Now that I am back home in New York - jobless for the first time in my adult life, I am actually pretty excited to take advantage of my time off by doing the NYC things I never seem to have time for.  While I am starting to think about work and what I really want to do next, I am not going to rush into it.  So I have at least a couple of weeks to be a tourist in MY city, and I put together a checklist of my top wishes.

I love summer in the city!

EAT / DRINK

• North River Lobster Company - A lobster restaurant / bar on a boat that sails around the Hudson River for 30-minutes at a time but you can stay on as long as you want!

• Grand Banks - An oyster bar / regular bar on a sailboat that stays docked on Pier 25.

• Roof at Park South Hotel - Just looks like a cool rooftop bar that I have never been to.

• The Cannibal - On east 29th, this spot features craft beer and artisanal meat with an outdoor garden.

• Ninja - Japanese restaurant with ninja theme - may be a little too kitschy but I still kind of want to see it.

• WD50 molecular gastronomy restaurant (closing its doors on November 30) & Alder cocktail bar by same owner
• Dinosaur BBQ - I've still never been to this BBQ staple in Harlem (and now Brooklyn as well).
• NYC Restaurant Week - It is more than just a week!  July 21 - August 15, many notable and expensive restaurants are featuring special and affordable three-course menus.

Sunday, July 13 (Dorset, England & Belfast, Northern Ireland) – When it comes to the professional world, I have always pushed myself to work as hard and strategically as possible.  I have made great contacts and collected strong bullet points for the resume, and I am pretty confident that I could find a job in the marketing / sales development field upon my return, if that's what I want or if I get stuck and need some cash.  So I wasn’t going to let myself stress about it.  

But, the number one question I get from anyone I come across is about my job and what I will do when I get back home.  This continuous question has forced me to think about work a little more than I would have liked to, and I’m still not exactly sure what my ideal job would be or what I will do upon my return.  So, I have come up with the following thoughts to help guide me to whatever I will do next to *happily* make up some of the money I have spent in the past three months!

Random thoughts to help me figure out what to do next in the professional world:

• Marketing / Advertising: my field, my comfort zone, but a very big world and many skills are transferable
  
• Travel, fitness, horses:  areas/industries I am most interested in and passionate about
  
• The thought of sitting at a desk all day: gives me anxiety!  Maybe I would prefer being able to go to clients or external meetings or even travel for work occasionally?
  
• I need to truly believe in a brand or product in order to be happy in my day-to-day
  
• How do I become a consultant or a freelance marketer?
  
• I kind of want to work with small businesses like niche gyms, travel apps and fitness/health professionals to help develop their brands 

Thoughts, anyone?

Thursday, July 10 (Casares, Spain) – Not sure how it happened so quickly, but my final week of travel is underway.  This time next week I will be in steamy NYC with a sack of laundry and nothing but memories of the most incredible three months of my life.

How do I possibly go back to normal life after this?  I’ve had a little bit of time to reflect and I keep wavering between being extremely excited (Iced coffee!  Friends & family!  Sushi and Thai and Mexican food!) and being extremely depressed about leaving this experience.

So, I’m trying to turn this bipolar-ness I’m feeling into something constructive and positive.  I’ve narrowed my anxieties and feelings into a few categories:  taking experiences with me, finding the right work and new projects/goals.  In this post, I’m going to talk about taking experiences from my trip with me, and I will cover the other two themes in future posts.

On one hand I feel like I am the same old Stacy coming back to New York, but on the other hand, I have had so many meaningful experiences, situations and conversations that I must have changed at least a little.  I think a lot of this will unfold when I get home and perhaps do things a little differently – from the food I buy and cook to the afternoon tea or siesta I may enjoy.  But there are a few things I have done that I consciously want to take with me to JFK and beyond.

My original three goals for this trip were to gain a higher understanding of the Spanish language, to become a better photographer and to have lots of fun.  I was able to accomplish all these and want to maintain them after the trip:

• Spanish - I really love the language and the culture.  I find it fascinating how different the accent, dialect and slang can be in different parts of the country (not even including central or south America!), and I feel accomplished when I am able to communicate with someone who doesn't speak English.  I owe a lot of my learnings and confidence to the people I met on this trip throughout Spain, and I owe it to them - and to myself - to keep it up.  So if anyone wants to practice, let me know!  Otherwise you can find me reading Spanish online newspapers, listening to Spanish music or maybe even at some conversational Spanish meetups!

• Photography - While I definitely did not become an expert photographer (in fact I rarely had the time to take the settings off of 'auto' to figure out the best manual shot... or I resorted to the iPhone for quick pics), I do feel like I have a better sense of composition, and I understand the mechanics of photography better.  Since I haven't had room to buy many souvenirs (in my suitcase or in my studio apartment), photos are my true souvenirs and capturing the moment the way I want to remember it is important.  I coincidentally received an email about some upcoming photo courses in New York that aren't too pricey and could be a great way to work on my skills when I come home.  And then since I will have a bit more time, I can take that time to play with the settings so that I'm more comfortable doing that on my next trip instead of resorting to 'auto' when I'm short on time.

