About two weeks before I left on my journey, the hostel where I planned to stay in New York emailed me to say due to unforeseen circumstances, they had to close their doors. I was in a bit of a panic to find some place on such short notice, but I did get lucky. It turns out the place I’m staying in NYC—The Carter—is centrally located in the heart of the Theatre District on Times Square, within walking distance of Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Macy’s, the New York City Public Library, Radio City Music Hall, and many major museums. What more could I ask for?
To pull this whole trip off by myself I’m on a tight budget, so I can’t afford the little luxuries. I was just looking for a place to take a shower and crash for a few hours, and the Carter fit the bill. The lobby looks like something you’d find in Vegas off the strip: very tacky. There was no maid service, but I didn’t expect much at the price. Anyway, it’s reasonably more comfortable than sleeping in my car and I feel extremely safe being right in Times Square surrounded by thousands of people and all the bright lights.
Shortly after I arrived I decided to hit Times Square. It’s great place to just sit, have dinner and watch people enjoy the many blocks of continuous advertisements. Bonus: you can now get free Wi-Fi, a plus when you’ve been traveling in your car for days and need to catch up with the world.
Wherever I was, I would just sit and listen to the chatter of tourists from all over the world here I met some wonderfully nice people from several different countries, including several people from Paris, and two couples who I enjoyed a coffee with down the way. I’ve heard time and time again that people from Paris and New York are extremely rude. I must say, all of the New Yorkers I met over my five day stay were very helpful and extremely friendly. Since I lived in DC many years ago, I decided people from bigger cities weren’t rude, just busy and on a mission to get to their next destination. I put my theory to the test and I stopped quite a few New Yorkers to ask for directions. Not only were they helpful, but most were quite eager to give me more information when I asked them to tell me more about their beautiful city. I even had a few people approach me when I looked like the lost tourist to offer assistance (a smile goes along way at times).
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