NYC + Iceland: Vacation Recap

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All in all, I think we accomplished a ton on vacation. Did we do everything we wanted? No. But did we have fun? Tons of it! 

Organization is the key to success so I'll help you out by putting my map on the bottom of the page. 

Did I learn a lot on vacation? 

I think so. NYC felt foreign and also like home. It was definitely one of the few places I've notably felt different. I knew I was physically smaller than a lot of people, and I was increasingly aware of the fact that I am a minority in some places of the world. How I look doesn't matter much, but I think you're unconsciously aware of it in quiet times, like going through the subway or walking in the streets and seeing people who don't look like you. 

But despite that, there were always people who were friendly and willing to engage conversations with us. Many of the employees of the places we went to were kind, and joked with us and our good fortune on skipping lines, or shared in our amazement. During periods of downtime, I made small talk with different people and shared some laughs with them. This was especially helpful when standing in Nintendo's line for 2 hours and sharing the bathroom code for the nearby Starbucks. It was even more helpful when I sweetly asserted my position as first for the only bathroom at Dominique Ansel. The guy I faced was much taller than me. 

Knowing yourself is important, and asserting it is too. No one is going to stand between me and any bathroom I need to use.

Other Side of the World

Speaking of bathrooms, the first thing I learned is that Iceland has some great bathrooms. 

I learned that Iceland still has cairns that dot the northern landscape. Tam and I thought they were shrines for most of our trip until I googled "Iceland Rock Tower" and got cairn as the third hit.

When talking to my Food Walk Guide, I learned Icelandic people care deeply about their environment. Like Hawaii, it struggles to keep up with the demands of tourism. They also keep their culture alive, parallel to developing a global nation. I remember watching locals speaking to each other in Icelandic but easily switching into English for us.

Because of the way that their local and national governments operate, it also seems like there's a lot of involvement from their citizens to engage in civic duty and responsibilities. Iceland also has high voter turnouts and a variety of parties that participate in the system. Even from reading the local news on long car stretches, people were willing to share their perspectives on topics that affect them.. 

I think there's a lot of camaraderie from small communities, especially in a place so isolated and extreme. My dogsled guide alluded to this when he poked fun at island people liking their independence; he knew we were from Hawaii after all.

I also noticed that people are rude everywhere. Maybe it's something I learned from working in retail;  I could sympathize with the waitress who was rudely and loudly asked to split a check 7 ways in a fancy restaurant. It manifests differently; like in the people who trashed Skógafoss, to the Asian tourists loudly playing a video in a rest stop and the American tourist who tried to correct them in a language they didn't understand. I mean it's all perspective, since certain behaviors aren't considered rude in certain places. Being aware of how people respond to you is a skill that constantly needs to be developed.

Traveling can encourage that I think, but so can awareness in your own day to day life. There were instances I saw young tourists get annoyed looks by locals because their behavior didn't adjust for the environment or culture. I even saw a man reprimand three college aged kids for being obnoxious. I saw a lot of young tourists, and whether or not they funded their own vacations, I hoped that they saw their experience as a beautiful privilege. 

I can't wait to travel somewhere new again. It won't be for a while, since I have to save my vacation time for upcoming weddings. But who's to say that you can't make small adventures in your everyday? 

NYC Map

If you wanna do what we did, check it out below! Make sure you call Peter Luger two months ahead of the date you want to eat. 

Iceland Map

You can fly to Akureyri, but I don't recommend it during the winter... You never know what the weather will be like. There are also very few car rental places up there that let you return the car in Reykjavik. 

New York's Financial District

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Last full day in NYC! 

After a good night's rest, and no dinner because we were pooped, it was off to the streets. We were picking up stuff we wanted to bring home as gifts and snacks, while exploring one last place.

Williamsburg - Sweatshop

A few blocks down from our Airbnb is Sweatshop. It appeared to be an Australian coffee shop. Tam doesn't drink coffee in the morning, but I do! I had some kind of toast and he had something with bacon. Delicious. We were going to have a busy day so we had to be on our way! 

Subway Sidenote + Detour

We took the subway on a weekday during rush hour. Holy crap is it the most congested thing I've ever experienced. I wouldn't compare it to being packed like a sardine because we were closer and tighter than that. When I say we, I mean everyone I shared that subway with. The experience was definitely suffocating to say the least.

While heading to the Charging Bull, we walked through a church I remember once going to. I couldn't remember why. Though, I had been on a Hamilton kick and we were entering the lottery for the tickets. Funny because we stumbled upon this. 

Hamilton's Grave

Complete with newly placed flags. 

Financial District - Charging Bull

I've been here before, but Tam hadn't. We took some pictures before heading off. I know the status has faced some controversy recently because of the little girl next to it. I think they're both cool as standing works of art. 

Financial District - World Trade Center Memorial

We headed over to the World Trade Center Memorial. We weren't really interested in taking a tour. The last time I was here was when I was 13 or 14, on the cusp of becoming a high school freshman. I only saw the beginning stages of the memorial being built, with the cavities in the ground. I didn't know what they would become until today.

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The placement of the squares are meant to reflect the exact locations of the World Trade towers that fell. Loved ones lost have their names etched in stone around the perimeters. From them,  falling walls of water trace the square, all flowing towards the middle. 

From here, we went into the Oculus. Without repeating the story, I made some small chitchat with a man who has worked with the WTC Memorial since its inception. He shared with us something that felt like a secret:

Only near the equinoxes do the shadows illuminate the fallen towers. 

Upper West Side - Shake Shack

Last one

How could we not?

We also walked through Central Park, which definitely was not snowed in like the last time we saw it.

Upper West Side - Levain's Bakery

We wanted to try these giant cookies we saw in a Youtube Video. We were lucky to have a short line at that moment, since the small shop filled quickly afterwards. Tam was salty about this place because the lady forgot to pack some of us cookies. I don't forget. 

Midtown - Nintendo World

Everyone who knows and talks to me everyday also knows I had been flipflopping over the idea of getting a Nintendo Switch. At Tam's insistence, I followed the Nintendo World twitter to see when they would stock it. Today was one of those days. We waited in line for 2 hours to get me a Nintendo Switch. 

Was it worth it?

HELL YES IT WAS.

Duh.

Like Charging Bull, the last time I was at Nintendo World was when I was 13 or 14. The amount of Nintendo branded stuff was awesome! I basically was living my childhood in this moment. The store is red and white, very much like our favorite powerups. It's also very brightly lit and has console stations so people can engage with the games. 

My credit card got declined when buying the Switch. The cashier warned me it might, since it literally is the only Nintendo storefront in the world and is frequently marked as fake. Also, I was spending more than $500 which is the daily limit on my card. It was fine, I used my debit card so I could secure my purchase. I also picked up some cute swag for my friends because HELL YES NINTENDO. 

Times Square - Paul's on Times Square

My mom's friend, Gigi, joined us for dinner again, bringing along her nieces. We were on hour 10 of our day with no break in between, but it was worth it.

With this final meal, we signed off from NYC! Our flight was the next morning, and as fun as vacation is. I was glad to be going home.