We had such an amazing month of May and had the privilege to travel quite a bit, including a trip to New York City! I have always wanted to go there - I'm a true city girl and love to visit the hustle and bustle of cities like that. My husband has a particular conference that I travel with him each year where the location changes each year, too. This year it was in New York City - so I was very excited to get an opportunity to see NYC. The best part, now that my daughter is homeschooling online, is that she got to go with us! We got to see SO much of NYC and do so much! But, I wanted to share some tips that we used to keep organized and see as much of NYC as you can while visiting, for your future trip!
1. Plan ahead: In order to get inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty, you've got to plan ahead. Those tickets sell out months in advanced. And, it's SO worth it to get to the top of the crown. Also, prepare yourself. The amount of stairs up to the top is insane -- I think we counted about 16 stories high of stairs. I bought my tickets 3 months ahead of time. When we were there, the only tickets they had left were just the regular tickets to get to the island and walk around - PLUS, we got to go to the head of the LONG security line having those tickets.
2. Transportation: We stayed in Manhattan, near Times Square at two different hotels. My husband cashed in all his hotel points to stay at our first hotel the first two nights, since we flew in a few days early from his conference so he could actually see some of the sites of NYC before being stuck inside a building for five days! But, walking and subway are pretty much the easiest and cheapest way to get around. We all bought a one week metro pass - I think around $30 each. One taxi ride would have cost that much! You'll want to download the NYC subway app to make things much easier. Having that app made things seamless and my daughter and I rode the subway together for a week and never got lost, never even went the wrong way! I told friends that I compare the NYC subway to our Los Angeles freeways - so for me, it didn't seem that complicated, only easier because you had no traffic to deal with like we do here in L.A.
3. Food: Ok, so food is expensive on any trip. I happen to have very specific dietary needs and can't eat a lot of things. We never had breakfast out because it was just SO expensive. I made my paleo muffins ahead of time and packed those, along with other snacks for the family to have for breakfast each day that didn't require refrigeration. So, when we were traveling around, YELP and GROUPON are your best friend {oh and use your Ebates app to get 6% back in cash from Groupon}. I could find a reasonably priced place that fit within my dietary needs, and had food everyone else liked too -- all within budget and usually just a block or two from where we were for the day.
4. Bucket List: Make a list of all the places you want to see. We were in NYC for 8 days and saw SO MANY things: Times Square, Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Plaza, The Empire State Building, Coney Island, a Broadway show, Macy's, Chelsea Market, NYU, World Trade Center Memorial Museum, were among some of the things on our NYC bucket list! We saw a LOT and it was because we made a list of things that were important to us! My daughter also wanted to go to Lush {vegan cosmetics and bath bombs}, Cookie Dō, and Macy's - those were some of her top Bucket List picks. We got so good at using the Subway that we easily had time to go to all of these!
5. Seeing it all: Again, finding ways to see everything was fun! I can't believe some of the amazing places we got to go. Because of my husband's connections with his work stuff, we got to go to a Broadway show. I definitely wish we could have seen one more and been more prepared to do that, but I'm thankful for the one we saw - Gloria Estafan's "On Your Feet" - even my non-musical, non-theater husband said how much he loved it and wanted to do that again! We had several opportunities, thankfully, with his work event to go to the top of The Rock and see the amazing view of Central Park! My daughter was able to do her homeschool at night while he and I attended several of his work obligations together.
6. Ideas and Deals: OK, so the deals are out there, trust me. We had a budget and we pretty much stuck to it! Plan to spend money on transportation - unless you plan to walk all over, which is possible but will take a LOT longer. Go on Groupon - seriously, do THIS - either before the trip to NYC when you can use extra coupons they offer for even better deals. Use your Ebates app that gives you 6% cash back on all the Groupons you buy too. I used Groupon to purchase tickets for the World Trader Tower outdoor tour, bike rentals through Central Park, and some of the restaurants we ate at. Yelp and Groupon can help you get great ideas. Some places you won't get a deal, but some you will. So, whenever you go into any store or restaurant, go to Yelp and check in - and also check Groupon. Many of them have Yelp coupons and offers when you check in.
7. Security: OK, so be prepared for a LOT of security for the major buildings and places you go. For instance, the line for The Statue of Liberty had a security line that was 45 minutes to walk through - and completely airport styled security. The World Trade Center and some of the other tall buildings required looking through bags and a walking through the scanners.
