Solo travel New York City

I booked a trip to New York City to explore and solo travel.

I landed in New York Friday evening and took the Airtrain into the city. When I arrived at Penn Station I caught the last bit of daylight when I walked up the stairs into the city streets. As I walked to my hostel, I watched the sunlight reflect hues of oranges and pinks down the streets lined with skyscraper buildings.

I had 4 nights in the city and I only had my first night booked near the Flatiron. This was my first hostel experience and I planned to book more nights there after I explored the area.

After I checked in, I walked to Whole Foods for a hot bar dinner. After a long day of travel and the slight overstimulation from the city, a Whole Foods hot bar dinner sounded great. I bought my food and walked upstairs to find a room with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the street intersection. I stayed to eat and enjoyed my dinner with the night-time view. I was able to relax and journal here too.

Once I walked back to the hostel I showered and went to bed. In the morning, I went to the front desk to extend my stay but there were no more nights available.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do yet so I walked into the hostel’s shared kitchen and had a cup of coffee and some fruit with a few other people staying in the hostel. They were older filmmakers and artists of some kind, one from the U.S. and the others from Europe. They knew about Jerome, Arizona so I connected with them over a recent trip there. We exchanged a few stories until I went back to get ready for the day.

I got dressed and wore blue jeans, a white silky button-up top, and a long black leather coat. I packed a scarf in case it got cold.

I checked out of the hostel, found a place to store my bags for the day, and walked towards the Flatiron. I found a Ralph’s coffee and stopped for a cappuccino.

Outside Ralph’s, I shared a table with a few other women my age, one an interior designer who told me about an Artist pop-up in Chelsea. I wrote it down in my notes to stop by if I had time in the evening.

I had planned to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into DUMBO during the day. I took the subway to Lower Manhattan and found the Brooklyn Bridge.

I walked the Brooklyn Bridge before it got crowded and saw the beautiful skyline views of the city. When I got to DUMBO, I found the famous street view of the Manhattan Bridge and walked towards it to get to the shoreline.

The area near the shoreline in DUMBO is beautiful. I sat by the water for a bit, let the sun warm my body through my layers of clothing, and eventually walked to a grassy area near the Brooklyn Bridge. I admired the view from where I was sitting, and I took some photos of the bridge & my outfit

I walked through the Time Out Market and then followed the sidewalk that passed the Manhattan Bridge and found another beautiful & quiet area in DUMBO:

When I left DUMBO, I took the subway to Chelsea and ended up checking out the Artist pop-up held by Pace Gallery. The event was crowded, and the Media Artist had arranged a bunch of light bulbs and you could walk around the room. Media artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Common Measures: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrAB8zgLt2n/?img_index=1

Before the sun went down, I found an Airbnb in Hell’s Kitchen and picked up my bags. I was excited about the Airbnb because my room had a window door to the fire escape. And, around the corner from me was an empanada spot, called Empanada Mama where I ordered a few empanadas for dinner.

Sunday – Monday, I explored the lower west side of Manhattan, (Soho, Tribeca, West Village, and the Financial District areas).

I started my day in Soho and went into Lululemon. I found a pair of workout/lounge pants that I loved.

I passed through cobblestone streets, boutiques, and fashion pop-ups in Tribeca and walked through each neighborhood park I came across, this one was close to the Financial District:

I found a little library at one of the parks in the Financial District and sat down to read a book that caught my eye. It was a children’s book with facts about New York City. Directly in front of me was the One World Trade Center tower that was disappearing into a cloud on this day:

In the evening, I booked a foot reflexology appointment at Perry’s Street Reflexology in the West Village. After a lot of walking and carrying the weight of my bags, this was a great experience.

It was Monday evening when it started raining. I was standing outside waiting to cross the street on Broadway in NoMad when someone opened the double doors of the restaurant I was standing next to. I felt warm air and a sweet smell of Italian food blow over me. It was my last night in the city and I was getting hungry so I went inside and sat at the bar. I checked the menu and I saw I was at La Pecora Bianca in NoMad. I ordered a spicy limoncello margarita, which rocked the lemon drop world, and a dish of pasta.

I overheard people meeting for the first time, networking, and sharing stories about their lives and interests. And, many people I met at the restaurant were solo traveling through New York too.

I love that the city brings so many people together, people with all types of backgrounds, and from all over the world together in one place. I learned so much about myself while I visited New York, and this inspired me to set goals that would allow me to travel, including a goal to travel out of the United States one day.

I walked home in the rain, stopped at Grand Central Station to glance up at the beautiful star artwork ceiling, and walked through Times Square to get to my Airbnb. The lights in Times Square reflected brighter than usual with the ground wet from the rain. Times Square was pretty empty and I quickly passed through to get to my place for the night.

Tuesday morning, I walked through Central Park before I left to fly home. It was October and the leaves were starting to turn.

I cut through the park to the Upper East Side of the city to meet a fashion stylist for coffee at Ralph’s in the early morning. The Ralph’s coffee location in the Upper East Side offers table service. We had a nice chat over our coffee and pastries at Ralph’s.

Before leaving the city, I walked through Central Park again and stopped to listen to a Jazz band play. At this time, an old friend called and I answered. We discovered we were in the same area and met for lunch before I took the train to the airport.

On my flight back to Los Angeles, I reflected on new thoughts of traveling and the opportunities I faced as a young adult. I felt a strong curiosity to travel more. Whenever I visit New York, it feels like the world is a lot more connected. I left feeling energized and grateful for the people I met and for my first solo travel experience.

Do you like to travel or have any favorite spots in the city? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!