New York City - How to plan your trip
Hello there guys!
I have just returned from my New York City trip, which was a dream come true, I must say. Since I know New York is a dream destination for a lot of other people, I have decided to give you some tips and tricks on how to plan your own trip to the Big Apple.
Get your Visa!
The first thing you need to take into account about traveling to the United States of America is: you will probably need to get a visa.
Depending on where you are coming from, and a lot of other factors you might need to start thinking about your visa ahead of time. I was born in Portugal, and can only speak about my experience on applying for a tourist visa.
I applied online. I was asked to provide my personal details, IDs, and details on my trip (like the address of my hotel and so on). Then I was asked to pay a small processing fee (21 USD), and the visa application was processed within 24 hours.
This might differ from your experience, so make sure to check with some time before you book your New York trip!
You can find more information on visas on the following webpage here!
You can also contact your local United States Embassy for more information.
Transportation
Crossed the border and tcharan! You arrived in New York City! How exciting right? But how do you get to Manhattan? How are you supposed to move around in the island? Are the cliche yellow taxis the best option?
My blog is all about saving time and money, so the best option for me was always metro and train. Now, depending on which airport you are arriving to, the options to get to the city might be a little different.
I flew to JFK, so the best option for me was the following: AirTrain and Train. All you need to do is get on the AirTrain, which stops in most terminals of the airport, and leave at Jamaica Station. Here, you go and look for the Long Island Rail Road train to Central Station (Yes, THAT Central Station). The whole journey will take around 30 minutes, 40 at the latest. Price wise, it will not go over 20 EUR.
You might be thinking oh, I can totally walk around Manhattan and see the whole city on foot. Please don’t. It looks tiny right? Such a big city on such a tiny island? It’s a trap! The island is much bigger than you think and your feet are going to turn into dust!
My advice? Get a metro card! You can purchase a 7 day unlimited MetroCard, and travel around New York City for 7 days straight for just 34 USD. You can travel as many times as you want during those 7 days. You can find more information about this here https://new.mta.info/fares.
Finally, when it comes to shorter distances… Walk walk walk. You might know by now that I love me some good old walking! Walking is the only to find those secret incredible spots that no one really knows yet. The only way to properly see the city and feel its incredible energy.
Travel Insurance
I am not going to go into that good old “ I feel in a hole” story… I’m sure you are aware of how expensive it can be to get any health related treatment in the United States, so please, don’t risk it. It’s not worth it to get sick or, knock on wood, get into an accident and then be presented with an insanely high medical bill.
Health should ALWAYS come first guys! You never know what can happen, especially while exploring a new city or destination.
Suggestion time!
If you are still out on the look for a travel insurance provider, look no further! Why? Because I can offer you a deal! I am collaborating with IATI insurance to offer you the best travel insurance coverage for the best price ever!
IATI has a huge variety of travel insurances, so you can choose the one that matches you and your travel style the most.
And you can get your travel insurance with a 5% discount if you make your purchase using my link! Just click HERE to access your discounted travel insurance!
Tipping Culture
If you are not from the United States, this might be weird or new for you, but when going out to eat, or going on a taxi, you will be expected to provide a tip, regardless of the service.
While in Europe, for example, in Portugal where I am from, you will tip whatever you like only if the service is really good, in the United States you are expected to tip between 10% to 20%, all the time, even if you through the service was, well, average.
It is my understanding (I invite any of you American friends to correct me if I’m wrong), that this is a way to compensate the service industry workers from their low salaries. So, for example, instead of having a waitress make just X from a salary, which will most likely be not a living wage, people will add a tip, to compensate for the low income, and make sure the service industry workers don’t go through financial difficulties.
Of course we could discuss if this is right or not. My personal opinion, this should be the employer’s responsibility and not the customer. BUT, fact it, tipping culture is a thing in the USA, and you will be expected to pay up.
Watch out for prices!!!
This one, I feel like, is one piece of advice most people don’t really think about before travelling to the United States. Whenever you go online and see X price for something, you will always need to factor in tax on the side. This is because most prices do not include tax.
As the United States of America is made up of 50 different states, the tax can vary from state to state. This is why you might have to pay different prices for the same things, depending on the state you are on.
This is something I am not used to, being from a small country, as prices in Continental Portugal are all subjected to the same tax amount. Make sure to take this into account before you make a purchase! You can find more information on New York Sate taxes in the following website: https://www.nyc.gov/site/finance/business/business-nys-sales-tax.page.
ok, enough travel tips right?
I feel like it would be much more interesting to learn about which places to go while in New York!
I’ll be working on a post about the coolest places to visit in New York, aaand in Bali too, since I’ve been getting some requests about this!
I know I’ve been away for too long! I’ve been having sooo much to do recently!
But I really want to keep up with the blog posts, especially now that I’m planning a new and exciting trip to a tropical paradise in the South East Asia!
Stay tuned for that!
In the mean time, taking you for keeping up with me! I really appreciate it!
