Take me to New York

I always seem to find my mind wandering to warmer climates when Autumn arrives, don't get me wrong. I love the changing seasons and there is definitely something refreshing about the crisp mornings and cooler temperatures that can be felt now, but it has got to the point where I did use the hair dryer to warm my bed for the first time last night (yes, apparently the hair dryer is the modern day equivalent to the bed warming pan). Maybe I should just admit defeat now and stick the heated blanket on the bed...

Luke and I were talking the other day about holiday's and where we would like to jet off to next. Realistically if we want to go anywhere next year, we do need to start thinking about it right now so that the finances are in place to accommodate such luxurious dreams. There are a few ideas that come to mind when we start shooting destinations back and forth between the two of us (and these change again when you Leo jumps in!). 

New York, California, Costa Rica, Mexico and Australia.

As you can see we are quite indecisive, these are the 5 parts of the world that keep coming back into the conversation... 

We seem to keep landing back at New York though, and it does seem to be a pretty good place to start.

Leo is already very well travelled in Europe (I hadn't even been abroad at his age), and has so far visited France, Tenerife, Cyprus and Crete twice, but  he has wanted to visit New York ever since I flew out there in November of 2016. 

Leo has seen it in the movies, he has admired my pictures and now he wants to visit the concrete jungle that is the big apple for himself. It's something that I really want him to see too, I was completely blown away for the whole time I spent in this rather wonderful city. You never do stop looking up at the buildings, you can't help walking along the sidewalk and just marvelling up, I couldn't help wondering how anyone ever found anything.

We were only there for 3 days, we had flown from London and used Purple Parking for the car while we were Stateside. 3 days was not enough time to do everything that we wanted to do, and I long to go back and walk around the 9/11 memorial, I will never forget the feeling of standing at the foot of where the twin towers once stood, it was still a very raw place even all of these years later. It was hard to wrap my head around that I was stood exactly where the events unravelled all of those years ago, where all of those people lost their lives. 

We walked into Brooklyn over the world famous Brooklyn Bridge, took a boat ride out to see the Statue of Liberty and did all of the typical touristy things that you would do when in New York, but the whole time I was there I kept thinking how much Leo and Luke would love this experience too. 

Leo talks about going all the time, and I can't help looking at deals to fly back out, and it would be so nice to go during the festive season again. We were lucky with the weather and the sun shone throughout the entire time that we were there (creating some absolute stunning backdrops over the iconic city), and we even saw them preparing the Rockefella Christmas Tree. 

Then there was Ice Skating in Central Park, you know, where the bad guys in Home Alone 2 Lost in New York go skating! 

There is so much to see and do in New York, but of course this kind of experience doesn't come cheap. Once you have taken into account your flights and accommodation you have to remember that food costs on top with the additional tips that are even applicable on drinks that you may order from a bar (This completely threw me!), it can get pretty pricey. 

What an experience though? When I arrived home, I felt like I had been gone for weeks. I had never left Leo for this duration before, and it felt like a lifetime. When I go back here, we will be going as a family, as I want to show my boys just how amazing New York really is, and we will most definitely be going for longer so that we can fit EVERYTHING in.