New York, I'll miss you

I love New York more than I can describe, and much more than I ever thought I would.  There is something about the energy and life of the city that just speaks to me.  Even as I was running through the street last week in the pouring rain, having got caught without an umbrella, hauling the heaviest box in the world (which I had struggled down 4 flights of killer stairs from a 4th floor walk-up, and then inadvertently dropped a couple times in greyish street puddles due to said rain, so it was appropriately covered with muck and leaves), and then having a large handicapped man rudely cut everyone in line at the post office and loudly ranting at the employees while insisting on paying all in coins...even after the entire debacle was over....I still thought to myself, "God, I love this city."

There's nothing I can say about this city that hasn't already been said, really. I love that NYC feels like the center of the universe. I love that this city is full of millions of people all living their own crazy version of life.  I love the small corners of NYC that you discover, like the random bodega down the street from my apt that I discovered has a juicer and doesn't charge you for the # of ingredients, so that my lemon-apple-kale-spinach-ginger-beet juice is half the price it would be at Liquiteria. Or how one day wandering the East Village while searching for a tailor on Yelp, I discovered my adorable Asian-lady tailor who has assumed a motherly role over me and will often say things like, "This dress is already short. You sure you want to hem this dress........shorter??" in a very concerned tone.

That being said, here is just a (very, very small) snapshot of things I will miss about my NYC life:

Wine nights on our apartment rooftop

The skyline at night

West Village

The most incredible improv class ever

Union Square farmers' market, my summer Saturday routine

Karaoke nights. I'm sure nobody needs to ask what we were singing

Famous people sightings, bc I have zero control over my emotions when I see them. This is the cast of OITNB! OFFICER BENNETT, CALL ME

My volleyball team. Despite the fact that nobody appreciated how genius the name "Red Block-sters" was

This completely mediocre view from my room

Where else can you get 3AM s'mores fries???!

Perfect Spring mornings

Chelsea. Ugh, I love you so much

Weekend 2PM "brunches" #basic

YOU. YOU, MOST OF ALL.

People in the Northeast get to go apple-picking in the Fall! LUCKY

Did I already mention the skyline? Even after 4 years, this never ceases to take my breath away

This view from Willamsburg

The sad thing is this post could have been like, 10x longer. But I refrained, not out of restraint, but because Blogger is terrible at uploading photos and I have lost patience.

Is it also cliche to mention that I have met some of the most incredible people ever here, and I can't imagine not having these people as part of my everyday life anymore?  Do you think that phrase "Leave NYC while you still love it" or whatever (it's more eloquent-sounding than that) is just a ploy to ease the sting of leaving one of the most gritty, vibrant, adventure-filled cities ever?  

brb, time to go cry a river into my milk tea.

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Travel Tips: My around-the-world packing list

In prepping for my trip, I scoured a million blogs and articles about what to bring and pack. I love packing. Something about organizing everything neatly into one bag just brings me joy. The best part was looking up fun travel "must-haves" (I use this term very, very loosely) - there are so many amazing, neat things out there!  My next endeavor is to start a stylish, unique, yet practical travel products company. Like, how cute would it be to have a hiking backpack that looked like a sushi roll?? ...Anyone? ..Bueller?

So without further ado, I thought it may be fun to detail my own packing list (especially since some of the solo female packing lists I saw were pretty spartan.....two pairs of shoes for a year?? NICE TRY). Ok, here we go.

K-Cliffs 52L Internal Frame Backpack:  I've had this thing since I purchased it for a post-college European trip for $35 on Amazon. It's a little smaller than most true backpacking bags (which usually range about 70L), and has lasted through like 5 separate trips from Europe to South America, and I love it with my whole heart (...except when having to carry it, of course).

I'd like you more if you weighed less #thatswhatshesaid

Packing Cubes: These things are the shiz. Tons of travelers recommend them to help separate clothing items so you don't have to uproot your entire pack when looking for something - especially useful when you're living out of a top-loading backpack. I already love these, I got them on Amazon in a stylish teal color and they speak to my OCD soul

Packing cubes!

