Talking about my experience in the US is not that easy; after all, there are so many different feelings that it’s difficult to put them in order on paper. However, today I decided to share exactly how I felt when I first arrived in the US, in a city that wasn’t yet my final destination.

My mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew Davi took me to the airport on 30 June 2019. There, I took an 8 hours flight directly to New York. As I am “a little” anxious, I was unable to sleep at all, and on the first of July, at 8 am, I was landing at JFK airport.

The emotions came out as soon as I left the aircraft because I had to go through immigration, and wow, I was so nervous!

That was my greatest fear on this trip, and there’s no shadow of a doubt. When my turn came, everything went out smoothly, and soon I heard the phrase:

“Welcome to the United States”.

I was very, very excited to be in New York. I had the feeling that it was all a dream because NY had always been a place that I wanted to visit.

I left the airport and took a train to Manhattan. As I didn’t have a SIM card and I didn’t have the internet, I planned to get to know as many sights as I could in a single day. After all, there was a 20-hour stopover in the city.

My GPS was a photo I took of the map on the subway.

I did all the sightseeing on foot. On this day, my cell phone told me that I walked 30 kilometers. I don’t know how! 

Here are the places I visited on this day: the 9/11 Memorial, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Station, New York Library, Broadway, Times Square, Radio City, Rockefeller Center, the 5th avenue, Central Park. At the end of the day, I enjoyed the sunset from the top of the Empire States. The best place to appreciate a view of the entire city. Yeah, that was amazing!

Besides the tourist spots, I ate some typical food of the city like coffee with bagel; the famous hot dog in Times Square; and closed the day having a beer near Broadway.

My experience in NY was magical, and I love that city. For me, it’s everything I have ever imagined. Despite the extreme tiredness due to all the walking, I felt fulfilled and eager for the next days to come on this trip.

I went back to JFK airport by subway and took my next flight to Las Vegas.

Well, that was the first part of my trip, and I loved to share it with you!

Click here to read this article in Portuguese