So, what do you do when a family member goes to a conference in New York City for 4 days and offers you the second bed in the room for free? Well, you hop Metro North to Grand Central Station. Even though it was late January (2017), with warm clothes and boots, NYC is still a great place to explore. At the time I came in, it was just as easy to walk to the hotel and with my backpack suitcase, I didn’t have to worry about rolling my luggage.
We stayed in the Hilton Hotel near Times Square – much nicer than my usual hostel digs. The first night I roamed around Times Square and had dinner with my family member at Friedman’s near Penn Station. If you have to eat gluten free, Friedman’s is a great find. There are several locations, each with a different menu, and they are a real safe haven for people with celiac disease. The food is so good, even those who don’t need to eat gluten free will love it.
The next day, it was snowing, and I hopped the nearby subway for the trek down to the Financial District to go to the 9/11 Memorial. Living in Connecticut, with its close proximity to New York, 9/11 was an emotional event for me, and I wanted to spend time at the Memorial and the Museum. I couldn’t see much of the Memorial because of the snow, but the Museum was excellent and well worth the time.
In the afternoon, I stopped by Chelsea Market. I love large indoor and outdoor food markets and this one doesn’t disappoint. I picked up something for dinner and breakfast the next morning and had a late lunch at the Friedman’s in Chelsea Market.
The third day was sunny and relatively warm (from a winter in NYC perspective). I took the subway to 81st street and Central Park West and walked across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Avenue. The park is beautiful in any season and there were no shortage of walkers, runners, and bikers on the trails. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a classic NYC museum. They recently moved to a mandatory fee for people who are not New York residents, but don’t let that stop you – it’s worth it.
I walked home along 5th Avenue until 57th Street and then up to 7th to go to Fresh & Co to pick up dinner. They have a good variety of organic seasonal food with some gluten free options. It’s a good place to pick up gluten free muffins for breakfast as well.
If you are interested in snagging some discounted same day tickets for Broadway, stop at the TKTS Times Square Booth. The available shows are listed online and you can purchase them at the booth on a first come, first served basis. The booth is only open certain hours and you may need to wait in line when you get there.
The morning of my last day, I walked a couple of blocks to the Museum of Modern Art. I always like looking at modern art, although I can’t say I understand much of it. It was fun to go through. In the afternoon, I walked back to Grand Central Station for the train to CT. Grand Central is a destination in itself. The architecture is amazing, and it has a great food market downstairs. I enjoyed roaming around while I waited for my train.
For a reasonable budget (no lodging), I spent 4 days in the city visiting museums, walking around, and eating good food. If you are going to share a room with someone (especially if you aren’t paying for it), make sure you are a considerate guest. Stay out of the way when they are trying to get out in the morning and let them dictate when the lights go out at night. Respect that they may need some quiet working time, so bring a book or other quiet activity. Who knows, you might get invited back the next time they are in the city.
The first trip was to St. Andrews in New Brunswick. It was about a three hour easy drive up Route 1, crossing the border in St. Stephen (near Calais, ME), and back down the peninsula on the other side of the St. Croix River via Route 127 to St. Andrews. The primary attraction for the day in St. Andrews was the 
In addition to the Kingsbrae Garden, 
My favorite part of Campobello Island is the 
On the way back, be sure to stop in Lubec, ME (the easternmost point in the U.S.) to see the 
With a backpack only weighing 12.5 lbs, navigating the airport and the long walk on my layover was a breeze. I opted to take the airport shuttle recommended by the hostel where I had reservations, but I was the fifth stop and an Uber for $5 more would have been better. However, I did get a good tour of the city.
out during WWII for the Pacific (including my father) started their journey and is now a national park. The hostel is up on a hill overlooking the bay, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The San Francisco Bay Walking/Bike Trail goes right by the hostel and runs along the bay for miles. It was a 15-minute walk to Fisherman’s Wharf, 20 minutes to Pier 39, and 40 minutes to the Ferry Building. Walking the other way was the Marina area, where hundreds of people were out walking, running, and riding bikes right along the water and once a week they have a Food Truck (and Booth) event called Off the Grid.
Every morning while at Fort Mason I ate breakfast at a picnic table overlooking the bay and every evening watched the sun set over the bay. Although crowded, there are lots of things to do. I went to the Aquarium, some Maritime Museums, and the Exploratorium, which is an amazing place with hundreds of hands on activities for both children and adults. At Pier 39, which is a large commercial area, seals hang out on the docks. I spent hours walking by the bay and roaming around the area. I was amazed at the access people have to the bay.
There is a free swimming area and one evening I watched the large area triathlon group practice their swimming. For people who want to take a boat out onto the bay, there are options both large and small. It seemed like every corner had a bike rental place, and there was tons of public transportation. In the evenings, I hung around the common room, talking with other travelers (many international) or participating in activities such as a Tai Chi class. I decided to decline the Bar Crawl Tour led by one of the hostel employees.
For the fourth through seventh night, I hopped a bus to 
I decided to buy a two day hop on/hop off bus ticket, which offered unlimited rides on four different tours of the city in open air busses. On the first day, I took three of the tours (1-2 hours each), including one that went over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito. The tour guides did a great job talking about the history of the area, the impact of the earthquakes, pointing out good places to eat and visit, and interesting stories.
and the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens was having an exhibit called Flower Pianos, where twelve pianos were placed around the gardens and people were encouraged to play them. It was beautiful to walk around the gardens and listen to a 
variety of piano music. A short walk away was Haight-Ashbury, which was fun to wander through. When I was done, I just hopped back on the bus, and went off to the next place to explore. For my remaining days, I headed back to the bay area, stopping to watch the street performers, reading in the gardens by the water, people watching, eating ice cream, going for long walks, etc.
Staying at the hostels cost me a rate (before hotel tax in the downtown location) of $47 – $65 per night. A light continental breakfast was included. The Fort Mason hostel had eight women in a room and the downtown room had four. I prefer the smaller rooms, but because you are primarily using the room to sleep, it really doesn’t matter that much. Both locations had great common rooms and good communal kitchens.
My advice if you want to try hosteling is to try it for 2 nights. That’s enough time to get a taste of what hosteling travel is like without the risk of ruining your entire vacation if it doesn’t work out. Hosteling isn’t for everyone, but I found that as a single female traveling alone, it provides me with great people to talk to and a sense of community I don’t get when staying by myself in a hotel. Considering the hostels in both locations were full, a lot of people seem to agree.
beach community – genius!).
My first roommates were women (aged 25-35) from Great Britain, Belgium, and Finland. The second night, the woman from Great Britain remained and we were joined by two college aged women from South Korea. For the most part, people did not hang out in their rooms, but either were out and about, or spent the evening in the common lounge. There was no shortage of people to talk with in the lounge and I soon realized that likely 25% of the people there were not what I would consider traditional users of hostels.
There were families (a private family room was cheaper than many hotels and provided access to the communal kitchen), others my age, one gentleman in his 80’s with another family member, and everything in between. People were sharing meals, information about things to do, and insights about life in their country and community. The second night I had a 3-hour conversation with my roommate from Great Britain and it was fascinating to hear her take on our recent presidential election, government sponsored health care, the EU, as well as some of the other places she had traveled on a shoestring.
Fortunately, I had read enough blogs to heed some suggestions on how to be a courteous roommate. Among them are 1) keep a flashlight in your bed so you can get into your locker without turning on the light, 2) lay out your clothes for the next day along with your toiletries so you can shower and get ready quietly in the bathroom, 3) keep the items in your locker organized so you don’t need to rummage, and 4) make sure your flip flops are handy because even though the bathroom was spotless, you want some protection for your feet.