Once Upon a Time, a girl from school told me: “You are the best tourist in the world.” Now, I do not remember which of my past trips prompted her to make that statement; and frankly, it has left quite a pressure to keep the expectations of that title. While I know there are many contestants to the title, I will just say that second to being the best, the ultimate goal must be to strive toward being the best, in which case you have not failed as you will have seen the world. In my pursuit of living up to this unobtainable yet flattering title, I have seen so much everywhere; and I feel it is time to share a bit of my knowledge if it can help you explore and experience something you perhaps had not yet considered. So, I hope the following will serve as inspiration based on my interests rather than a complete list of what is possible. This will only mirror things I sought out - and if you think I have missed something that might interest me, please do not hesitate to let me know, and I will check it out on one of my next trips.

Coming from Europe, New York City has that same accessibility feel, which I miss in Los Angeles. It, in many ways, also reminds me of Mexico City, another fantastic city to visit with an excellent subway system, places to eat, and culture to experience – ancient and modern alike. Anyhow, New York City is one of the most diverse cities on the planet – people from every continent and country are to be found here, whether they work for the UN, on Wall Street, have a restaurant, drive Uber, or anything in between, not to mention the constant flow of tourists. The city never sleeps. As somebody recently said, you can leave home at 2 pm without specific plans and might still not come home until 5 am... it is wonderful. You will never run out of places and things to see!

The premise for a rich experience on a low budget based on my recommendations includes the following: That the weather is good, you brought your walking shoes, and your accommodation is covered – then here are some free or low-cost ways to experience NYC (and a few honorary mentions that might break your budget a bit…).

This will be a series of entries separated into various topics, incl. Transportation, Parks and Walks, Museums and History of New York, Performances and TV Shows, InterNations, Food, Outside of Manhattan, and finally, places I have yet to visit partly due to time and budget… (a list in progress).