The Written Podcast: New York (Part 9) – I’m On Holiday

The title to this article may seem confusing considering I’ve spent the last 8 articles detailing the events of what happened on my holiday to New York City, but there is a good reason why. I picked that title to emphasise a moment that happened in the evening, after a busy day of walking around the city, seeing the sights, taking so many photos, and generally enjoying the feeling of being overwhelmed within one of the most famous cities in the world.

When I exited the Empire State Building, I wanted to do a bit more exploring. There was still plenty of time left of my day, so I thought why not. Walk down a few streets, browse a few shops, take a couple of pictures of things I find interesting, it was a generally peaceful moment. I wasn’t necessarily walking in any particular direction, just picked one and went with it, mainly following my eyes: I see something that peaks my curiosity, I went towards it. I did a lot of walking that day – the extremely comfortable and durable boots I had on were pushed to their limits and my feet started to feel a little achy, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

What surprised me about this aimlessly wandering around was when I found that I had somehow navigated back to Times Square. I could have walked in any number of directions, but I chose the ones that led me back to a recognisable place. And from Time Square, I intentionally navigated myself back to my hotel. Due to the layout of New York, it was easy to remember where to go once you’ve done it once so long as you memorise a couple of landmarks. Making my way back, I found the 7-Eleven shop I went to yesterday afternoon, but that wasn’t all that caught my attention. Pick-A-Bagel, a place where you can pick and choose which bagel you’d like including the bread, the fillings, whether you want it toasted or not. Seeing that shop, my stomach rumbled loudly. After a long day of walking, I had built up a huge appetite, but of course, in a city full of so much good food, I was spoilt with too much choice and it became difficult to settle on something I wanted, until I came across Pick-A-Bagel, and it instantly became my number 1 food establishment. Inside, the staff were friendly, patient whilst I took a couple of minutes to choose what I wanted, and were quick with my order after I eventually picked, probably because it was the simplest item on the menu, egg mayonnaise in a lightly toasted buttery bagel. I went simple because I was hungry and it was the only item on the menu I recognised and knew I would enjoy above all the others. And it wasn’t too expensive either, but alas, I do forget the overall total; I just knew it didn’t surprise me in the wrong way.

Skipping forward, back at the hotel, I was looking forward to settling down in bed, resting my feet. There were aching a lot now so slipping my boots off was an instant relief. I absolutely enjoyed my day out in the city, seeing the sights. I fell in love with New York City the moment I entered Times Square. The sensation created by the thought of knowing I was in New York City had died down a lot over the course of the day as the enjoyment factor of actually seeing what I’ve only ever seen in TV and film. I was a wonderful day and I had another full day to go tomorrow. But for now, it’s time to rest. I snuggled up in bed, turned the TV on, unwrapped my bagel, and this is where the title of this article came in.

I was in bed, watching TV, eating a huge bagel with an incredible amount of filling, in New York City; it was the most “on holiday” I’ve ever felt. You can recreate a good chunk of the relaxing feeling I felt by just snuggling up in bed with a meal you enjoy watching a good TV program, knowing you don’t have work in the morning, or indeed any responsibilities in the morning. But throw in the factor of being in New York, suddenly the moment gets even more luxurious, because responsibility in any sense of the word was back at home. For once in a very long time I had nothing to worry about. I was on holiday.

The sensation of being on holiday is a relaxing one, because you can let your head be relieved from the pressure of everyday life, and being in a different country altogether, emphasised relaxing in bed after a busy day out and about.

Realising that I had nothing to worry about was amazing. It had been a very long time since I felt that way. I’m a natural born worrier, I make mountains out of molehills pretty much every day, and feeling that weight of all those molehills from my shoulders was a truly a moment of genuine relaxation. I had one ear on the TV, and one ear attached to the window listening to the sound of city life in New York City. I was on holiday.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)