• Fun - Obviously I had a lot of fun on this trip, and much of it came from unexpected places.  Some of my favorite days and nights started with a friendly manicurist, the inability to drive stick shift/rent a car or passing by a club of glider enthusiasts.  I was more open to meeting people and trying things and saying 'yes' when I was in a new country all by myself, but this is something I could carry over when I go back home.  Sometimes it is easy to get sucked into the corporate world and work mindset, but it is important to step back and do things that make you smile!  Seems silly to even have to say this, but it is important and worth a bullet point in my opinion.  

One of the most questionable decisions I made before leaving New York was switching to T-Mobile from Verizon Wireless.  My 10+ years with Verizon was the longest relationship I’ve ever had and it treated me like a queen - most of the time.  Widely known as having the best coverage in NYC, Verizon was a no-brainer even when my mom decided it was time for me to leave the nest and kicked me off the family plan.

Switching to T-Mobile as a traveler has turned out to be one of the best decisions I could have made.  Not only is my monthly bill lower than it was with Verizon, I get FREE international text messaging.  That means not only are my texts free to send and receive, the people I’m messaging with don’t pay anything either.  Additionally, if I need to make a phone call – regardless of if I’m calling a local European number or someone in the States, I only get charged $.20 per minute (in this case, the recipient of my call would pay whatever their long distance rate is).  I did quite a bit of research before making the switch, and even the representative I spoke with at Verizon suggested they didn’t have the best plan.  Including international coverage would be in ADDITION to my regular Verizon bill.  Other carriers had similar models.

And finally: data.  I paid for 3G of data per month (can be easily changed if I use more or less data).  Here’s the kicker:  If I go over my allotted data, I won’t be charged a cent.  My standard bill will be the same each month no matter what.  All that will happen if I use more than 3G is that the connection will slow down.  BRILLIANT!

TIP:  For Verizon users with an iPhone, before you pay to have your phone unlocked so a new carrier can take over, have the new carrier check first.  Turned out my phone was unlocked so I didn’t have to pay ANYTHING at T-Mobile, I just had to pay for the cancelation of my Verizon account.

PHOTOS:
It may sound a bit silly to include this, but sometimes you have to be reminded to take out the camera (or iPhone).  I designated one of my girlfriends as the evening's photographer to ensure I had some good shots from the night to look at when I'm on my trip and maybe feeling a bit lonely or missing my friends.  

As I prepare to see some of the world's greatest museums, cathedrals and other notable landmarks, I feel the need to pay a visit to one of the greats of my hometown:  the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Growing up, I'd go to this museum almost weekly - hiding in the Temple of Dendur, imagining life in the times of the period rooms and wondering if the Egyptian mummies would emerge from their tombs on Halloween or April Fool's Day.  So I went with my dad, and we spent time exploring the special exhibits as well as the classics.

After college, I worked in sales and marketing for an energy drink company, and part of my role included managing partnerships with local sports leagues and events where people could get to know our brand.  We worked at a couple of the popular basketball courts in Harlem and the Bronx where streetball greats (including some NBA players in the off season) would play while the crowds would cheer and enjoy the local drink - the nutcracker.  This potent cocktail was mixed in little old ladies' bathtubs and sold at parks, beaches and events, and I was advised not to try it because it is extremely strong (Bacardi 151 is ONE of the alcohols in the mix) - not to mention it was made in someone's bathtub...  Anyway, I've always wanted to try one and my friend Ed told me about the one restaurant in the city that has the original nutcracker on its menu.  So we took a trip to the upper west side to the Chino-Latino restaurant Flor de Mayo, and I experienced my first nutcracker (ok, I only managed to finish half of it but I certainly got a taste!).  Strong, sweet, but not bad at all!

Even though I'm more than excited to enjoy the local food throughout my travels, there is something special about NYC food - especially random takeout favorites.  For me, it is Mizu for Japanese, Rohm for Thai and Bravo for pizza.  And yes, I will be enjoying all three this week and savoring each bite!

I've spent the past year training in boxing, and I love it.  It's one of those activities that isn't just a great workout, but it is something that can constantly be improved upon, takes skill and strategy, and is a lot of fun to do.  I am hoping to find some boxing studios along my travels for an occasional class, but I am a bit nervous that I will forget all that I've learned and practiced.  So I want to get it in one last time!

For the past few months, I've heard rumblings of Rocky coming to Broadway.  Um... yes!  So I was able to get a great deal and round up a crew of friends from the gym, and we made a night of it.  We started with highly-recommended tacos at Toloache before going to the theater down the block.  And the show?  AMAZING!  It was one of those feel-good, cheer-even-though-they-are-actors, fun for everyone shows.  Definitely geared toward Rocky fans vs. Broadway fans, which was totally fine by me.  TIP:  Get seats in the orchestra level, definitely worth it.  And if you want a special treat, sit in one of the first 10 rows in the center of the orchestra - you get to go on stage and watch the final fight from the bleachers!