Go Hard or Go Home

NEW YORK CITY!!!!  The Big Apple!!! Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of!!  The Devil’s Playground!!!  Whatever you want to call it, it's a truly magnificent city and a staple of American history and culture.  To never visit such a glamorized piece of land is a crime and should be punishable by death as far as I’m concerned.  This tiny island has stolen my heart and I wouldn't have it any other way (J/K I have NO Heart!!!).

MANY people fantasize about their dream vacation as someplace exotic or tropical.  Sunbathing with the local nudists and sipping frothy cocktails alongside shark infested waters is where many minds linger on the long monotonous days pretending to work (while really internet surfing that dream vacation).  And while this is an awfully tempting and enticing adventure, my fantasy vacation has always been NEW YORK CITY!!!  Visiting the city that never sleeps has been my goal in life for as long as I can remember and my soul has always been invested there (not really MY soul as I never had one. It’s actually someone else’s soul but let’s just pretend it’s mine).  Carrie Bradshaw, Gossip Girl, those 2 broke girls, Barney Stinson, Ross, Rachel, Monica and the rest of the gang have made the city so appealing I had to plan a vacation there sometime before my AARP benefits kick in (those kick in when I turn 30 right?).

BUT, planning a trip to New York is no easy feat.  Anyone who has ever been there or tried to go there can tell you that the sexy vixen called NYC is freakin EXPENSIVE!!  A year’s salary can be spent in a single weekend trip.  So, it’s understandable (but still not forgivable) why some never venture to that part of the nation’s underbelly.  It’s especially expensive if you have to fly across the country just to get there. 

HOWEVER, since I am OCD and/or anal-retentive (the doctors can’t decide), when it comes to planning trips, I have been able to plan not one but TWO trips within the last year and a half to my fantasy playground.  My most recent trip (earlier this month) was absolutely AMAZING and consisted of non-stop fun that any adventure junky could enjoy.  And to top it off I spent under $1000 for this dreamland escape.  Here is the breakdown of the money I spent for this 7 day/6 night adventure versus what your $600 an hour attorney could spend.  

	What I Spent	Attorney Could Spend
Airfare (RT):	$ 327	͌$ 500 (lowball cost)
Hotel (Apt rental):	$ 264	͌$ 600 (lowballing)
Events & Activities:	$ 261	$ 550
TOTAL COST:	$ 852	$ 1650

That’s right folks you read that correctly, I spent $852 on my trip.   And the list of events and activities I did was as follows:

Hudson night cruise

West Village food tour

Museum of Sex

Museum of Modern Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9/11 Tribute Center

Guggenheim Museum

Brooklyn wine tour

Rock of Ages on Broadway

Wine tasting and dinner in the Upper East Side

Statue of Liberty

Empire State Building

CLEARLY I wasn't able to plan this trip overnight.  It takes time and patience to be able to plan such an inexpensive trip but it is possible.  And if I can muster the patience to do it so can you (I have zero patience for anything else in life).  OR you can just ask me to do it for you because as you can see I get ish done yo (is that still slang?).

If you think I’m lying about how much fun I had then check out these pics as proof!!

THIS doesn't include the extra adventure we started out the trip with which was visiting Washington DC and Baltimore for a day.  The cost for that extra day was $150 which included: hotel stay, rental car and bus ticket from Baltimore to NYC.  While in DC we got to see the White House, go to the Smithsonian and watch a homeless man sunbathe on a sidewalk manhole (real life this did happen!).  AND my friend got  to visit her dream cheer gym (yes, apparently some people love cheerleading THAT much, luv ya Cherita!!!!).  

SO, for my week-long east coast adventure, I went to 3 cities and spent a total of $1000!!!  Who says having fun has to cost you your entire life’s savings?  Stop waiting for those few extra pennies and start planning that dream trip NOW.  The things we regret in life are the things we don’t do, NOT the things we do do (doodoo hehe say that 5 times fast).