Essential tips for planning your trip to New York

During these four years writing about New York, I learned a lot – and I still learn. My relationship with my readers ended up getting even stronger by the social media. I receive a lot of questions every day. This exchange is very important for me because this is how I discover what interests you, the issues that cause doubts, the questions that need to be answered. However, I have been observing something about the travel planning: people don’t search anything before traveling. I thought a lot about this topic, I saw some comments that made me think and I’ve decided to talk about it.

No one can plan a trip for you – unless you’re paying someone to do it for you, no one is gonna do it for free. Each trip is unique – and that’s because each person is unique. Each person has tastes, priorities, preferences, a budget. I think that social media are great tools to ask for opinions, to ask questions and to share knowledge, but you have to do your homework. Planning and more planning. Your trip is worth money – and what importance do you give to it? It has to be worth it!

There are several ways to search … I traveled to Spain and Portugal in early December. The trip was scheduled in two weeks. Yes, we bought the tickets two weeks in advance. I didn’t have plenty of time to plan exactly what we would do. But what did I do? Did I sit down and started to regret that I did not have time? No. Whenever I had a little time – whatever it was, 5 minutes or 30 minutes – I would open my browser and search for something about the cities I would visit. I also get some tips from a friend’s friend who lived in one of the cities and from my Spanish teacher who lives in Spain. We watched Scam City on Netflix to know the scams we should avoid in Barcelona – this was during our flight! I also saw some videos about the city on Youtube. Make the most of your time – we always find time for what really matters! Today, there are endless sources of information for the traveler and it is up to you to make good use of these and take advantage of them for your trip.

Knowledge brings confidence – the more you read, the more you become informed, the more you search … the more confident you will be. Trusting yourself is such a good feeling during a trip! I see people with fear: they are afraid of the subway, they are afraid of the cold temperatures. Before you whine about each of these fears, think: what can I do to minimize my insecurity? If you are afraid of the subway, try to watch videos about how to use public transportation. And remember, you are not going to die if you get lost. If you are afraid of the freezing winter: face it! There’s nothing you can do to change the weather, so research the best way to get dressed and stay warm. Do you understand what I mean? If something disturbs you, search for it to feel more secure. Fear does not solve anything, it only gets in the way.

Searching helps you save money – when we talk about New York, there are several myths. Do you want an example? A lot of people say that there is only fast food in New York. Well, those who say this have certainly never researched the food choices in the city. New York is a gastronomic mecca and you do not have to walk far to find good options, including healthy and cheap ones. I see desperate people worried about budget, wanting to know about cheap places to eat – a search helps a lot in those hours. No problem if you just want to eat Mc Donald’s and pizza. But don’t say these are only these options when you have not explored or researched enough. There are also other people who think that the city is only about shopping, or that New York is only Manhattan, or that there are no free attractions. Let me give you an example: in southern Spain, my sister researched about several of the places we would go – because of this we avoided queuing at many attractions and we also saved a lot! That goes for anywhere in the world – and New York is full of these secrets. If you are a blog reader, you know you can save a few dollars with museums and other attractions that have suggested admission and free days and know that there are incredible free things to do.

“I have heard,” “somebody told me” and myths – the worst enemies of a trip – myths are assertions without any foundation, which are repeated in exhaustion until somebody ends up believing. Generally, the myths end up becoming the “I was told” and “I heard”. If your source is not trusted, check the information. Do this before you close any deal. There is no point in making a reservation at a hotel and then searching further to find out if you have made a good choice. The process is the reverse: research and then close the deal. Do not choose the time to travel to New York based on what you think. “I hate summer and bought tickets for July – I thought it was not hot in New York” or, “I thought February was not so cold.” These are serious misconceptions – and they are so easy to check! A quick search for average temperatures – something you do on Google in seconds – will show you that February is very, very cold and yes, New York can have a summer as rigorous as winter. We must research before believing our own assumptions.

 Avoid scams – I will give a very practical example. You want to see Statue of Liberty. What you should do? Research the options based on your priority. There are people who do not mind taking the Staten Island Ferry ride, which is free, but there are those who want to land on Statue Island. If you want to go to the island, you need to research and you will find out that there is only one official tour that goes there. Knowing this, you will research how they sell the tickets – and you will find that you can buy online or at Castle Clinton at Battery Park. Do you know what this information you just read will save you from? An approach by people who are in the park area, trying to convince you that there are no more boats for the Statue and selling you another different ticket. Yeah! The question is: do you listen to strangers? The more you search for what you want to know, the more confidence you have – the confidence to know that you are doing the right thing, without hesitating or listening to strangers. Do you understand my point?

I hope you liked these tips!