Nakaluwagluwag this girl and went to New York. But wait! I did not pay the full price of going to New York! HOW? PM is the key. LOLjk. I was doing an internship in another state and had some days off that I used to go here. I was able to visit several places in New York City in just a day with less than $200 budget!

I am a frugal traveler not by choice but by means. LOL. In short, walang pera pero gusto magtravel. So, to make this work, first, you have to plan a day or week ahead your travel and prioritize the places you wanted to allocate your time the most. Second, wake up early (so sleep early the day before your trip). Lastly, try to make the most of your time and try to stick to your planned schedule and budget.

HERE YOU GO! I hope it will help your day tour planning in the city of dreams.

MORNING: Statue of Liberty

6am – Wake up time

6:00-6:30am – Travel time to the port going the statue of Liberty (they have ports at New Jersey or New York, so depending on where you are staying is where your starting port). I was staying in my friend’s place at New Jersey so it took us around 30 minutes to travel to the port going to Liberty Island. BOOK YOUR TICKET ONLINE (Ticket price: $32 for a round trip ticket). You can stop by Ellis Island before heading to Liberty Island.

An hour or two would be enough to roam around the islands. If you decide to stop at Ellis Island, you have to allocate an hour more since you will have to wait for the next boat ride that will take you to Liberty island. Seeing the statue was surreal. ❤

10:00-10:30am – cruise time from the island to Cape Liberty Cruise Port (MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE SCHEDULE OF THE BOAT so you don’t have to wait for the next one)

10:30-11:00am – travel time to Brooklyn Bridge (by car)

AFTERNOON: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, The National September 11 Memorial Museum

11:00-12:30pm – LUNCH TIME (you may want to look for a good restaurant and get some real food before the adventure commence again because there will be a lot of walking)

1:00pm-3:00pm – walk and take pictures at Brooklyn Bridge then get more walking and go to Manhattan Bridge and feel the cinematic view in both bridges

3:00-5:00pm – MET museum (for big art fans 2 hrs won’t be enough), but for me, seeing the building is enough (ticket is $30 that you can book online). Check the museum operation hours a day before.

5:00-6:00pm – Central Park (roam around and feel the nature before getting drowned by city lights).

6:30-7:30pm – Dinner time! Get some food because night time tour around the city will require a lot of your energy!

8:00pm-11:30pm – This will vary depending on your priority. But basically, there are must-see places that are close to each other that you can just take the train or walk. These is the order of places I went to at night: The Edge, Vessel, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, Empire State Building.

The Edge (Ticket price ranges from $33-73). This is the top of a building where you can go to the edge and see the panoramic view of the city with all the city lights that look like stars from below. The day we went there, the line was so long that it took us 1 hr to get to the deck and an hour spent looking around.

Vessel. This is a pretty structure that won’t take much of your time. I think you can climb this (which we didn’t do). It’s pretty enough from below for me at least.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral. For those who like neo-gothic style, you will enjoy this place. We have this thing in my home town that whenever you visit a church for the first time, you can have 1 wish. I don’t know if it will work for you but it’s free and you won’t get harmed so why not, right?

Times Square. Be careful by people who will sell you random stuff (even a picture with a cosplayer may cost you some money). But this is one of the popular places in New York that you may want to stop by. It won’t take much of your time. It is a place where you can walk around and admire the big screens with all the lights, flashy billboard advertisements, performance arts and more!

Empire State Building. Lastly, sing or play the Empire State of Mind song going back home!

Have you ever thought how that soft young tissue of the plant gets out of the seed and moves out of the soil? Technically, it’s germination or the start of plant growth. We don’t hear the plants cry but the process looks painful (at least in my perspective).

I guess growth is when you keep learning and trying new things out of your comfort zone because your gut tells you to do it but your brain is too afraid to fail. It will require you to do things you’ve never done before and it will gonna be scary at first, painful on the way and beautiful by the end.

It is scary because of all the unknowns and uncertainties.

It is painful because you have to do things that you are not used of doing, it’s like learning how to read for the first time. Be patient. Good things take time. Practice. Practice. Practice. You’ll see, with time it will get better and easier. Commitment, consistency and perseverance are the key – these keys are not easily gained especially when you stayed stagnant and idle for so long. Even all the quotable quotes by known writers won’t work especially if you keep making excuses to start the change you’ve been wanting. I know it’s difficult but try small steps each day. I, myself is still struggling on this. There are days that I cry myself to bed because it’s too painful but I know this is the right thing to do. In my last post, I am trying to break my bad habits by documenting it virtually. And, I am back to day 1 again. It’s so tough to get out of this cycle but I still believe that I can, you can, we can. It’s really painful but you have to go through it so that you can get out of your shell and be the person the universe designed you to be.

Again, I am starting my day 1. I have a lot of excuses at my mind right now why I am going back to day 1 but it’s better not to make excuses but to start again and try until you get to where you are supposed to be at. It’s a matter of training your brain, body and soul.

In the end, I hope you and me will go back to see how much progress we had done and tell ourselves that we are not the same person from yesterday – that we are way better than our past self. And, I think that’s beautiful.