Picture this: You've just finished your degree in French and Philosophy, have no idea what you're going to do after the final four years of studying has capped off 20 years of your life within the British education system. Sitting in your room in the Scottish capital you remember you have friends over the pond that all live relatively close to each other that you should probably go and visit after having not seen them for 4 years. So, you book your tickets, a solo trip of a lifetime, a task that someone who has never gone travelling alone/ organised their own holidays should probably not attempt.
Fast forward to the day in question I was dropped off at York train station with a large rucksack suitcase hybrid and my trusty Uni backpack which housed two cameras 4 lenses and my laptop. The train ride was pretty simple to kings cross apart from one interview phone call from a company I had applied to for a role as a French Quality Control on indeed a few days prior. Having explained to them that I was going to be away for the next 12 days but hat I would happily take a further interview call during that time, I quickly hopped onto my second train to Gatwick Airport. I would love to say that there were any issues in getting on to the flight, but the process was generally simple.... maybe a little too simple.
There I was sat on a flight ready to depart to NYC, next to me was sat a lady whose name I can't quite remember that would go on to chat to me for the last two hours of the flight after she had dropped her headphones down the gap between our seats and I had retrieved them for her. She told me about her job as a school administrator in the Massachusetts area and that she spent all her money on travelling around following the Rolling Stones as their biggest superfan. She had spent the last few weeks catching all the concerts they had held in the UK, returning to Edinburgh where apparently 4 years earlier she had fallen down the stairs of a bus and broken her collar bone. She offered me a lift to my hostel once we had gotten off our flight but then heard its location and rescinded the offer.
A quick hop onto two trains, one of which I didn't pay for because I had no clue where to buy my ticket, I found myself in the centre of the Big Apple. now the thing about NYC is that its big, very big in fact and my naive self-had assumed that I could walk everywhere as on a map it looked quite compact. My hostel turned out to be an hours walk away from Penn Station where I had alighted. So I conceded on taking the "Subway" the less classy version of the Paris metro. The heat underground was stifling enough to make any person who has resided in Scotland for 4 years dehydrate automatically, it felt like someone was holding my face in front of an open oven door.
Finally though I arrived at my hostel and had to wait two hours in queue to check in. In this queue I met a gentleman whose name I think was Robert who was traveling from Texas who said he thought I was British but wasn't sure because my accent didn't fit the stereotype #yorkshirepride. Stood behind me was a lady who had come from Guatemala for a work conference, she missed her family very much and told me about her sons who I reminded her of. We spoke for those two hours, and it made the wait bearable. Once I had gotten up to my dorm room as I opened a door a person shouted in the most Australian accent ever " Y'all right there mate", to which I replied "I think so, please can you tell me where I can get food easily". I spent the rest of the night with this guy from my dorm, he took me to a comedy show and made me sit in the front row which in hindsight was the cruelest thing he could have done as I was functioning on two hours of sleep. We shared stories on the tables outside and met some people from Peru where I found out that my Australian friend had actually lived the majority of his life in Brazil. We both went our separate ways as I went to bed and he told me I would probably see him the next evening as he had no plans and I was glad that I had made a new friend.
My next three days in New York are best described using three words: Overwhelming, Big, and tiring. I would do two free walking tours, which I would recommend to absolutely everyone visiting any major city in the world. It is a pay what you want tour and the tour guides are locals who are extremely friendly and really make you feel welcome and special. My tour through Little Itay was a great way to start despite being offered some overpriced but extremely delicious Cannoli. On this tour I would meet Julia, a lady who had just moved to New York with her husband, we bonded over being the only people who had decided to go on a tour by ourselves and became good friends for the next three hours. Her husband she had met whilst at a party a few years prior, he was an Essex lad and she appreciated my attempts to replicate his accent and said that it was very close to the original. At the end of the three hours we parted ways, and I went to have the most expensive bowl of gnocchi in Little Italy.
That evening I met in the Papa Johns across the road a man named Matt from London who had quit his job as a manager at Levis to go traveling, I shared with him some of my ciders that I had purchased at the nearby target and as the alcohol flowed, we grew in confidence to go sit with an American biker nearby who had a slick mohawk. Jeremy was his name, I think. With Jeremy were sat Lauchlan an Australian on a two-year sabbatical and Michele a German girl. We all got chatting and then ran off into the night to find a fabled pizza parlour in Harlem nearby. The pizza parlour was amazing, and I would return to it multiple times over the next two days with various people, making myself look like I was the one with the local knowledge.
A trip to Brooklyn came next where I met Billy, a fellow solo traveler and he was from Glasgow. After the tour ended, we went to an amazing food court in Dumbo and crossed the Manhattan bridge by foot before going our separate ways as we arrived in China town after making a stop in Washington square park where I saw Alec Baldwin and two men singing and improvising together on a park bench, I made my way up 5th avenue. eventually reaching times square for what I was hoping would be the first and final time on my trip. It was here that Hugh Jackman nodded his head at me and that I was given a free voucher for a hot dog. I never redeemed that voucher and I'll probably never forgive myself for that. Later that evening Michele and I decided to go to times square at midnight and picked up two friends on the way and had a great night. Being forced to take part in street performances and see the Rockefeller centre even though it was closed. We eventually got back to the hostel where we broke onto the roof terrace and sat down chatting and looking at the skyline eventually going our separate ways to sleep.
And no before you ask, I never saw my Australian friend from the first night again, this is a recurring theme on this trip, making short lived but impactful meetings with people.
