This spring my sister and I had our very first trip to New York City! It was surreal, it was amazing, it was everything I thought it’d be and more. I had the opportunity to audition for the Radio City Rockettes; an experience I’ll never forget and a literal dream come true. But after the audition, my sister and I had a few days to explore the city and live our best NYC dreams!

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
C.S. Lewis

With only an idea of a few things we wanted to do beforehand, I quickly created a last minute itinerary the day of our trip that could not have gone more perfect! When I travel I like to balance between having a plan, while remaining open to spontaneous opportunities that may arise. That way I’m not stressed about following a schedule, and there’s room to relax. I also try to look at every opportunity as a blessing and something to be thankful for. This is something I had to train myself to do and lean on God in, because I used to suffer from extreme travel anxiety. While in New York, it was no different, my sister and I had such a “go with the flow” attitude while we were there, we were just so grateful to even be there and have this experience.

Living in Texas all my life, I love getting a chance to see other cities, and experience new things. Sometimes getting out of your everyday routine and into an unfamiliar space can be so rewarding. My sister and I made the most of our three days exploring Manhattan (while on a budget might I add). We saw pretty much everything you could possibly see under $200. For our first time visiting NY I think we did a great job, and we are so excited to go back now that we have a lay of the land. If you’re interested in how we made the most of our trip then keep reading! (p.s. I’ve included a pdf version of the itinerary for you to download at the bottom.)

Prepare For Your NY Trip

Packing

There weren’t a whole lot of things we did to prepare for our trip. We did some light research on the area our hotel was in, and some of the things we knew we wanted to see. Having been there now, I can say the main thing I’m glad I was prepared for were long exploration days.

This may look different for everyone, but for me it meant packing snacks, good walking shoes, and travel sized toiletries.

Long days meant we didn’t plan on going back and forth to our hotel during the day, so we had to have everything we needed for the day on us. I ended up carrying a tote bag with me as we explored so I could have everything I needed. In that tote bag I had the following items:

• My phone
• A portable battery pack
• A small pouch with items to freshen up:
  • Travel deodorant
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Medicine
  • Feminine products & travel wipes
  • Floss & gum
  • Extra hair ties & bobby pins
• My wallet
• Sunglasses
• A hat
• My earbuds
• Tissue
• Snacks & Gatorade

Here is an overall list of everything I packed in my suitcase for the trip. I keep this general list in my phone notes, so I can refer back to it every time I have a trip. These are the basic items I will typically always need on a trip. I made it into a pdf, so feel free to download and use it!

Where we stayed

We stayed at Radio Hotel, in Washington Heights. The hotel itself was beautiful, while still being affordable. It had great reviews, but I was honestly surprised by how nice and accommodating the staff was. Also, it was a great distance from the subway station; only a short five minute walk from the hotel.

The Itinerary

DAY ONE

1. Brunch in The City:

We took an Uber to Liberty Bagels, the Garment District location, where they are known for their famous rainbow bagels. They have so many bagel and cream cheese options, I definitely recommend coming here for a quick, but really good and filling breakfast.

2. Sight Seeing:

After brunch we did a lot of walking. We walked to all of the “must see” monuments in Manhattan that were a reasonable distance. This took up the majority of the day because we really took our time to get the lay of the land, take in all the sights, get some really cute content, and just enjoy being in a new city. Here is everything we walked to and saw:

• Macy’s
• Time’s Square
• The Disney Store
• Radio City Music Hall
• Rockefeller Center
• St. Patrick’s Cathedral
• American Girl
• Fifth Avenue
• Grand Central Station

I would recommend bringing snacks with you as you sight see. Because our bagels were so filling we really weren’t hungry enough to have another full meal for lunch, but we kept some snacks on us for energy, and then once it got later all we had an early dinner. NOTE: Everyone is different, my sister and I typically eat one to two meals a day in general, so this worked to our advantage; especially when it came to costs for food. We packed a ton of snacks to help tie us over.

3. Dinner & More Exploring:

We knew wanted to explore the Chelsea area, so we caught an Uber at Grand Central Station and went to the Chelsea Market. We didn’t do a lot of shopping that day, so we were okay with going straight to another neighborhood to explore, but if you can, I recommend going back to your hotel to freshen up and leave your bags if you do a lot of shopping. Once we got there, we went to the restrooms, freshened up, and then explored all the options they had for dinner. I was so excited to see Los Tacos No. 1, because I had heard so much about it. It did not disappoint!

My sister got her food from a burger place, and she enjoyed it (unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the place). There were so many options we were a little overwhelmed, but whatever you’re in the mood for they have it and I definitely recommend checking it out. After we ate we explored the area a little more. We visited the Starbucks Reserve, took more pictures, and just took in all the sights, we even walked down to some of the piers that overlooked the Hudson River and to The High Line. I remember we wanted to find a nice bar to get a drink to end the night, but we were content with our full day and decided to head back to the hotel. Of course, the night life in NY is just as lively as it is during the day so I recommend getting a reservation somewhere. There were so many nice bars and restaurants in the area, if that is something you would be interested in.

