NYC: How to be a tourist in your own backyard

 

From http://www.nycgo.com/articles/new-york-city-in-one-day
From NYCGO

How to be a tourist in your own backyard

In 2015, life is expensive. Your mortgage, your car, your school fees they all add up and not many of us are left with a lot at the end of the money to afford luxuries.

For most, holidays are definitely a luxury and an expensive one too; flights, gas accommodation—and that’s before you’ve even shopped for your holiday outfit and to pick up the latest blockbuster book. Holidays cost more than ever before and yet with the explosion of social media, we are constantly bombarded with other people’s holiday snaps and envy-making tweets.   

Small Budget? No Problem!

With the slight improvement in the economy people are starting to have more disposable cash, thoughts are turning to ways to get out of town and take a break as well as how to enjoy the cities we are in. The idea of a day trip might seem a lot of effort for little reward, but if you do it right, then it can be incredibly rewarding.

Consider your town or city and its surrounds, often looking beneath the surface you will see there is so my beauty where we live or close by.  For those of us that live in New York, New York there are endless things to do on our own doorstep and certainly within state. Take a day trip to NYC, visit the beach, have a picnic in a national park, spa day with the girls, take photographs of a memorial, hike a forest, take in a show, or go shopping.

Look at all the things in your neighborhood that you never had time to appreciate. Try the new diner that you’ve heard so much about and treat yourself to your favorite brunch. Visit the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, or go ice skating in Central Park. Take a moment to see the beauty that is all around you.

NYC Trade CenterPlan your journey

If you are leaving the city, plan to leave early.  Buy a map and know where you are going.  Fill your tank the day before; make sure you have printed any tickets and passes. Pre-planning will make all about relaxing or having fun, not about stressing about finding gas stations.

Day use hotels

Even a day trip does take some planning, especially if you have kids. The logistics or feeding and sleeping can be difficult with infants and even if you are footloose and fancy free, a really early start can be exhausting. You can now rent hotels for a short stay with HotelsByDay in NYC. These are reputable hotels that have rooms that stand vacant all day long, so they are happy to rent then out. Book a room where you are going and you can use it to feed the baby, put the kids down for their lunchtime nap, or have a lunchtime nap yourself!  You could even center your daycation on the room. Rent a hotel by day and watch TV, give yourself a makeover, take lunch in the hotel, swim in the hotel pool, have a nap. Come home refreshed.

Enjoy all of it. 

The trick with day trips is to enjoy all of it.  Make the journey part of the adventure; looking out the window and seeing sights you don’t usually see is all part of the fun. Sometimes the drive is a means to an end, but you can still listen to your favorite music, put on a storybook, sing songs with the kids, and revel in the wonder of the open road.

What to do

A fixed itinerary is fine, but so is letting the day unfold ahead of you. If you’re just heading out to follow your nose or just chill, pack a picnic and you can lunch wherever the urge takes you. Stop the car to look at unusual sights, or keep on driving to see what’s around the corner.  Some of the life’s greatest pleasures are discovering the undiscovered, and on a day trip, everything can be new and pleasurable.

Tyler Brooks

Tyler Brooks was born and raised in the small town of Bailey, near South Park in Colorado. After his first trip abroad to Japan when he was ten years old, he has had the travel bug and since then, has spent his life planning and going on trips. He recently found his talent as a photographer. His beautiful photography is available for sale at www.ttbphotography.smugmug.com

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