USA Days 1 and 2: Jersey City, Manhattan Sights and the Statue of Liberty

If you've been reading this blog over the last several months, you might have expected some posts from Australia and Singapore around this point in the year. To be honest, I expected it too! After we were forced to cancel our trip that was planned for April, we tried to reschedule for October or November. However, due to various reasons, we realised that it wasn't going to be possible this year. Of course, it's disappointing, because I've dreamed of living in or at least visiting Australia for many years, and finally took the plunge and booked the trip early this year. We don't know now when we'll have the opportunity to go, but we're determined it will happen at some point in the next few years.

However, we didn't want to lose out entirely on a bucket list trip this year, so we decided to go somewhere a shorter distance away. I think I've dreamed of visiting New York basically my entire life, so it was the obvious choice!

We flew out there from Heathrow with Virgin Atlantic, which was a really great experience. Normally I find flying pretty unpleasant and uncomfortable, but on this flight, the seats were very spacious, the food was great (they even served an afternoon tea with scones!), and the seven hours went really quickly. And as we came in to land, we got our first glimpse of the Manhattan skyline, which was so exciting.

After going through customs (a lot easier and less scary than we thought it would be!), we took the airtrain to Jamaica station, followed by the LIRR to Penn Station. This was an interesting journey, because we got to see some of the neighbourhoods of Queens, which were generally quite attractive.

Then we got out of the train right into the middle of Manhattan. Our first impression was that everything was really big! We made our way over to 33rd street to take the PATH train, and on our way there, got our first glimpse of the Empire State Building!

Around 20 minutes later, we arrived at Newport station in Jersey City. We walked along the waterfront to get to our hotel and were really amazed by the great views of Manhattan we had.

We arrived at our hotel, Sonesta Simply Suites, and got settled into our room, which was like a studio apartment and very spacious.

To be honest, we'd been hoping to stay somewhere like Brooklyn but found that the hotel prices were way too expensive for what was being offered. The hotel we chose was much better value, but we weren't sure what it would be like to stay in New Jersey rather than in New York City itself. However, it turned out to be a great choice: the neighbourhood was picturesque and quiet, and the location was super convenient for getting to Manhattan.

We went back out for some food and to enjoy the views of New York by night.

Jet lag hit us quite hard, and we ended up falling asleep around 9pm and waking up at 4:30 the next morning. We passed some time chilling out and listening to podcasts, before going out to explore at around 7:00.

We started our day with a walk around the J Owen Grundy Park, which had some interesting artworks. This was where we saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time, though it was some distance away!

We then took the train over to the World Trade Center station, a journey that literally takes just 4 minutes. It arrives at the Oculus Station, which is designed to look like a dove leaving a child's hands. 

We then explored the World Trade Center complex, including the One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial. The two memorial pools that stand where the Twin Towers were are much bigger than I imagined they would be and were very impactful to see. 

Just a short distance away, we visited the sights of Wall Street, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Fearless Girl statue.

Of course, we had to visit the bull statue and take the famous photo there - hopefully it brings us good luck!

Our next adventure of the day involved us taking advantage of one of New York's free attractions: the Staten Island Ferry. This is a nice way to see the iconic Statue of Liberty fairly close up, while saving money at the same time! By this point in the day, the weather was starting to get a little bad, so it was a bit of a soggy ferry ride but a fun experience.

We had a little walk around Staten Island afterwards, which is a lot less touristic and more residential than other parts of the city. Interestingly, there were a lot of runners who had just completed a half marathon there, and many of them got on the ferry with us on the way back.

We were pretty hungry by the time we got back to Manhattan, and fancied some pizza. So we went to Hank's Pizza for some classic New York slices. We weren't sure how much we were going to like it compared to Italian pizza, but it was actually so tasty and crispy, and the portions really filled us up!

The weather started getting worse, so we decided to head up to Midtown and devote the rest of the afternoon to spending as much time indoors as we could. We started off at Grand Central Station, which was such a grand and impressive building to see. One of our favourite parts was the Whispering Gallery, where you can stand at opposite diagonal corners and talk to each other through the walls!

Next we visited another grand old building, the New York Public Library. This was a little crowded, because it seemed like all the other tourists in the area had had the same idea as us to visit as many indoor places as possible!

We then passed by the Rockefeller Center, where they were preparing the famous ice rink for the holiday season.

The last attraction we visited for the day was St. Patrick's Cathedral. Here we spent a while having a few moments of reflection. Interestingly, there was a mass taking place in Spanish, which was nice for Claudio to listen to, as we hardly ever hear Spanish being spoken in the UK.