The large packing cube is for bottoms & jackets:

Large

• (3) pairs of shorts
• (3) pairs of leggings
• (2) pairs of jeans. Lots of travelers hate bringing jeans bc they are heavy and dry slowly, but you can't argue with their versatility
• (2) dresses
• (1) skirt
• (1) windbreaker
• (1) zip-up long-sleeve

Medium

The medium one holds all tops

• (5) tank tops
• (5) t-shirts
• (2) workout tops
• (2) nicer tops

And the small packing cube holds undergarments (word choice courtesy of the year 1920), swimsuits, socks, and a scarf. I'm going to go ahead and assume a picture is probably not necessary here.  As for the scarf, a lot of girls recommended bringing one - you can jazz up your outfits (this is not what they say, this is my own personal interpretation), and it's extremely useful in covering up your head, shoulders, etc. when visiting more religious sites.

(6) Pairs of Shoes: Does this seem like overkill?  All the lists I saw recommended like, 3 pairs max. But once I pared it all down to the necessities, I see no way of having less:

My co-worker Tiffancy dubbed my Puma flats (lower right corner) "Asian grandma shoes" 

1.) Sneakers, 2.) Toms for everyday walking, 3.) Flats for occasions you want to look nicer than a hobo, 4.) Sandals for occasions you want to look nicer than a hobo (ok, i prob could take these out but honestly, they take up zero room), 4.) Flip-flops for everyday walking, and 6.) Shower flip-flops to prevent hostel shower foot diseases

Fun Travel Items! (L to R, top to bottom)

• Travel hairdryer. Splurge item I am allowing myself
• Makeup bag. Another tiny splurge, given most female travelers typically go with the "less is more" mentality here and seem to think a stick of eyeliner and some moisturizer is more than enough. No. Just no. 
• Tiny lock
• Waterproof cover for iPhone. You can take iPhone photos underwater!
• Sleep essential bag (fuzzy mask, earplugs)
• Tiny flashlight
• Sunglasses. No glaucoma here.
• Rechargeable travel battery for iPhone
• Pink power adapter
• Silk traveler sheets. Incredible for hostels, and look how tiny it folds up! It's the black/yellow pack. Also purchased on Amazon.
• Selfie stick! (no judgments, I had numerous people tell me this was ESSENTIAL. Plus $10 on Amazon, practically free)
• Bag o'drugs (Neosporin, band-aids, Advil, typhoid pills, you know, the usual)
• Bag of toiletries. The only callout I have here is Downy anti-wrinkle spray, which a ton of travelers recommend to quickly remedy wrinkly clothes
• Tiny umbrella

Travel Guides & Laptop:

• 11' MacBook Air (for blogging purposes!)
• Travel guides. Here, I have Eastern Europe and Turkey, but I know I will inevitably amass more. Yes, these are ridic heavy and not ideal in the least for hauling around, but I live and die by these, and I can't follow the Kindle versions. I am going to plan on maybe having the friends who join me for certain legs bring them with them instead of carrying them all together, but still TBD on this dilemma.

Miscellaneous Add-Ons & Thoughts:

• Travel insurance.  I did a ton of research, and the most popular/best option with the greatest reviews is World Nomads.
• ATM card. This is how I plan on pulling out most of my currency. I also did a ton of research on this (surprise), and Charles Schwab offers a no-fee ATM card (seriously, no transaction fees, ATM fees, or foreign exchange fees) - only thing is you have to open a high-yield checking account that is tied to a brokerage account. But no minimum account balances!

There are still some last-minute items that will probably end up getting added to the mix (I still need a travel purse, as well as a folder for all my documents, a small wallet, etc.)  But for the most part, this is my packing list that I hope is useful to someone, someday, somewhere, maybe.  Even if not useful, you can all see what will likely be the cause of any future back problems I may incur. Though honestly, the backpack is pretty manageable so far and still has some room for souvenirs!

Ta-da!

I am living out of Ziploc bags

The lease on my apartment ended at the end of April.  Which would probably have made it the ideal time to pack all my stuff up, mail the rest home, and depart on my world tour. Only problem is, I couldn't bring myself to leave New York right on the cusp of Spring.

There is nothing like Springtime in NYC. Seriously. That first day the sun comes out, the temperature gauge hits over 65, and the trees start to show the beginnings of flowers.....and the city goes wild. All the long-suffering winter-scarred residents pour into the streets, rooftops re-open, every restaurant drags seating onto their sidewalks, and birds sing Disney songs (in my head....and on my iPod. Psych.). All outdoor spaces....pure chaos. And I love. every. second.  I am that person that hits up the Mister Softee truck in my new summer dress I purchased on that one day it hit 0 degrees in Feb., and then Yelp-searches restaurants with outdoor seating so I can drag my friends there to take photos of our french toast basking in the sun because we're SITTING OUTSIDE, Y'ALL, BECAUSE IT'S FINALLY SPRING. I did not suffer through the most miserably frigid winter ever (here's looking at you, giant ice puddles that tried to make me slip and die) to leave right at my favorite time ever. It's getting to be perfect 16 Handles weather. Not that this has stopped me in the winter. I digress.

