Being Buttons

First Timer’s Guide to New York City

First Timer’s Guide to New York City

New York is one of those places that pretty much everyone I’ve met wants to visit at some point. It’s a place that seems reserved for special birthdays, honeymoons, proposals and other significant milestones. I’ll be honest, I’d never actually been that bothered about going. It’s just a city, and I much prefer the countryside to cities. However, that was until we were going somewhere within touching distance and suddenly it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. All too soon I was getting very excited about heading to New York for the first time, and when I was there it didn’t disappoint. It can be difficult to know what to expect or where to begin with planning, so here are my tips to any other first-timer’s out there.

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First impressions of the USA

First impressions of the USA

It’s hard to write first impressions of a country that’s so large and varied; I imagine the different states can feel like completely different countries at times. On my recent trip to the USA, I literally scratched the surface. I visited three cities across two different states and know I cannot claim to have ‘seen’ or ‘done’ America now. However, as it was my first trip to the USA I came home with a few reflections and observations that I’d like to share. On of the best parts of travelling is seeing the differences in a new place to what you are used to. Sometimes you come home questioning what you need to or could change as a result of your experience, and other times you come back and are happy to return to your version of normality.

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Happy 4th Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday

I’ve been writing my blog now for four years exactly, and it has slowly become more a part of me at each step of the way. Rather like a journal, it allows me to look back over some of my favourite places and memories from that time, and know that they are stored somewhere I can return to. It has allowed me to keep friends and family up to date with what I’ve been doing if I’ve been away travelling, or just because we don’t see each other as much. It has prompted opportunities for discussion and helped me find a space to continue writing and improving my photography.

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Completing my first 10K

Completing my first 10K

I’ve never been a runner. I remember dreading cross-country at school, or in fact anything longer than a hundred metre sprint, and not understanding why anyone would choose to do it for fun. I’ve kept and nurtured that misunderstanding of running over the years, unable to understand why a housemate took up running while going through a stressful period, or why another friend had decided to start running marathons. I didn’t like it, I couldn’t do it, and yet somehow I managed to complete the Great Bristol 10K at the start of the month. How did I get there and will I do it again?

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Giving up TV for Lent

Giving up TV for Lent

What did you give up for Lent this year? I’ve never really been one for giving things up at Lent, but this year James was keen to stop watching TV and it seemed like an interesting challenge. It reminded me of a primary school assembly from years ago when it was suggested we might like to give up something we did a lot of, and replace it with something we didn’t do much of. I think the idea was that we’d spend less time playing video games, and more time outdoors for example. However, annoying child that I was, I quickly informed the teacher that would mean I spent less time reading and more time watching television… Needless to say it wasn’t suggested to me again.

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