 was a banner year for me in terms of travel. I spent just under half of the year traveling abroad, what with my 5 months in Asia (aka the impetus behind this here blog), brief stint in London, and quick jaunt to Montreal.
It’s been an unusually snowy December in New York this year, which means I’ve been craving summer and the beach way more than I normally do. At the sight of white outside our kitchen window, my mind instantly runs to a warmer, sunnier, HAPPIER place – somewhere I can walk around in a tank top and flip flops, work on my tan, and frolic at all hours.
On my way back from a year abroad in Sydney Australia in 2006, I decided to break up the hideously-long flight home to Hartford by stopping for a few days in Los Angeles.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from my wilderness-chasing roadtrips, it’s that cramming too much driving into one day is no bueno. Cramming too much of anything into ANY trip is not good.
I’ve done the halloween parade, gone apple picking, visited the county farm, done a corn maze, gone wine tasting, carved pumpkins, and leaf peeped. In fact, I’ve done most of these things multiple times and they’re still fun – but what’s a semi-jaded New York City dweller to do to jazz up her fall and pretend like the inevitable god-awful winter is not upon us?
In month #9 of my (f)unemployment stint and quarter-life crisis, I was as restless as I’d ever been. I had all this time at my disposal, and all I’d done with it was start my wedding photography business and apply for jobs.