new york city

So you’ve already been to New York City and done everything that a first-time New York tourist should do: Times Square, Central Park, The Met, the Statue of Liberty, Little Italy, the Brooklyn Bridge. Perhaps you have made it a point to see the Tiffany & Co. window Audrey Hepburn looked in during the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s or the Riverside Park Garden where Tom Hanks proposed to Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. All of these sites are worth seeing, but when you visit them, sometimes you can’t shake the feeling that you are too much of a tourist as you stand in line to take pictures. That’s why another trip to New York is worth your while: it can be just as special as your first trip, but this time you can blend in and become a real New Yorker.

Broadway is a fantasy for any lover of the performing arts. Heck, even people who don’t care much for musicals probably have “see a show on Broadway” somewhere on their bucket list. But when it comes to purchasing tickets, a lot of us might opt instead for a stroll through Central Park and a street hot dog. Just think: you could buy a hundred hot dogs and still spend less than what that Broadway ticket would have cost.

Though graffiti is often seen as vandalism, many places throughout the world have embraced graffiti as a valid art form and as a way to enhance the community. Any vacation can be complemented with a stop to look at one of these legal graffiti destinations. Found in typical art hubs and less expected locales, graffiti art is visually impressive. A side trip to these outdoor art displays can offer an untamed perspective of any tourist hotspot.

You just finished eating dinner on the pier in San Diego, California. The meal took longer than you thought, and you’re tired and feel wary of walking the couple of miles back to the hotel. Do you call a cab? Aren’t those only in New York City? Plus cabs are expensive (so you’ve heard), and you don’t even know which company to call. Then you remember hearing someone mention the Uber app. You quickly download the app, follow the instructions, and get back to the hotel within twenty minutes.

What’s the difference between a fresh, hot hamburger served to you over the counter and the partially eaten, mashed-up hamburger you dig up out of the dumpster? The second one is free, of course! Using a dumpster as a dinner table is a common event for a group of people in New York City who practice freegansim: the practice of living an eco-friendly, anti-consumer lifestyle.