New York State, July 2014

I was lucky enough to live in New York State for about 3 months over the summer of 2014 as I was working in a Summer Camp teaching arts and crafts. I would definitely recommend the experience to anyone if you are thinking to do it, and if you want to check it out I applied through Camp Leaders who were great and helped make the whole process really easy. I really will never forget the amazing experience I had over there, although I will also never forget how tiring the job is as it's very rare to get any time off! I might not have got a chance to get any lie-ins, but waking up every day teaching painting, candle making, tie-dying and drawing is pretty cool. Any time I did get a day off here and there I tried to use it wisely by either exploring the local areas within New York State by hiking areas of the Catskill mountains to peaceful waterfalls or traveling into the not so peaceful New York City itself.

The Catskill mountains are absolutely beautiful and I was lucky enough to see some awesome animals including a black bear, (thank god I was in a car) a hummingbird and an eagle up close - amazingly I managed to get none of these on camera, which is pretty typical. I did see them all I swear!

New York City was an interesting one for me. If I'm honest, my enjoyment of the city mostly has come to me in hindsight, as while I was actually there in the big city I was yearning for some kind of nature and the feel of the outdoors and felt pretty frustrated at the suffocating heat. (Yes Central Park is cool, but only in comparison to the concrete you find everywhere else!) Don't get me wrong, I can see how it's a holiday dream for many people, and I appreciate that completely. For me, I didn't enjoy the busyness of the roads and footpaths alike, the overwhelming presence of chain restaurants and cafes and department stores, or the somehow claustrophobic feeling of being surrounded by skyscrapers. And yet, on the other hand, the more I think about it there is an incredible amount of culture to be seen (Broadway is awesome – we saw Matilda while we were out there) and there is some beauty to be found you've just got to know how to look for it... I think if I went back now with more experience of traveling and more money than I had in 2014, I'd probably enjoy the city a whole lot more!

The street art around New York was awesome and if I'm honest most of my camera memory cards were filled with different pictures of different murals. There were so many to pick from but I've tried to narrow it down and pick my favourites to share with you all.

The Empire State Building really does offer some amazing views and it's one of the obligatory tourist things you have to do while in New York that actually does deliver.

We also did the (free!) ferry return journey from The Whitehall Terminal to St. George Terminal, on Staten Island, which I would recommend doing in the evening as we were lucky enough to watch a beautiful sunset to the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty.

I am so glad I managed to see so much New York even though it wasn't necessarily a place I would imagine picking as a travel destination for myself. The USA is so big and diverse that there really is a never-ending list of places you could visit, but if I were to go back I doubt I'd find myself back in the New York area. I think the National Parks are the place for me so my aim at some point in the future is to head for Yellowstone, Sequoia National Park or the Grand Canyon. Having said that, I would quite like to visit Niagara Falls at some point...