NOTE: This entry is part of a series in which I fly over 40,000 miles in two years. Read the introduction here. I took the bus on this particular journey so there are no airmiles.
If you’re looking for the big city experience look no further than New York City. This 8-million strong sprawling metropolis truly never sleeps. Using the bus to get there (a 10-hour journey) and back was a much better experience than I had expected it to be.
- Routing: YYZ-NYC-YYZ
- Mileage and Cost: 1060 miles for $84 equals 7.92 cents per mile (target: less than 5 cpm). It’s often cheaper to fly somewhere than to use a bus!
- Remaining: 26403 miles (no change) in 1 year and 217 days
- Goofs: (1) Forgetting to take a bottle of hand sanitizer. Rubbing body wash on your legs and shoes to keep them from smelling doesn’t work as well (I think I made it worse). (2) Stepping into a pile of horseshit at Central Park is not pleasant.
- Soundtrack: Indian fusion
- The great: Times square, The Met museum, Brooklyn bridge, Central Park, the Staten Island Ferry and almost everything in downtown Manhattan.
- The good: Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site was moving but there’s not much happening after eight-and-a-half years.
- The bad: The United Nations buildings were literally crumbling and many neighborhoods in Brooklyn were quite creepy.
New York City is one of the most incredible places on the planet. Three days was barely enough to scratch its surface. What’s next? One of my goals this year is to fly to somewhere on another continent.
