I first visited New York City in 1992 and completely fell in love with the place. I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, but the city stole my heart. Maybe it’s the hustle and bustle, the noise, or the famous buildings that feature in American films. Perhaps also it’s the diversity of the different neighbourhoods and the fact you can be whatever you want without fear. It’s also a foodie paradise with over 20,000 diverse restaurants to choose from – there really is something for all tastes and budgets and once there you can do as little or as much as you choose.

Thirty years on and I still have a strong pull to spend time in the Big Apple. It’s almost an obsession, an addiction that occupies my thoughts and dreams, including a burning desire to move there one day, even if just for a short time. Ideally I’d like to be in New York for a full year, to live like a local and appreciate what all four seasons have to offer. I’ve actually been for short periods during spring, summer, autumn and winter, but never for longer than a week at a time. I’ve experienced the different weather each season brings, including being stranded for days in February 2006, during the worst blizzard the city had seen for decades when almost 30 inches if snow fell over the city. Add to that experiencing firsthand the devastation that was Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, I appreciate that the weather in New York is as diverse as it’s population.

Since my introduction to Manhattan in the early 1990s, I’ve visited New York ten times with family or friends, my last trip being in 2015. Having not been back for so long, I decided it was time to plan my next jaunt and so in April 2023 I travelled to take another big bite out of the Big Apple and this time I went solo!