Visiting New York City While on a Budget…

I found that an exciting part to visiting countries such as the United States is that there are numerous states, cities and sights to see depending on your interests. For one, I had New York City on my list especially having seen loads of Hollywood movies centred around this city (Eddy Murphy’s role in coming to America readily comes to mind here! Lol!) Watching live broadcasts from Times Square, viewing colourful imagery from New York Fashion week and also reading about interesting insights from travel enthusiasts about New York City.

To kick-start my trip to New York City, my starting point was seeking advice from my friends, some of whom live and work in New York City and this proved to be extremely helpful. Well, for most part of the decisions I made on the trip that is (inserts confused emoji). Here are some of my lucky tricks and some not so lucky experiences travelling to New York City on a budget.

• Finding affordable means of transportation- I plan to visit a number of places while in the States and this to a large extent informed my decision to kick-start my country wide tour on a budget. Like is similar with major cities, I found that the best time to plan inter-state trips in the US is usually well after the holidays as transportation costs are less steep at this time. As much as I was not going to be experiencing the New Year count down in Times Square, I still wanted to visit the city while much of the glitz and glam of the holidays remained. To make this trip a budget friendly reality, my next best means of transportation was to travel by road. From my current location, it would take me a total of 4 hours to travel by road which to me was fair considering as I’d be travelling under favourable road conditions. Travelling by road also meant that I could catch a glimpse of the country side and see New York in all of its glory upon entry. This was pretty much affordable as a one-way trip by road could go for as low as $20 compared to going by express train or travelling by air which could cost anything from $100 – $500. Travelling by road also meant that I could take great shots of the city!

• Accommodation – Finding affordable accommodation within a commercial city can come with its price as daily rates for standard hotel accommodation could go for anything from $200 – $1,500 depending on the type, location and class of Hotel (something about the stars…lol). I found that with New York City, especially in Manhattan, hotel rates are quite steep. I hear that majority of low/mid-income earners that work in Manhattan live in neighboring cities/towns from New York and commute from these locations to the city daily. So when my friend mentioned I could get affordable hotel reservations in Staten Island, I was in so much of a hurry to jump on it without realizing that it would take me approximately 40- 60 minutes by road (depending on in-city traffic) and approximately $120 – $150 in Uber fares to get there. This was my epic JJC moment (“JJC” is an acronym for “Johnny Just Come” – a slang used to describe a novice in a new city). I only realized much later after spending a whopping $119.58 on Uber fees from the bus station on W 42 Street to my hotel in Staten Island that I could easily have gone to Staten Island by the “FREE” ferry with no hassle. Mehn, this is the kind of error you can only commit once. Never again! (lol).
• I later decided to find a hotel in Manhattan as it made for easier sightseeing and I didn’t necessarily need to be mobile. Oh and considering that I had already spent a ridiculous amount on uber fees on my arrival, it was only fair to decide to move to a hotel in Manhattan for the remainder of my New York City tour.

• Food – With NYC comes every kind of food you can lay your hands on. From the road side food trucks serving Mexican, Chinese, Indian and continental dishes to the fast food restaurants, diners and the much more up-scale restaurants, food is easy to come by in New York City. I love food and Chinese cuisine is usually my easy go to, so imagine my shock when I ordered my regular go to menu on Uber eats when I first arrived in Country (chicken chow mein, Szechuan chicken and stir fry rice with shrimps) and I could not figure out what in the world got delivered. The Szechuan chicken was anything but the spicy crunchy delicately spiced platter I was used to. This came in a soggy soup bowl filled with broccoli and God knows what else (throws hand in the air). This was an epic fail. Seeing as my first Chinese food experience was far from my own reality of previous orders, my friends and I decided we would have to find a Chinese restaurant to dine in and it proved to be the best decision. We ate at the Ding Chinese restaurant on 48^th street and it was exactly the right way I enjoy my Chinese cuisine. From the dumplings, to the chicken, to the rice, it was such a foodie relief! On my Uber ride to the bus station for my NY trip, I remember chatting with my really pleasant driver and she gave me some great pointers to dinning in New York City. She advised that the most affordable places to eat while in New York are at Diners (especially for breakfast) and Dunkin Doughnuts (I passed on the Dunkin Doughnuts offer – team #fitfam2019).

• Local in-city transportation – I discovered that you can literarily get around NY City either by walking, by bus or train. But this depends on your location. With a topped-up bus card, you can easily commute within the city by bus. When I moved hotels to Manhattan, it was relatively easy getting around as I could easily get to surrounding shopping areas, Times Square and even the bus station easily by walking. Oh and you can never go wrong with Google maps especially when walking within the city.

• Sight-seeing with friends – I enjoy company and I found that sight-seeing with friends also makes for great photography! Once you have your creative shoot direction, you can get your friends to take as many shots as possible (inserts grin emoji). And oh, your friends will probably be a lot more patient while you strike your 1000^th pose for your epic city capture (lol). Some people love to travel and sight-see alone. I’m more of the in company or a group tour type person and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with old friends from home. New York City has everything you’d love to see. From the live theaters showing musicals and stage plays on Madison Avenue, to the awe struck experience from Times Square and also interesting street shopping; New York City was a delight to see. I plan to visit some other time as there’s so much you can see on a weekend trip.

What are some of your pleasant and not so pleasant experiences travelling to new places or cities on a budget? What are some of your travel hacks especially for first timers in a new city? I’d love to read about your experiences. Please feel free to share in the comment section!

Toodles!