Weekend Thoughts: Things I Realized From Barely Being in New York

My friend Madeline and I discovered through my roommate and her sister's Instagram account new_fork_city an amazing ice cream place that had lavender ice cream! If you are visiting, definitely follow it for amazing food all around NYC. 

Let me start off by saying that if you live in or venture off to New York frequently, you will probably find this post ridiculously obvious. Understand that I am a sheltered Washingtonian who finds the concept of eating on the subway, crossing the roads when the light doesn't say to go and people at the Shake Shack rolling their eyes when you hesitate for a second on your order crazy (the line was so long I couldn't see the menu and I have never been here before- my bad). Not that I didn't love the city though. Here are some of my observations and lessons that I learned (the hard way of course) that will hopefully make the next trip a bit smoother. 

Nothing is Cheap • For everyone who has been to the city or not, this is probably the biggest no duh. I mean, how is it possible to spend thirty bucks literally doing nothing? Expect to budget if you are there for a while. 

Plan Out • Often when comparing New York to Los Angeles, people always talk about how close everything is in New York, however I think these people are awfully deceiving. It takes a lot of time (and money!) to go all around the city, so plan accordingly which neighborhoods you want to see. 

Expect the Unexpected • Being in a really big city, when you are trying to catch a train leaving in half an hour and are carrying a huge duffle and 3 bags while walking so fast through the blocks in a city you don't know while your feet are bleeding from your Jack Rogers as  huge storm is about to hit- yeah. Expect the unexpected and don't be a fool. 

Pack Light • This really depends on whether or not you have friends or family that are in the area, but after seeing the above note, self explanatory. 

The NYU campus- I can't even imagine going to college in the heart of the City, but it would be amazing.

No One Cares What You Do • I was carrying around my DSLR and was really hesitant about stopping to take photos until I realized that pretty much every block was crowded with tourists taking photos, so do your thing. Same goes for clothing- I would love to spend a day in the city wearing the craziest outfit just because.   

The funny thing is, that despite the last few hours of blood, sweat and (some) tears, coming home after being exhausted and sleeping the whole ride home, I am really excited to get back next month after camp. 

Happy Saturday! Hope you are having a great weekend!

P.S. (memories back to the time I used to do one after every post) But in "educating" myself more about the city, I came across this article about why you shouldn't move to New York and a video that went viral a few years ago about a woman who lived in the City in a 90 square foot apartment- worth a watch.