City Lights and Higher Heights - New York City And London England

---

---

After a month at home it’s now time to start moving again. It was really nice to be back for Christmas and to get a chance to see friends and family but the whole time I knew my life belonged somewhere else now. I had become so used to the road, hostel life, being a foreigner, and meeting new people that at times I felt out of place at home. It was as if nothing had really changed at home, but the way I live now did. I still enjoyed all the comforts of home though and had a great time not to having to pay for food anymore, not looking for a place to sleep every night, not living out of a backpack and being able to hang out with familiar faces. Even though going home was a unplanned hiccup in the journey, I don’t see it as a bad thing at all, it was a perfect way to recharge, clear my head, and reminded me how amazing travelling really is.

When I started seeing how astronomically high plane tickets cost back into Asia I decided maybe it was better to take the cheaper flight in to Europe and try to wander back to Asia somehow from there. I booked a ticket from New York City to England. I’d like to say I have some sort of set plan of how I’m going to get from England to Asia but I don’t. I have a few ideas right now, but I’ll keep them to myself until I actually decide on one. So as of right now, I’m just drifting through Europe.

I took advantage of flying out of New York and bussed down there a few days before the flight to see Manhattan and the surrounding area. As an awesome little last minute bonus – Alex- a good friend of mine from school, decided to come along for the journey down to NYC. We booked ourselves in a traditional New York style townhouse/loft as the hostel and set out to see the city without breaking the bank. We became typical tourists in New York and hit all the main attractions, Wall Street, Times Square, Grand Central Station, Brooklyn Bridge and The Statue of Liberty. We also tried to become New Yorkers by always buzzing around on the subway system and indulging in some of Manhattans finest deli shops. Overall, it was good to just wander around the streets of America’s largest city for a few days before jumping to another massive city on another continent. (And I hope this little bit of backpacking for my good friend Alex inspired him to do some more someday)

One of the benefits of travelling for so long is you start to accumulate friends all over the world. Being in London England gave me the opportunity to meet up with a good friend I met a long time ago in Fiji. He’s lived in London his whole life and it was awesome when he offered me a place to stay while I was there. I think it was a little bittersweet for him though as he had just finished his travels and had to listen to me talk about all the wonderful places I’m heading to while he has to readjust to life at home. All in all, London was a great place, again most of the time I spent walking around city. I just enjoy the energy that huge city gives off from all the people constantly moving around. London had a much different feel to it than NYC, much more character, and less sky scrapers. Also the benefits of living with a local in London was I got drink copious amounts of English tea, talk about “football” all day, and drink a traditional London Pub.


At the end of my first week back traveling I saw two very different major cities and I’m now writing to you from a third. It feels incredible to back aback on the road and has a much different feeling than it did the first time I left home eight months ago at the start of the trip.

---