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Impulsive : to act on impulse rather than thought
Have you ever made an impulsive decision?
At times we do because we choose to and at times because we are forced to. Sometimes these decisions work out, sometimes they don't.
I recently made a very impulsive decision which I shall never regret and which has now led to me writing this blog and reminiscing over my personal highlight of 2014 so far.
Here’s how it happened... The beginning of my tale is on an average Tuesday morning in January, in Hong Kong. A flash sale of air tickets online at eight in the morning, and I casually, wistfully went online to check the destinations on sale, as I usually do. Today was my day... New York on sale during the Easter holidays! I sprang into action and found myself with credit card in hand. With limited seats and limited dates, there was no time to waste! Sensible head says "No, save your pennies and wait for another time" - (I quickly buried that voice). The real me screams "Do it, do it, buy now, worry later!" As you might be
able to guess, I followed the latter option. So, this impulse purchase led me to a fifteen hour flight from Hong Kong to Newark airport, New York.
Sometimes throwing caution to the wind, disregarding sensible things, following your heart and not your head...works out best.
I certainly follow my heart when it comes to travel. If you tell me you bought a new handbag or designer shoes, I will probably translate that purchase into how far I could travel on a plane/train/bus! I have an equally spontaneous best buddy…. I sent a long text to the UK for her to read when she awoke, telling her of my purchase. 24 hours later she too had her tickets and our reunion was on! Our mutual friends, resident in NYC, kindly offered us a place to stay. We had all met six years ago in Hong Kong on a graduate teaching programme. That was the last time all of us had been in the same place. To extend the reunion further, another mutual friend in Philadelphia was able to meet us for a New York lunch date.
And so the adventure began....having flown east over the Pacific and across the breadth of the United States, I arrived late Thursday evening into Newark airport,
caught a train to Penn station and my first yellow cab in this dreamed-of city. I purposely chose the station exit for "Madison Square Gardens" and hailed a cab in the middle of the street. I was that typical first time visitor with glazed wide eyes looking up out of the car window as we drove to the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
They say travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.... of course it makes you poorer as well, but I know which option I would choose everytime! Add in friendships around the world, and the value is endless.
Dream, travel, explore!
For now I will leave you with some of the photos of my trip to the Big Apple. The next post will be about the city itself and my adventures within!
JHG
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