Last week I promised you a bit of adventure, and since a Lannister- Sorry a French student always pays her debts, let me tell you about my little weekend enterprise!
Philadelphia was sold to me as a great city for its history, cultural scene, and prime location. It is supposed to make traveling and discovering the USA fairly easy thanks to its airport and train station.
A study abroad program has two parts: studying and abroad, and it seemed obvious to me that my time here would also be used to discover a completely different country, not only by staying where I would be located but also by taking the opportunity to visit places that would be so much closer to me.
All of that teasing to tell you that I have made it and completed the American dream; this weekend I visited New York City !!
The thing is, like most people I have huge dreams of traveling but I always struggled to put plans into action and actually start looking at flights and housing situations. The whole process was made 300 times easier in this case for two reasons; not only is my best friend currently doing her study abroad in NYC and offered to house me BUT Amtrak also had a considerable sale about a week ago and I was able to purchase train tickets at only 32$ for a round trip!
So here I was, a backpack borrowed from my roommate on my shoulders, a cheap Amtrak ticket on my phone, Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift blasting in my ears, ready to take a bite of the Big Apple!
Disclaimer for myself and everyone: If you want to make the most of visiting your friend and her city, do not visit her when you have 3 assignments and she has a religious festival.
So it turns out 3 days is not enough to visit such a huge city, especially when you and your friend both have different constraints (studying and praying, 2 sides of the same coin ;).
It might also be why I missed my train back and had to take a Flix bus back (only 20$ don’t worry).
My plan was originally to blog about a perfect travel itinerary in New York, but I would feel illegitimate to do so since I only managed to tour the Upper East, Upper West, and a tiny bit of Brooklyn during my little escapade (so not even half of the city since it is HUGE) :/ But fear not dear readers, as I may or may not have already planned my next trip to NYC.
So instead, I thought exposing you to my dreams and plans for my next travels might
- Make me more accountable to put my dreams into action and get out of the city of brotherly love for other horizons
- Give ideas and tips to other international students as to how to plan trips around Philly
- Make Americans laugh about the travel ambitions of foreign students, as they might not even come to mind to you guys.
So here we go, Sally, a future travel diary (take it as an oath to myself). And feel free to do the same so that we can all make the most of our study abroad!
Places I want to visit :
In the category of the classic of the East Coast: I hope to spend a weekend in Boston (and go to Salem since I’ve been obsessed with it since reading Arthur Miller) and Washington DC. Can you tell I’m a history and PolSci major?
South cities, a totally different environment into which I happen to have friends studying abroad as well: Atlanta and Miami (hoping to practice a bit of Spanish).
Out of the country to the north: Montreal if I start missing French a bit too much and Mexico City (one of my long-time dreams that is much more accessible if you take a flight from this side of the Atlantic).
On the other coast; Seattle (or the birthplace of Starbucks), San Francisco (and the Golden Gate Bridge that I have only seen in a Hitchcock movie), and I’m a bit hesitant about Los Angeles since apparently you need a car to enjoy it.
Nature Edition: Vermont? Yosemite? Yellowstone? Zion? taking all hiking recommendations
For those travels, I will :
- check religiously Amtrak sales, Use only kayak to search flights, and on last resort look at Flix buses.
- Plan with friends so that we all have time and housing can be cheaper.
- Take all long weekend opportunities.
I should also: invest in a travel backpack.
I will happily take all travel recommendations you have whether it’s a destination, planning tips, or a way to save money.
Talk to you next week!
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