Solo Trip To Boston and New York
Campus visits, When Harry Met Sally, and attempting to not get lost on the NYC subway
During my gap year, I wanted to take a trip to New York and the opportunity finally arrived when I was planning my trip to Boston, Massachusetts. My graduate school deadline to accept or reject the schools I was admitted into is April 15th. I was accepted into Simmons University for their MLIS program however, I wanted to visit Boston before committing to attend school there. I have never visited the East Coast and since I was flying to Boston from Colorado I figured I would extend the trip and take a train to New York from Boston.
I arrived in Boston on the last week of March and nothing prepared me for the amount of universities there are in Boston. I quickly became acquainted with my Uber driver on the way to my hotel and he was able to point out some of the campuses and historic landmarks.
During the duration of my stay in Boston, I unfortunately was caught up in a lot of rainy weather and high winds. Regardless I was able to walk around and see some of Downtown Boston. I took the subway to the Simmons campus and it was a small university as I had expected. To my advantage, the campus was central to many museums and art galleries so I booked a ticket to the Museum of Fine Arts. I was fortunate to get into the Museum of Fine Arts when it opened at 10 am and beating the crowds was rewarding as I could see a lot of the art pieces with few people in the galleries.
Here are some of the restaurants I tried that are worth going to in Boston:
Cafe Bonjour: I had their Eggs Norwegian and it was probably one of the best breakfast foods I’ve had in a long time! The restaurant is very small and I was able to get a seat at the bar and become friends with the staff haha. I recommend Cafe Bonjour if you love French cuisine.
Legal Sea Foods: I wanted to eat some lobster while in Boston and was recommended Legal Sea Foods by the front desk person at my hotel. I had their Half Pound Maine Lobster Roll. I love lobster and this has to be on my top three list of lobster I consumed in my lifetime.
On the last day of being in Boston, I took a three-hour train to New York. My train went from South Station to the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station. Immediately when I got off the train I was overwhelmed and anxiously excited to be in New York. I just remember seeing a lot of people and the train station was packed on that late Saturday afternoon.
I made my way to the subway station to arrive at my hostel. When I was planning this trip I think the only thing I was nervous about was what the hostel experience would be like for me. I never stayed in a hostel before but I figured it would be a good way to make friends I also never stayed in my hotel room besides to sleep and shower. I stayed at “The Local” in Long Island City and I had a great experience! I booked a four-person female room and everything was clean most importantly I felt safe the entire time.
In New York, I booked tickets in advance for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I also did a night skyline boat tour. I had a hard time deciding what art museums I wanted to visit and I was going to go to the MoMA but I love impressionist art over modern art which was ultimately my deciding factor. I will include lists of landmarks and places I was able to visit in New York at the end of the post, in case any of you would like some recommendations.
One of my favorite movies is When Harry Met Sally so I was living the dream when I was inside the MET in the Temple of Dendur room. I also visited Washington Square Park which is where Meg Ryan drops off Billy Crystal at the start of the film. The blossoming cherry blossoms were a pleasant surprise as I had never seen a cherry blossom trees before.
Overall I am happy I was able to visit Boston and New York and I am also really happy I was able to go by myself! Over the past couple of months, my mental health hasn’t been great and on top of that, I was sick for a long duration of that time. Nothing compares to forcing yourself to push yourself out of your comfort zone. I struggle with a lot of anxiety and I am proud of myself for not letting myself hold me back from solo traveling. I think embracing yourself in new environments is key to developing as a person and also having a good time no matter the circumstances. I was able to interact with locals and I wasn’t afraid to try new cafes or restaurants I would come across. Going in with an open mindset and embracing the unknown made the trip enjoyable for me and I hope to continue this mindset in my everyday life.
Here is a list of landmark destinations I was able to see in New York:
Chelsea Market
Central Park
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Manhattan Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
Washington Square Park
Times Square
Strand Bookstore (a book lover’s dream! Of course I had to buy myself a tote bag)
Central Station
Statue of Liberty
Here are some of the restaurants & cafes in New York that I recommend:
Los Tacos No. 1 (Chelsea Market Location: I had their Nopal plate/tacos/house-made horchata)
Fellini Coffee (West Village & Chelsea locations, good lattes both hot & cold)
Pop-Up Bagels (Try their everything bagel!)
Lexington Candy Shop (They make handmade soda by stirring the syrup and soda water, I was able to sit at the bar and talk to the owner!)
Joe’s Pizza (open late and a good place to get a good slice of NYC pizza)
Cafe Reggio (located in Greenwich Village, I had a cappuccino there and the interior looks very historic also it was featured in the Godfather Part II, unfortunately, I did not see Al Pacino)
Some Honorable Moments:
Eating a NYC bagel at Central Park on an early Saturday morning on a park bench next to some cherry blossoms. To my surprise, the park was filled with many dogs and their owners. Most of the dogs were not leashed so I quickly consumed my bagel to prevent any dogs from eating my bagel before I did!
I am currently reading Plato’s Republic and I was speaking with one of my friends about Socrates a couple of weeks ago. I recently found out that Socrates passed from a sentenced forced suicide by the Athenian court. To keep things brief, Socrates was poisoned by drinking hemlock and there is a painting representing the event called The Death of Socrates (1787) by Jacques-Louis David. I wasn’t aware that the MET has this painting in their gallery and I was in shock when I randomly came across the painting after just recently speaking about it a couple weeks prior!
On my last night in New York, I did a night boat tour that ended late into the night. I was hungry so I went over to get Pizza in Times Square at Joe’s Pizza since they were open late. I had the bright idea that I would take the subway at around midnight back to my hostel. When I was walking down towards the train, I barely missed the line I needed to get on. On my phone, it said the next train said it would arrive in fifteen minutes. As I make my way towards the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner, I see a man walking towards me with a ski mask. I remember just seeing his eyes and that he was dressed in all black. I went around the staircase to go around him and I saw an emergency button ahead of me so I walked over to it just in case I needed help. I didn’t see the man after I was by the button but that was the longest fifteen minutes in my entire life.
I somehow managed to pack all of my things in a backpack. I guess you can say I lived like a true solo traveler!
Also, I wanted to say a huge welcome to all my new subscribers! Thank you for your support and interest in my writing, it means a lot.
With Love,
Tori
I’m terrified by the idea of solo traveling. But hearing your positive experiences of making friends with locals, seeing cool places, and taking cute pics gives me some hope. The solo traveler will be me in a few months, so it’s nice to see others pave the way forward. Hope to see another post soon!