Last year I made a trip to New York for work purposes; I was going to speak on a panel about social media. Because I hadn’t visited New York in years, I decided to take a few extra days and enjoy the city prior to my panel, so I headed to New York about 4 days before I was scheduled to speak.
My friend Ana Cristina would also be speaking on the panel with me and since she has an apartment in Brooklyn, we decided to stay there during our trip. She also headed to the city a few days prior since the corporate offices of her job are located in Manhattan. Because of that, she decided to work from the office that week which meant that even though we’d be in the city at the same time and staying together in the same apartment, I’d technically be alone during the day for that week.
While I didn’t really think of it as a solo trip, I soon realized it was. I would wake up early to accompany my friend into Manhattan, would drop her off at her office and would then discover the city on my own until later in the night when I would head back to my friend’s work place to pick her up and head back to Brooklyn.
So although it wasn’t a complete solo trip per se, I was alone for the most part of it and here’s what I learned along the way.
Being alone with your thoughts is good, and sometimes necessary. Being alone for the most part of the day made me be alone with my thoughts more than I usually am. Because I don’t have anyone to talk to, it makes me think a lot. It was during this time that I thought a lot about living in Miami, where I stood, what I had accomplished, and what my next step would be. It was during this trip that I started considering my move back to Los Angeles. This wasn’t really something I had thought about until I was alone with my thoughts for so long. If you guys recall my life in Miami, it was non-stop so I rarely had time to myself, and it was during this trip that I learned just how necessary it was.
Interacting with people more in a digital world is nice. You guys know I’m very social but on some occasions, I can totally avoid any social interaction and when I’m with friends, I usually send them to ask for questions, directions, etc. Being alone forced me to interact with more people than I would have had I gone with a friend. I had to ask people to take my pics, I sometimes chatted with people when eating alone, and honestly just interacted more with people than I normally would have. The hardest part for me was asking for directions on the subway. We don’t do subways in LA so I was so lost when it came to that mode of transportation that I was forced to ask for help because for the life of me, I couldn’t even read the subway map. I learned that despite everything we see and hear on the news, there really are good and nice people out there.
I learned to trust people and my instinct more. This because you’re forced to figure things out on your own, and maybe not completely on your own but guided by a stranger. If you’ve been to New York then you know it’s huge and if you’re not familiar with it, it’s easy to get lost. My friend Ana Cristina lived in New York for several years while she studied there so she can easily navigate the city but I had only visited once before and that’s not enough to do it all on your own, plus not being familiar with the subway didn’t help. My scariest moment was when my friend who lives in the East Village (I think lol) wanted to meet up but she couldn’t come to me because she had another meeting to get to later that day, and that was the only day we could meet. I was in the Upper East Side and had to make it to the East Village and I had no idea how. She guided me over the phone but even then I had to ask like 2 persons how to get where she was guiding me to. It really took a team effort and in many instances, I had to trust not only them but my instinct as well. Needless to say, I was proud of myself when I arrived lol. After our coffee date, she guided me on how to make it to SoHo (cause I wanted to visit) and then back to the Upper East Side. My biggest fear was getting lost and not knowing how to get back even with someone helping me. Again, scary moment but I made it back safe and in time to pick up my friend Ana. It made me realize sometimes you just have to figure it out along the way.
Now, would I ever travel by myself completely? Probably not but if I had to, I would. I feel like that trip to NY helped me in a sense overcome that fear that I had. Only thing I regret is not having super cute pics in the city cause I had no one to take pics of me the way I wanted them to lol, but that just means I need to plan another trip back soon!
