Travelling NYC alone

Hi everyone, I%26#39;m travelling to New York City from Australia (20th Dec-27th Dec). I%26#39;ll be alone because thereafter I%26#39;m off to my best gal friend%26#39;s wedding in San Antonio. I figured if I%26#39;m oing to fly for more than 20hours to United States, how can I not visit New York?! Just wondering if I%26#39;m crazy to be travelling alone. That%26#39;s 21 meals by myself. Ha ha. I tried looking for travelling partner websites but they all appear very dodgey. Any suggestions? And please don%26#39;t be mistaken I%26#39;m not looking to hook up or anything. Thanks.

Travelling NYC alone

There was an Aussie woman who came alone last year for Xmas. Will try to find her posts. Meantime, here%26#39;s a link to 3 trip reports from solo travelers.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k474427-鈥?/a>

You%26#39;re absolutely not crazy to come alone. NYC is very manageable on your own, esp. if you enjoy theater and have the budget for it. It%26#39;s easy to see a show of some kind every night and be entertained. Breakfast and lunch is EASY alone. Only prob. I ever have is dinner and eating at bars is becoming more and more common.

Are you male or female?

Travelling NYC alone

I still haven%26#39;t found the posts from the woman I%26#39;ve been thinking of (maybe I got it wrong and the woman in question is crazy gracie from the UK) but have found lots of good posts for you to read in the meantime. ;)

solo traveling tips

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k289675-鈥?/a>

solo dining

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k4517-Di鈥?/a>

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k988975-鈥?/a>

?? about a solo trip

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k420551-鈥?/a>

A lady%26#39;s 1st timer in NY over Xmas

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k360770-鈥?/a>

Rough itinerary for lady over Xmas

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k382234-鈥?/a>

Agreed....New York is a very easy city to do on your own. Since there is such a multitude of things to do here, you will never be bored. Plus with the plethora of people here, you certainly won%26#39;t feel so alone either. New Yorkers are a socialable talkative bunch, (sometimes a little too much.)

As for the dining issue; bear in mind; there%26#39;s about a gazillion single people here. (As in people who live alone %26amp; go about their daily lives soltero..myself being one of them.) You won%26#39;t look out of place dining by yourself...you%26#39;ll look like a local.

One advantage of traveling solo; is that you will find it%26#39;s much easier to get into bars, clubs, restaurants; as it is much easier to accomodate the needs of a party of 1 than it is bigger groups. This also goes for surprise perks (upgrades, free drinks, or anything else complimentary)

A polite individual is much more likely to get discreetly ';hooked up'; than a boisterous group. (Particularly when flying..the odds of 1 random seat being available in the next class up are in your favor.) This also holds true for theatre/concert tickets.

My first solo trip happened when a friend backed out of a Caribbean birthday weekend at the 11th hour. I then learned all the above, and resolved that I would never travel with friends again. (A few botched weekend getaways with friends who don%26#39;t travel well; also contributed to this decision.)

Also, being on your own in a foreign city, will force you out of your comfort zone and to try new things. When travelling with friends I realized we%26#39;d do the same type of things we did at home; which completely defeats the purpose of traveling.

Thank you very much for the link. I found it really useful, and the link for the OZ lady who travelled solo was found there as well. I%26#39;m a female so the article was highly empowering.

Yeah, I reckon breakfast and lunch wouldn%26#39;t be that bad. Just the dinners especially during Christmas period. But I really want to see New York during Christmas time, it%26#39;s kind of a childhood magical fantasy thing. Ha ha! I%26#39;m a dreamer so I%26#39;m going to have to bite the bullet and deal with it.

Are young people friendly in New York?

Thank you nywhiz and cbcito. Your posts are very encouraging and helpful. I do agree that the whole reason I wanted to travel to NYC alone is to challenge my comfort zone, and I travelled with one of my friends to Melbourne for a week and it turned out to be a disaster. Ha ha!

I%26#39;m going to have to do more research and read more online forums and articles. :) And I didn%26#39;t know that travelling alone will increase my chances of an upgrade etc. Honestly, I%26#39;ve been too meek to ever ask for one in my life. That and I haven%26#39;t travelled much internationally. :)

For younger people, I would recommend the East Village. That was where I lived when I was in college. I dined out solo at least 5 times a week. It%26#39;s the kind of neighborhood where residents don%26#39;t bother to coordinate schedules, they just step out their doors and run into whomever. Same goes for nightlife, a multitude of bars, a multitude of people. It was much easier to just ';go out'; than it was to attempt to track down what friends were where.

If you%26#39;re even thinking of doing this, book a cancelable hotel reservation ASAP. The Park South hotel has a room for $159/night (plus tax is 15%) on quikbook.com It%26#39;s fully cancelable.

When you have your travel plans sorted out, apply for a Big Apple Greeter. We%26#39;re an organization of volunteer New Yorkers who like showing off our neighborhoods for FREE. It%26#39;s a great way to get oriented to getting around the city, too.

www.bigapplegreeter.org

I love traveling alone too. I also started when a friend backed out of my first trip to Europe, many years ago. I was terrified to go alone, and my dear cousin advised me to ';pretend'; to be a sophisticated solo traveler. Waddya know, it worked!

some of my best travel adventures have been trips i took on my own. you get to set your own pace and come and go as you like.

as far as being alone in the city, being an avid people watcher, there were many who seemed to be doing solo adventures in the city.

same with dining and clubbing, many single people doing their own thing and most if not all, seemed to be having a great time.

as far as meeting people when traveling, i found the most interesting people to have conversations with were those who were alone.

i understand being outside of your comfort zone and away from your friends, but believe me, you never feel alone in NYC!!

Hee..hee! Yes I too was absolutely petrified the first time. I think the worst part was when the plane touched down; and there is that brief lull while you taxi and approach the gate. My heart was palpitating. But once I got to my hotel, checked in and took a shower, I was soooo excited to be in a new city all by myself. Come to think of it, I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;ve been that excited since. (Close...but not quite.)

revlon

java