Ah where to begin…

It has been three years living in the greatest city in the world. You can’t visit much less live here without being changed… (hopefully for the better, haha). I wanted to recall some of the high highs and the low lows. Here is a list of things I’ve done or that have happened to me in my time in NYC…

• I’ve cried
• I’ve laughed
• I’ve thrown my pizza at strangers crossing 42nd street after they tried to snag my backpack
• I’ve eaten the best food I could ever imagine
• I’ve seen a guy get beat up and his bags stolen
• I have met some of the best friends in the whole world
• I’ve stepped in poop
• I’ve seen a lot of history in real life (lived through this pandemic… so far)
• I’ve stepped in vomit
• I’ve learned a lot about myself and about this ole world
• I’ve come within inches of walking through a stream of pee while coming around a corner
• I’ve made friends with homeless people
• I’ve been down to $67 dollars in my bank account and then spent it on a Broadway ticket and known it was the best decision of my life (Waitress the musical. I cried the whole time)
• I’ve watched a Broadway play with Hillary Clinton… and probably many other remarkable people that I didn’t even realize
• I’ve been stuck underground in a train car with no power for an hour and a half
• I’ve ridden in a cop car and helped arrest the bad guys who mugged someone in front of me
• I’ve fallen in love
• I’ve had my heart broken
• I’ve fallen asleep on the train and woken up much farther away from home than I started
• I have climbed more stairs than most people have in their life (80 stairs just to get from the street to my apartment door)
• I’ve been followed home
• I’ve sat on my fire escape in the rain and just watched the world go by
• I’ve interned and carried 12 coffees through midtown all on my own
• I’ve been attacked on a subway car (the same night of the 2019 summer blackout in NYC)
• I’ve seen countless Broadway shows
• I’ve written and produced plays (multiple) that people actually paid to see
• I won $5,000 for cooking chicken and waffles on a reality TV show (read more here)
• I’ve learned…

Oh the list could go on forever and ever, and all of these experiences have changed me in one way or another… but the people I have met here… WOW… this city is so full of heart and character and passion. The people are simply inspiring!

On July 31, I am starting a new chapter in my life. Heading to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Why, you ask? Oh dear reader, that is another blog post for another time but I’ll tell you this, life is one exciting thing and I’m here to LIVE it and EXPERIENCE as much of it as I can and I’m excited to keep doing that! (also I want a bigger kitchen and to pay half the amount in rent for three times the space, is that a good enough reason for you?)

I’m not “giving up” on my dreams, some of my dreams have changed, some haven’t, this world has changed (a lot), I’ve grown. And all of that’s okay 🙂

I think I’ll cry a little bit when I head out, but New York City will be here for me to come back to one day if I want, and I’ll be visiting often because it truly still is: The Greatest City in The World.

Here are some, but certainly not all of my best memories.

The next chapter of my life will be great! Philly has a lot to offer and as soon as this pandemic isn’t running things, my goal is to travel even more than I have previously. There is too much world out there to spend all my money paying rent for a shoebox sized apartment in NYC if I’m going to try and travel more (travel = not using the benefits of said shoebox sized apartment).

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I started this blog to document my journey with food in New York City and I continue this blog to document food and travel anywhere I go. A big thank you to anyone who has read along the last couple years and I hope you’ll stay with me for more adventures. Cheers to a new chapter!

Dan