(Photo Details: Top of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York--June 2014)
I’m just finishing up a five-week visit to Manhattan on our annual home-exchange vacation. I get a lot of questions from people about why I like to return to New York year after year. Why not go somewhere different? Why go for an entire month? And why go during the hottest time of year?
And I do have answers to all those questions. But this post is about the value of seeing something that you’ve seen before in a totally different light.
I just calculated that I’ve visited New York City 14 times over the last three decades for a cumulative total of eight months here. We used to come for a week at a time. We’d stay in a hotel, run from one activity to another--all day and all night--and then go home utterly exhausted. Since we started visiting for a month at a time seven years ago, we haven’t had to run ourselves so ragged. We take lots of time to recharge in between activities. But we still return home pretty tired. New York City has that effect on us.
In any case, I get why people are perplexed that I would want to do the same thing year after year.
Doug hits his limit of Manhattan about three weeks in. I could probably be here a couple months before I’d tire of this city. So this year, we tried something different. I flew out alone a week before Doug did. I invited a girlfriend and her daughter to join me for the week.
I spent the week playing drill-sergeant travel guide. In four days we covered a lot of territory. We went to many places I’ve been before: the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, the Brooklyn Bridge and the High Line, The Book of Mormon, a comedy club, Grand Central Station, and Times Square. I took them to my favorite restaurants and my favorite walks in Central Park. We also enjoyed a couple of sights that I had never seen in all my time here: the Statue of Liberty and the top of the Empire State Building. And this year the new 9/11 Museum opened just in time for their visit.
But while I was playing tour guide, I was seeing these familiar sights with fresh eyes--through the excited eyes of my friends. My friend Kendra is an artist, so she was giddy at the Met. Taylor is a civil engineering student in college, so she was enthralled with the Brooklyn Bridge and the museum inside the Statue of Liberty.
Every time I come here I have a completely different experience from the previous time. Some of that is simply from the changes here over the last 30 years. Some is because I have changed a lot in the last 30 years. The last few years though, it has been because friends have come out to visit while we are here. Even if we take them to do things we’ve done over and over again, we see things through their eyes. Appreciating all over again the things we love about this city.
It’s the same thing with retirement. I’ve been retired for six years now, and I don’t always look at retirement with those fresh, tourist eyes. Then I get an email from someone like Terri, who sends me joy-filled updates from Sun City about how much she appreciates having so much TIME. Or like Kaye who enjoys “a slow wake-up, with coffee and quiet time to read and reflect” each morning--a luxury that she didn’t have while still working. And especially like Jill, who is “playing at being at holiday,” enjoying her local museums, galleries, and concerts. Reminding me to take my tourist eyes home from New York and use them back at home all year long.
Related Posts:
Travel in Retirement: Why Get Away When There’s Nothing to Get Away From?
Can’t keep track of my non-existent posting schedule? Subscribe—it’s free!
I didn't really feel retired until my hubby joined me in my early retirement also. Now that we're together, retirement is totally different. It's nice having someone along with you. We get to pick and choose how we want to spend our time, together.
For example, we weren't sure if we wanted to buy another vacation home. Fate made the decision for us. We nixed the permanence of buying another home and bought an r-pod instead (those little tear drop shaped RV's) Since we've seen all of Europe and the Caribbean, we'd thought it'd be great to see America and Canada now.
So off we've gone.
Who knew?
I certainly didn't plan on this.
It just happened.
PS: my daughter has finally moved out of mid-town NYC and closer to me, so my days of taking the train in to see her are now over. Just in time, as far as I am concerned. I've noticed a change in Manhattan since the new Mayor took office. My last visit over the Memorial Day holiday had me walking in garbage up to my ankles when I passed through Times Square. I was appalled. I couldn't get out of the city fast enough.
Enjoy NYC while you can Syd. And try to watch a few episodes of Sex & The City so you'll know what I mean. You'll see the difference. NYC is not the same.
Posted by: Cindi | July 20, 2014 at 08:01 PM
Cindi: I know what you mean about not really relaxing into retirement until both spouses are retired. That job stress still hangs in the air even for the retired spouse. Much better to have a full-time playmate!
I'd like to see more of the U.S. over the coming years too. So much to see and I (mostly) speak the same language. Enjoy your travels!
I'm not really noticing much difference in NYC from last year to this year but the truth is I've always hated Times Square. The wider pedestrian area is a definite improvement but I'd still rather do anything I can to avoid it all together. Makes me very cranky to be around so many people. (I don't remember Carrie Bradshaw ever going over there!)
Posted by: Retired Syd | July 21, 2014 at 05:05 AM
You are doing retirement just as my husband and I hope to do. We won't be retiring early, but he has a business situation that would allow him to work for long stretches in another location. So we'd like to travel (U.S. mostly) and plant ourselves somewhere for at least a few weeks at a time. I love the inspiration I get from your blog.
Posted by: Julie @ The Family CEO | July 21, 2014 at 09:39 AM
My last job meant several trips to the US each year and I had the chance to get to know NYC - I love it. When my last work visit came around I offered to treat my sister who rarely travels. Where I saw energy, creativity, diverrsity she mainly saw crowds, noise and dirt and it was only a few months later when she had managed to edit out the discomforts and anxieties of the trip that she realised it had been a great experience. Quote - We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are (Anais Nin I rhink). I'm not missing my job but I might miss my NY weekends.
PS Favourite restaurants? 'Mine was Red Cat.
Posted by: Jill | July 21, 2014 at 03:50 PM
Julie: I think you have the right idea avoiding whirlwind trips.
Jill: I'm kind of like your sister with regard to Southeast Asia. It's the kind of trip that gets better when viewed in the rear-view mirror (of the air-conditioned metaphorical vehicle). Red Cat is one of our favorites too, in fact we have a reservation there for tomorrow night!
Posted by: Retired Syd | July 22, 2014 at 05:39 AM
I'd love to spend a month in NYC. Never been there, but hopefully that will be remedied soon. It would be great to spend more time with my wife, but she still enjoys work. I don't think she can quit and wind down yet. Maybe in 10-15 years, she'll slow down a bit. She's too restless to really retire.
Posted by: retireby40 | July 25, 2014 at 10:47 AM
Syd, I just "re-did" Manhattan, tourist style, with you in mind. Much, much better this time around. Times Square didn't bother me one iota.
http://thriftyat60.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-cost-of-going-out-with-girls-nyc.html
Posted by: Cindi | August 11, 2014 at 11:38 AM