YOUPOST 3

New York City

I asked myself the question, where I should go to for two weeks, if I had less to do for university. Many answers came to my head, but the most attractive one at the moment is going to New York City, a metropolis where as many people live as in my home country, Austria.

I am not very good at planning a journey, and if I plan it, I do something totally different when I am at my destination. Nonetheless, I try to plan every time I am about to go away again:
I will set off in the summer break next year, so I book a cheap flight to the LaGuardia Airport as soon as possible.
The reason why I want to travel to New York City is because I have never been to such a big city with so many different cultures living in it. America is a Melting Pot and New York was the entrance for the immigrants to the New World. I am curious about the lifestyle of the different ethnicities and so I do not want to stay in hotels or hostels, but do couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a great opportunity to get to know the real citizens and not just fellow travellers. It is a social network where you can find accommodation, help and information about a place from Natives in the whole world, even in the Antarctica. It already worked out for me in Australia and New Zealand.

Of course I want to do some typical touristy sight-seeing, too. I am interested in the history of America, about which I recently learned in university. As a result, I plan on going to the New York Harbour to see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and, when I am already there, the skyline of Manhattan. Going by yellow cab to the Downtown and the Central Park is definitely a must-do, as well as seeing Ground Zero, the Empire State Building and the Times Square.

I do not want to spend more than two thousand Euros and because the flight is very expensive, every activity I planned is free. I intend to spend most of the money on food. I want to eat in Turkish, Malaysian, Mexican, Italian, British, Chinese, Indian etc. restaurants, as many as I can afford.

One last thing I want to take a look at is the Columbia University, because it is one of the eight Ivy League Universities and I suppose the campus and the buildings are picturesque. Maybe I will even get the opportunity to enter them, walk around and explore.

I am looking forward to travelling to the Big Apple. I am sure it is going to be worth the long and uncomfortable flight, the strict security checks and the jetlag.