Long Travel Day, Washington DC and Times Square! / USA and Canada 2024

The month-long USA and Canada trip finally started. I arrived in New York and then spent my first full day visiting Washington DC!

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

Believe it or not, the time finally came to go to America. It wasn't the epic trip I had planned and honestly I was very emotional in the lead up to the trip, but nevertheless, I tried by hardest to stay positive and make it through. 

The day started bright and early setting off at 6.30am to head to Gatwick. Other than my mum not trusting my Google Maps route, it was a pretty smooth 3 hour drive, with 2 stops along the way for breakfast and a toilet stop. I got to the check in about 20 minutes later than planned but it was really quick and easy. I bought Air Tags to put in my suitcase and backpack and it was so funny being able to track them. 

The plane journey was great. I went with a relatively new, cheap airline called Norse and it was surprisingly roomy. I had plenty of leg room despite being in the middle of two strangers. I was also really impressed with the meal provided. I had a yummy glass of Diet Coke, a warm(!) bread roll, chicken and rice, followed by a delicious chocolate pot. These are so expensive to buy so I was shocked to see them served! 

I got public transport from the airport to the city. It was not only a whole lot cheaper, but also much faster and was less than $10 and 40 minutes. It was straight forward and easy, as I made my way to the hotel. Of course, at this point I was shattered so I lay on my hotel room catching my breath. 

After settling in, I headed out and was surprised at how close to Times Square I was. It was literally one street up and I was surrounded by Broadway shows. I found a cute little restaurant that also did takeaways, and decided to get a takeaway to eat back at the hotel. It was delicious and super affordable. I got garlic bread, a burger and chips, with a cookie and Diet Coke for tea. Then also bought breakfast of fruit and juice for the following day.  

The next day was straight back out bright and early, but it worked out quite well because I went to bed early for New York time and actually felt quite refreshed. I headed to the bus stop near a McDonald's and set off on my adventure to Washington DC. It was such a great trip, calling into 4 different states, before heading to the Capital and seeing all the monuments. On the way back, we stopped in New Jersey and saw the New York skyline which was beautiful, alongside where Alexander Hamilton's last battle was. I'm going to share a full review tomorrow so it will have all the details on there!