8. Travel and Food: Because I'm a Paleo eater, I may be more aware of having to bring food with me everywhere. So, my advice, no matter what you eat is to bring food with you to save money and save you from eating a lot of junk! Your stomach will thank me! I always travel with dried fruits, nuts, and beef jerky on the plane because I never know if we'll get food on the plane or even if we'll be stuck somewhere. I pre-made a few baked things that didn't need to be refrigerated since our room had no fridge to use. Bring good walking shoes and expect to be flexible! Most of all - have a good time!
1. Plan ahead: In order to get inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty, you've got to plan ahead. Those tickets sell out months in advanced. And, it's SO worth it to get to the top of the crown. Also, prepare yourself. The amount of stairs up to the top is insane -- I think we counted about 16 stories high of stairs. I bought my tickets 3 months ahead of time. When we were there, the only tickets they had left were just the regular tickets to get to the island and walk around - PLUS, we got to go to the head of the LONG security line having those tickets.
2. Transportation: We stayed in Manhattan, near Times Square at two different hotels. My husband cashed in all his hotel points to stay at our first hotel the first two nights, since we flew in a few days early from his conference so he could actually see some of the sites of NYC before being stuck inside a building for five days! But, walking and subway are pretty much the easiest and cheapest way to get around. We all bought a one week metro pass - I think around $30 each. One taxi ride would have cost that much! You'll want to download the NYC subway app to make things much easier. Having that app made things seamless and my daughter and I rode the subway together for a week and never got lost, never even went the wrong way! I told friends that I compare the NYC subway to our Los Angeles freeways - so for me, it didn't seem that complicated, only easier because you had no traffic to deal with like we do here in L.A.
3. Food: Ok, so food is expensive on any trip. I happen to have very specific dietary needs and can't eat a lot of things. We never had breakfast out because it was just SO expensive. I made my paleo muffins ahead of time and packed those, along with other snacks for the family to have for breakfast each day that didn't require refrigeration. So, when we were traveling around, YELP and GROUPON are your best friend {oh and use your Ebates app to get 6% back in cash from Groupon}. I could find a reasonably priced place that fit within my dietary needs, and had food everyone else liked too -- all within budget and usually just a block or two from where we were for the day.
4. Bucket List: Make a list of all the places you want to see. We were in NYC for 8 days and saw SO MANY things: Times Square, Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Plaza, The Empire State Building, Coney Island, a Broadway show, Macy's, Chelsea Market, NYU, World Trade Center Memorial Museum, were among some of the things on our NYC bucket list! We saw a LOT and it was because we made a list of things that were important to us! My daughter also wanted to go to Lush {vegan cosmetics and bath bombs}, Cookie Dō, and Macy's - those were some of her top Bucket List picks. We got so good at using the Subway that we easily had time to go to all of these!
5. Seeing it all: Again, finding ways to see everything was fun! I can't believe some of the amazing places we got to go. Because of my husband's connections with his work stuff, we got to go to a Broadway show. I definitely wish we could have seen one more and been more prepared to do that, but I'm thankful for the one we saw - Gloria Estafan's "On Your Feet" - even my non-musical, non-theater husband said how much he loved it and wanted to do that again! We had several opportunities, thankfully, with his work event to go to the top of The Rock and see the amazing view of Central Park! My daughter was able to do her homeschool at night while he and I attended several of his work obligations together.
6. Ideas and Deals: OK, so the deals are out there, trust me. We had a budget and we pretty much stuck to it! Plan to spend money on transportation - unless you plan to walk all over, which is possible but will take a LOT longer. Go on Groupon - seriously, do THIS - either before the trip to NYC when you can use extra coupons they offer for even better deals. Use your Ebates app that gives you 6% cash back on all the Groupons you buy too. I used Groupon to purchase tickets for the World Trader Tower outdoor tour, bike rentals through Central Park, and some of the restaurants we ate at. Yelp and Groupon can help you get great ideas. Some places you won't get a deal, but some you will. So, whenever you go into any store or restaurant, go to Yelp and check in - and also check Groupon. Many of them have Yelp coupons and offers when you check in.
7. Security: OK, so be prepared for a LOT of security for the major buildings and places you go. For instance, the line for The Statue of Liberty had a security line that was 45 minutes to walk through - and completely airport styled security. The World Trade Center and some of the other tall buildings required looking through bags and a walking through the scanners.
8. Travel and Food: Because I'm a Paleo eater, I may be more aware of having to bring food with me everywhere. So, my advice, no matter what you eat is to bring food with you to save money and save you from eating a lot of junk! Your stomach will thank me! I always travel with dried fruits, nuts, and beef jerky on the plane because I never know if we'll get food on the plane or even if we'll be stuck somewhere. I pre-made a few baked things that didn't need to be refrigerated since our room had no fridge to use. Bring good walking shoes and expect to be flexible! Most of all - have a good time!
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