All my worldly possessions

So I made the decision to at least stay in the city through the end of May. I looked at sublets for just the month, but was struggling with the idea of hauling my furniture somewhere for just a month, living with another stranger, and paying exorbitant rent; just so I could eat my 16 Handles outdoors. At brunch with friends one day, however, some of them offered up their apartments to me for various times they'd be out of town....and once I looked at the calendar on the dates I had a place to stay, there was only a week or two left that I needed housing. I filled those dates in with other friends....and I am now officially apartment-surfing in my last month in the city. Which means I am living out of bags (given that my suitcases now reside in Denver).

Needless to say, planning out what to wear over the next six weeks while concurrently selling all my furniture, shipping all my worldly possessions home in boxes, planning out what to bring backpacking the world, moving out of the apt, and working, was kind of a recipe for disaster. My wardrobe for the next month of my life is themed "hobo", I've decided.

Just a sampling, #bagsinbagsinbags

One thing I have loved, though, is organizing everything. Living out of 10 large bags makes it pretty near impossible to find the things you need, which led me to start sub-categorizing my clothes into giant Ziploc bags. I separated my clothes into categories (tanks, leggings, socks, etc.) and with my new "roll everything into tiny rolls" packing technique, I am kind of OCD-y loving my bags-in-bags-in-bags lifestyle.  Never mind that I am incredibly ill-equipped for any activities out of the norm, because most of my stuff got sent home. Like, if someone invited me to a tea party next week, I would be screwed. Or I could show up in workout gear, which is what I would possibly most definitely do, because I love tea.

One downside of hobo life, where is my mail going now that I don't have an address? No idea.

It's beginning

I'm leaving New York in exactly two months.

It's a little surreal because I've talked about taking time off to travel since the second I graduated college. And every year since.  But I would get so caught up in life, and my career, and friends, and events, and week-long vacations max, not to mention the looming fear of not-earning-an-income-and-therefore-screwing-up-the-rest-of-my-life-and-then-becoming-homeless-and-poor-and-miserable-forever.  I always told myself that I was looking for the right time, and I told people I was just waiting for that extra push or some kind of sign from the universe.  Well, not only has the universe sent me like a million signs, but I've come to realize there is no "right time" and probably never will be.  And nobody's getting any younger here. Except for me. In my interests.

I was hemming and hawing over the past couple weeks about what to do, while also casually looking at $3,000/month window-less studios that I was appalled anyone would want/pay for (but were being snatched off the market so fast that sometimes they'd be taken before I even had a chance to visit).  On that side note, WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE, because I want to ask you what you do and where I went wrong in life.  Add to the list "people who are at the mall on a weekday" and "people who can attend the 5PM weekday fitness classes at Crunch".

And as I was debating whether I should 1.) Stay here and continue to push ahead in my earnings potential and live in an exorbitantly-priced box or 2.) Move somewhere else and push ahead in my earnings potential and live in an more-moderately-but-still-exorbitantly-priced box, or, 3.) Go travel; my super-wise friend Libby told me "You never know what will be the right decision in life. But you pick one, and you just do it. Just do something in one direction, and everything else will follow. You can always change your mind after the fact, but you will drive yourself crazy wondering about all the ifs, ands, or buts beforehand."

So I did. I stopped looking for a new apartment. I started packing things in boxes. I casually mentioned the idea to anyone who would listen to try it out and see how it sounded. I bought myself my very first Mac to start my blogging adventures (which I couldn't, and still can't, figure out how to use very well.......I think my first question to the people in the Apple Store was how to get on the internet).  I wrote dozens of lists; lists about countries I wanted to visit, plans I had already made, things I would have to buy, errands to run, people I would invite to join if they wanted, etc. I bought this ridic domain name (props to Sam for making me do it).

And then I bought a one-way ticket to Scotland. (And then consequently called my mom every day panicking.)

So here we go. And the countdown begins!