DAY TWO

1. The Big Bus Tour:

Day two started bright and early. The night before, we bought tickets for The Big Bus Tour before we went to bed. This was a game changer! If you are brand new to the city, like my sister and I were, I could not recommend this enough. In fact, I plan on doing this in every new city I visit that has the Big Bus Tours. Now, keep in mind, you must be open to going to tourist attractions. I know people who are against going to tourist attractions when they visit a new city, and prefer to experience more local spots. But again, NY has always been a dream for my sister and I so we were open to experiencing it as tourists and seeing the things we’ve heard so much about growing up.

We did the Essential Ticket for the Downtown loop, but there are other great options. This gave us a full day to hop on and off at all the attractions for about $60.00 USD. To us it was worth it because we also used it as our transportation to get around that day. So we took the subway to the first bus stop and we hopped on the first bus. The first stop we got off was at the Brooklyn Bridge. We popped in a Starbucks near by to grab coffee and a quick bite and headed towards the bridge. We walked the entire bridge, and over to DUMBO. Not long after we decided to walk back because it did take quite some time to cross the bridge, and we still had a lot more to see that day. Once we made it back we hopped on the next bus and continued the tour. We saw so much, but these are the places we got off to explore more:

• The Statue of Liberty
• Wall Street
• The World Trade Center + 9/11 Memorial
• Washington Square Park
• The Meatpacking District

There were more bus stops in different areas, so again, we used this as our transportation. Whenever we got off we would walk around and explore and use the map to find the closest bus stop. We ended up doing the whole tour a couple times, and when we got our bearings we were able to decipher where we wanted to explore more or less. In the middle of the tour we also got off to eat at Siena Pizza in the Financial District to have some good NY style pizza for lunch.

2. Dinner On A Boat:

We pretty much continued hopping on and off all day long because there was so much we wanted to see, and of course take pictures of. It rained at the end of day for a little bit, but it didn’t bother us too much. By then we were so tired anyway all we wanted to do was eat dinner and go back to our hotel.

We ended up finding a restaurant that was a short walk from one of the bus stops in the Tribeca area. The restaurant was on an actual boat on one of the piers (I don’t remember the name of it). The experience was cool, we ate fish and chips and had margaritas while relaxing on the boat. However this experience was short-lived because my sister unfortunately developed a little motion sickness from the waves of the Hudson. After dinner, we were both exhausted so we took an Uber back to the hotel, showered and went straight to bed.

Day Three

1. Cozy Morning:

This was our last day, so we wanted it to be a chill and cozy day, and the rain that morning definitely added to it. We checked out of the hotel and had them hold our bags while we took the subway to the Upper West Side. There we had coffee and breakfast at the famous Levain Bakery, and walked around the neighborhood with our umbrellas.

2. Central Park:

We knew that we wanted to have a big chunk of time to explore Central Park because of how big it is. So it worked out perfectly for us to have this day set for Central Park before we had to go to the airport. And that’s pretty much what we did, we strolled the park, coffees in hand, taking pictures, and enjoying each other’s company. The rain eventually went away and the sun came out all in perfect timing. We ended up going to the Central Park Zoo and said hi to all the animals they had there.

After walking and talking for quite some time, we made our way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). There, we finally had a chance to get hot dogs from the famous Nathan’s food truck, and we sat on the steps of The Met and enjoyed our lunch. This is most definitely a recommendation from both me and my sister!

After lunch, we made our way back through Central Park and walked near the Jacqueline Kennedy Reservoir. We saw the most beautiful flowers and trees, and of course, stopped to take more pictures. This day was definitely the most chill and coziest, and probably one of my favorite moments. We weren’t surrounded my large crowds, the weather was perfect, and by this time I had for sure fallen in love with the city.

3. Time to Say Goodbye:

Lastly, we took the subway back to our hotel, got our bags, and took an Uber to LaGuardia Airport. We still had plenty of time before our flight, so we decided to have dinner at the airport, and do a little gift shopping. When it was time to board our flight, we said goodbye to New York and began planning our next visit!

Of course we know there were so many more things we could of done, but as New York newbies, we made the most of our time and enjoyed the things that we wanted to see. New York has always been a dream of mine. Just experiencing the city life, going to coffee shops, being surrounded by sky scrapers, and eating famous NY pizza. My sister and I love the show Friends, and every rom com movie/book that is based in New York City. Again, I know that we barely scratched the surface with this trip, but like with our Disney trips, it only gives us a reason to come back!

We created a new bucket list of things we want to do for our next visit, and the area we would prefer to stay in. I’m so blessed that I finally got the opportunity to go, and not only that but audition for the Radio City Rockettes. This has made me realize that traveling and exploring a new city doesn’t have to be as daunting as it seems. Book the flight, and the rest will all fall into place.