So I’m moving (from the UK) to Chapel Hill, NC in August. I’ve signed a lease on a room in a house, which will begin on August 1. I’ve never been to the US before, and I’ve booked a flight to JFK on Friday August 10th.
I’ll be carrying all my worldly possessions with me, or at least all those that will fit into my 20kg baggage allowance. The plan was to spend 2 nights in a youth hostel , before heading down to NC on Sunday Aug 12th.
But as I’ve started looking at all the crummy, apparently bed bug-infested hostels in NYC (at >$40/night, inc. tax), I’m starting to wonder whether I’ll be better off skipping the place for now and heading straight to NC? Arguments for this:
[ul]
[li]I’ll be jetlagged, though not much[/li][li]I’ll be constantly worrying about my suitcase[/li][li]I want to save as much money as possible[/li][/ul]
But I can’t shake the feeling that it would be kinda a shame to pass through the place without seeing it. What do you think?
However, I will say this. Its a HELL of a long ride from JFK to the hostel. About 2 hours via subway.
How are you planning to get down to school from NYC?
Another thing on edit: NYC is brutally hot that time of year. Not that NC will be any different, but you might find “sightseeing” a bit much considering the jetlag & the heat.
While I’m sure my opinion won’t even get you a cup of coffee, I’d skip the youth hostel. Instead, if it were possible, I’d suggest taking a flight to JFK, a cab to Grand Central Station (taking pictures where appropriate) and arranging to take an AMTRAK train to Chapel Hill.
My reasoning is thus: Airports are a soul-sucking experience these days and all countries look the same at 40,000 feet. You’ve traveled in the UK by train (I assume) so you know that you can get a better feel of a place in a nice seat by a window watching the various states roll by. You have the rest of your life to take flights where you have to breathe 200 people’s recycled germs or risk being put off for wearing the wrong T-shirt in front of a Faux News brain-washed flight attendant. Travel by train is rapidly becoming something from yesteryear…like portable typewriters. If I were you, and if I had the time, this is how I would travel. It’s just more… civilized.
I dunno, it’s got to be at least a 12 hour trip (I used to take the train from NYC to Williamsburg, VA, and that was 9 hours). A 12 hour train ride following an international plane trip…? Personally, I don’t recommend it. My analagous experience, flying Bulgaria to NY (7 hrs), followed immediately by 9 hour drive to Williamsburg (dad driving) was one of the more hellish experiences of my life.
Also, Amtrak doesn’t leave from Grand Central. Since 1991 all Amtrak trains depart from from Penn Station.
I was actually considering getting to NC by train, because I’d like to see a bit of the country. I’m a fan of trains, and no stranger to long trips- I did Tokyo to Europe overland last summer. And if I do come into NYC, I’d rather get on a train rather than traipsing all the way out again to JFK with my luggage.
Point taken about the heat, though having been in Japan and China in July/August, I am used to it. It can take the sails out of sightseeing though!
So I’m pretty decided that I should skip NYC - only problem is that my flight gets in at 3.45pm, too late to catch an Amtrak train. Because the train is quoted at $77, and a flight to NC at more like $100, I might get a compromise going:
fly to JFK on the Friday, and stay for one night somewhere near penn station
take the train to NC in the morning.
I won’t aim to do any sightseeing, but I might pop out on Friday night. Only problem is that I’d still be concerned about my luggage.
If the hostels in NYC are anything like the hostels in Europe, they aren’t nearly as bad as you would think. Bring a can of lysol if it would really make you feel better, but I promise, they’re a great experience and you’ll make some good friends.
That’s what I’d initially hoped - I’ve spent a lot of time in hostels, in Asia and Europe. One thing I always do is research them, because the bad ones can be truly awful (Shanghai, I’m looking at you).
But, looking at the reviews on hostelworld, almost every hostel in NYC seems to be at least one of