Getaway Sunday: New York City

It’s Sunday, and Sundays are for getting away. This week…

New York, New York It’s A Wonderful Town

Yes, New York City is a wonderful town. I first visited it back in the summer of 1993. All I remember is it was HOT!!! Not a little hot, really hot! In fact, I think it was one of the hottest summers on record. My brother had just moved there the year before and decided air conditioning was unnecessary. (Nice decision bro!)

It then took me 16 years to go back. My second trip to the Big Apple was this last January. I traveled back to attend RE BarCamp NYC, Inman Connect NYC and also to spend a few days with my brother and his wife. This trip was much more enjoyable. It definitely wasn’t hot at all. It also wasn’t as horrible as it could have been the first couple weeks of January. While it was cold, it was really beautiful.

My first full day in NYC I spent at the Real Estate BarCamp NYC event. This was a wonderful time since I got to meet so many of the friends I’d made online. It just so happened to be my 39th birthday and these wonderful friends threw a bit of a surprise “happy birthday” break during the day which was amazing. I got to try my very first Tasty Kake from Philadelphia. It was tasty! I had such a great day of learning, laughing, sharing, solidifying relationships that had been growing for a very long time. This was really a day to remember.

Side note: Let me share something with you. For those who don’t “get” the whole online social media “thing”. I can’t even begin to tell you how many truly amazing people I’ve had the privilege of meeting in the last almost two years. People right here in my local Vancouver/Portland area, people from all over the country and even some from around the globe. Wonderful people who I know I could call on if I needed help or advice or information. (Heck, I have called on them for some of these things and they’ve been there for me. I’d like to think I’ve been there for them as well.) Bottom line, be you, be real, be conversational… End side note.

Okay, back to New York City. I’ll quickly say, I had an absolutely incredible time with “new” f2f (face to face) friends, amazing time hanging with my brother and his wonderful wife. I can’t wait to go back. I’ll simply end with a few more pictures from the trip. If you’d like to see even more pics you can check out the full set over on Flickr.

The city at night was amazing