Adapted from ‘Around the World: 6 Countries in 6 Months‘
Words & Pictures by Shaun Troke
As a teenager, I’d dream of spending Christmas in New York City…
I blame Macaulay Culkin & Home Alone 2 for this!
For those of you reading this from the UK, you know that we’re used to our Christmas Day’s being oh so quiet (Bjork circa 1995)…
When everything is closed, and nothing is open.
Hollywood movies set during Christmas in NYC always captured its city be snowy & romantic, yet vibrant & alive…
And, in December 2011, my childhood dream was about to come true!
WHEN DREAMS BECOME REALITY
I was in the middle of a two-month adventure, travelling across America on a 2-month Greyhound bus ticket, when the opportunity came up to cat-sit/house-sit an apartment in Lower Manhattan…
“Dear Shaun, please can you look after my cats for 3 days, in exchange for having a Lower Manhattan apartment all to yourself over Christmas?”, said the email (well, those weren’t the exact words used, but you get the gist!)
A guy on Couchsurfing had noticed my post about looking for accommodation in NYC over Christmas…
And, since he was going to be away with his girlfriend over Christmas, he needed someone (suitable) to look after his cats & apartment while he was away.
The Clause (Christmas pun intended!): I had to be there in 48 hours – by 4pm on Christmas Eve.
It was December 22nd when that email came through, and I was still 1,000 miles & six States away from New York…in Alabama!
CHASING THE DREAM
Going into detail, it was stressful journey.
Time was tight; Greyhound buses were full of passengers heading home for Christmas; Buses were delayed because of this Christmas rush…
But, the major worry-point happened in Atlanta, Georgia.
The bus station was swamped with people.
I’d never witnessed this kind of activity in a bus station before.
I listened & overheard conversations about not enough buses being available to transport this many people across the USA…and, that some people had been waiting around the bus station longer than necessary.
I watched as people continued to be refused travel when there was just no room for them on the bus…
And this was ultimately increasing the capacity of people within the terminal building itself.
The clock was ticking, and my tension levels were increasing: If I couldn’t make it to New York City on time, where the Hell was I supposed to spend Christmas?!?
It’s not like I have any family in New York City!
Or, any family in the USA!
Foul language & back-up plans were bouncing around my mind when it came to forming a line to the bus I was hoping to catch…
I joined the queue immediately, regardless of how long I’d need to be standing there.
The Greyhound staff soon began letting people onto the bus…
The queue decreased; was I going to make it?
As I reached the front, the Driver asked, “Where are you going?”
“New York City”, I replied.
“OK,”he said, “as we’ve too many people catching buses, we’ve got an Express Bus that is going direct to Virginia, where you’ll have to change for New York. If you’ll just go that way to the bus…”
This meant that I’d be closer to New York a lot quicker than expected.
The bus travelled through both the South & North Carolina’s, and it reached Richmond, Virginia without a hitch in the very early hours of Christmas Eve…
And, then came another problem.
WITHIN REACH
The Greyhound staff at Richmond said that they couldn’t guarantee me a seat on the 8am bus, that would’ve ideally got me to New York City before 4pm.
New York was still a 6-7 hour bus journey away…so I really needed to be on that 8am bus!
I watched as people joined the 8am-bus queue, and, I worryingly watched as people were boarded…
Finally, it was announced…
There WAS available space for me.
With a huge weight lifted, I was now due to punctually arrive into NYC at 3:20pm, allowing 40mins to get to that apartment in Lower Manhattan…
I was literally praying that nothing else would go wrong.
Because now, it felt as though I was definitely going to spend my Christmas in New York City…
With an apartment all to myself…
Free of charge!
CHRISTMAS DAYS
This was my third visit to this magnificent city.
And, New York really is a lovely city at Christmas, with the reality similar to what you see in the movies…
Stores are open, the subway is running, the streets full of people (particularly around the Rockefeller Center area)…and, it still feels Christmassy!
Christmas Eve was spent in Greenwich Village, hopping from dive bar to dive bar, befriending locals & others only visiting New York during this festive period…
On Christmas Day, I was invited to a Christmas dinner, by a friend I’d made in New York City back into 2009…
A native Texan, Diana was now back in town, visiting friends on the Upper East Side.
These friends made me feel so very welcome in their apartment, and they even gave me a Christmas Gift, too: a book called A Guide To NYC Dive Bars!
On Boxing Day, I put my new ‘Bible’ into action, and carried out a massive New York dive-bar crawl, seeking out rough & ready environments with low dollar prices!
AFTER-MAS
I can only use the term ‘Christmassy’ again to describe NYC at Christmas.
It really is one of the nicest places I’ve spent Christmas, and, even at Christmas it’s still the city that never sleeps…
And overall, it’s still a very safe place to be…
Just stay away from any bungling burglars that look like Joe Pesci.
Merry Christmas, everyone…
…wherever in the world you will be!
Best bussines in NY!