A bus trip was on the cards next, a trip that should have taken 4 hours to reach Washington DC. In fact, it took 8 hours as the bus broke down in the extreme heat and we were left stranded on the side of the road. As usual though I made a friend with the person sat next to me, this person worked in finance in Manhattan and was going to visit their friend for the long holiday weekend ahead. She was making work calls during most of the journey, but we made conversation although I don't think she very much understood why I was on a bus going to DC by myself.
Having finally reached the nation's capital I was picked up by my good friend from University Meredith and her boyfriend Rory who had graciously lent me his flat for my time staying there. They took me out for my first round of Mexican food of the stay (certainly not my last), and then we went bowling at possibly the poshest bowling establishment I have ever laid eyes upon. Table waiter service and leather seats, I still performed terribly as if it's not Wii bowling, I will be useless. The next morning a lovely brunch was had before a wee tour of the city courtesy of Meredith and Rory. I was then let loose on the Mall of America by myself. I made it my mission to go to as many of the Smithsonian's I could in a single day. First up the natural history museum where I felt like prime Ben Stiller racing through the exhibits, then the American History Museum where I caught a glimpse of Abraham Lincoln's hat. My escapade was however quickly stalled by me discovering the Art gallery, I may have sat in there for 4 hours straight.
The next few days in DC were equally as interesting, making my way to the Supreme court and the Capitol, eating food with friends I didn't know were in DC and seeing more protests than on a warm day in May in Paris. A particular highlight was heading to Meredith's hometown of Alexandria, a wonderful coastal town with restaurants to cater to all pallets but naturally we went to a Mexican eatery, and I tried Birrieria tacos. Soft taco shells fried in a spicey sauce that had taken TikTok by storm and now also my life.
My time in DC was wonderful, educational and very calming compared to the constant noise of NYC. It however was also the place where I felt as though my solo trip may have been nicer if I had had someone to share it with. Sitting in the gallery and looking at paintings I knew some of my friends would love and wanting to teleport certain individuals so that they could be by my side in that moment and experience it with me. Seeing thought provoking scenes in the street and having no one to discuss it with and being only answerable to yourself and your own timings. That kind of responsibility is disconcerting and makes you do weird stuff. Like spending £190.00 on train tickets to Boston for 6 am the next morning .
So yeah, a 6am train to Boston for 8 hours. Before you say it, yes, I know my trip was poorly planned, why would I go down to DC from New York and then go back up past NYC again to get to Boston. The easy answer to this is scheduling, my friends in the cities had different schedules and I catered to them based on when they were free making my trip go in a big vertical zig zag. On a side note, American trains are amazing, and the seats are large 10/10 would recommend.
The hostel in "Bwoston" let me check in instantly and my room was air conditioned (take notes New York and your policy of "just open the windows"). Having scouted out my local pizza joint for my stay, from which I would eat all of my evening meals for the next few days I headed to the pool room and met a Turkish man. This man was lovely, and I can't remember his name, but I shall call him Steve. The reason I am such a big fan of him is that he introduced me to Tam's a bar next to the hostel where they had Magners on draft for $5. Whilst I wouldn't see Steve after that night, I would take all the new friends I'd make in the city to Tam's every night I stayed there, adding to my portfolio of fake local knowledge.
The next day I had a lovely breakfast with an old friend and sat on the Boston Common from where I went onto do the freedom trail with a wonderful tour guide named Bill who wore the most exquisite hat and orange coat. On this tour I would meet Alex and Will, two friends who were travelling like I was after they had graduated Uni, they had just started their journey and since I was nearing the end, I imparted some of my knowledge to them so that they too could eat copious amounts of decent pizza in New York and efficiently do all the museums in DC. That evening we met Tom, my Australian twin who had been stuck in Boston for two weeks because his Canadian visa had not been renewed. We also played pool with a pair of cousins from Poland who were much better than us at the sport and seemed disappointed whenever I stepped up to the table to inevitably pot the white.
I spent a day traveling to Marthas Vineyard, a spectacular island with the highest tax rate in the USA. There I hung out with an elderly couple from Atlanta who hated Republicans and took me in as their own showing me around the island and giving me tips on where to get the best and cheapest food. As we dropped them off at their hotel, they gave me a tap on the shoulder wishing me the best of luck for the future. I don't know why but that meant a lot. I spent some time at the Boston aquarium and talking to various people I met at a food market exchanging photography tips and debating very current societal issues. That evening I went to a free concert on the waterfront and watched as people ate and drank listening to swing music, as the night went on the eating and drinking subsided and was replaced by dancing into night.
Following a final night in Boston characterised by good company and good mac and cheese, EDM music and overpriced margaritas the next morning I packed my bags and went to sit in the lobby of the hostel to wait for my bus. Tom my Australian twin came to sit with me and explained to me that he still didn't know if he could go to Canada but that that day was the last day he could go before he missed out on his job for the ski season. Two girls Bella and Dilara came and sat with me too and chatted to me as I waited, and we shared stories of where we were from. Those two hours in the hostel lobby chatting to the various people I met probably had the most lasting impact on me, realising that in the space of 3o minutes you could get so invested in the lives of complete strangers so easily. After saying my goodbyes to them all I departed back to the UK, I still don't know if Tom ever got to Canada in time.
I hope he did, he was really looking forward to it.
I returned to York having not lost any luggage and met so many beautiful people feeling invigorated for the months to come. However, realising that the best parts of my trip were when I had shared experiences with people. Going solo in itself was not as fun as I had thought it to be, so next time I am going to bring someone or make sure to pick up a friend on the way, because the best way to experience the world is to share it with someone else.
Also I never got a call back from that job, oh well.
Tom x