We then felt hungry for another classic New York food, so went to Junior's Restaurant and Bakery for some cheesecake! When we got there, there was a queue, and they told us we'd have to wait around 15 minutes for a table. However, they also offered us seats at the bar, which we were more than happy to accept. The cheescake was delicious, and the classic diner vibe of the restaurant was very cool.

After this, we were feeling pretty exhausted and quite damp so decided to head back to Jersey City for another early night.

It was a super exciting first couple of days in New York, but there was still a lot more to see. Our second day took us to Central Park and Roosevelt Island, and also brought us some sunshine! I'll be writing about it soon!

September 2026 Travel: Southampton Day Trip and London Mini Adventures

September is generally quite a transitional month, I think. This is when we move from summer to autumn (or winter to spring in the southern hemisphere!) and when we begin a new academic year in the UK. This year, September was definitely a transitional time for me, as I finished my work contract at the end of the month.

I used my last weeks working in West London as an opportunity to explore more of the area. Other than that, Claudio and I took a fun weekend day trip to the coast. Here are a few highlights!

Japan Centre

I recently saw a YouTube video about this Japanese supermarket located in the Westfield Centre (Europe's biggest mall) and knew I had to visit it for myself. Japanese food is one of our favourites, so it was awesome to have a browse of all the different products. I really love visiting supermarkets when abroad, and this was like having that experience, without having actually travelled to Japan.

Obviously, I bought a little haul of goodies to take home. My favourites were the sakura donut, mango mochi and the tonkotsu ramen kit!

Paddington

Paddington is known as one of London's biggest transport hubs, but it also has some interesting sights to see within minutes of the train station.

So, a couple of evenings after work, I explored some of the canalside attractions of the area, including restaurants in boats and unusual bridges. 

One of my favourite parts was the Floating Pocket Park, which is a park on a little artificial island on the canal.

Southampton

One weekend, we both fancied a trip to the coast, so decided to go to the city of Southampton for the day, as it is only an hour and two train journeys from our home.

Although it's not known for being a beautiful city, it has a lot of history to discover, being the place from where the Titanic set sail, as well as having many old buildings and monuments.

The centre has some shabby areas, but is scattered throughout with various historical attractions, some of which date back to medieval times. 

On the day we went, it was a Heritage Open Day, so we were lucky enough to get to go inside the medieval Bargate for free!

Of course, one of the highlights of the day was when we met an adorable cat in the street!

After finding some lunch in the mall, we went down to the port to look around. We expected to see more references to the history of the Titanic, but all that was there was the former post office, where the mail for the ship was sorted.

We then visited what turned out to be our favourite area of the city: Ocean Village. This is the marina where all the fancy yachts come, and it definitely gave us a bit of a Monaco vibe. One of the coolest parts was the Harbour Hotel, which is designed to look like a massive yacht floating in the water. We'd love to stay there someday in the future!

Overall, we had a fun day out in Southampton. However, the journey back was certainly not fun at all! There were awful delays to both parts of our train route, and what should have been a one-hour journey ended up taking three, which was a real pain.

On the plus side, we ended up getting a refund for our entire ticket, meaning that we went to Southampton and back for free. 

And once we were finally on the train going back to our home, we met and had a cuddle with a lovely golden retriever named Cinnamon. A nice end to a stressful trip!

Chiswick Business Park

I recently saw a reel on Instagram about free things to visit in London, and Chiswick Business Park was one of the places mentioned. So I went there one day after work to check it out.

Although a business park might not sound like the most exciting place to visit, this is actually a bit of a hidden gem and a scenic and peaceful place to walk around. It has these cool pods that workers can have meetings in, as well a lake, and even a little waterfall.

Afterwards, I had a bit of a walk around the neighbourhood, which is a picturesque and quintessentially London area (Chiswick is turning out to be one of my favourite parts of London). I then got the tube to start my journey home, and found that even the tube station (Chiswick Park) was a tourist attraction in its own right, with a cute retro style of decor.

London by night

At the end of the month, I completed the last day of my contract. On the same day, Claudio took the day off and went to take his driving theory test, which he passed first time! (Although he drove for many years in Chile, unfortunately he has to take the UK test, as his Chilean licence isn't valid here.)

So he came and joined me in London afterwards, and we celebrated together with a meal out, followed by an evening walk through the city.

Sometimes London can be a bit exhausting, but there are times like this, on a normal weekday night, when you see the iconic sights of the city all lit up, and realise why so many people dream of visiting or living here. And now that we live in a quieter area, after over a year right in the centre of Reading, I think we appreciate our days in London even more.

So, overall, September was a fairly chilled month for me in terms of travel, but October has been a lot more exciting so far! Check in back here soon for some adventurous travel content...