A lot of students traveled over fall break, but senior Ian Rodriguez decided to go off and venture to the Big Apple by himself.

Rodriguez flew to New York by himself to spend some time with his cousin and his aunt Maggie who live there.

“Honestly, I needed a break and had to change up my routine,” Rodriguez said. “That and New York is completely foreign to me and I was excited to explore someplace new.”

Rodriguez says that he stayed about 12 hours shy of a week there. 

“As a senior, you start to have more and more responsibilities, but unless you’re 18 you don’t have the same freedom,” Rodriguez said. “So I decided I wanted a taste of that freedom and going three states away in one of the biggest cities in the country satisfied it.”

Rodriguez says that the flight cost $187. 

“My cousin that lives there offered to pay half of it,” said Rodriguez. “The food was slightly more expensive so I probably

 ended up spending about $200 [overall].”

“[My favorite memory was] going to a haunted house in Ulster Park and it was immersive and very intense,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez says his favorite thing was becoming addicted to New York bagels.  

“[I decided to document everything through Snapchat because] I wanted something to look back on, so when the smallest thing fascinated me I’d be able to remember what was new,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez says a lot of the people he saw were primarily Asian-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos.

“Everyone I interacted with was very friendly and nice,” Rodriguez said. “Some random lady even helped me find the right subway when I couldn’t; and I didn’t even ask her.”

Rodriguez says that he expected to see giant buildings and the sidewalks flooded with people like its shown on social media and in the movies.

“[I didn’t expect to see] how tall those buildings actually were and that the sidewalks weren’t as crowded as I imagined,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez says he planned this all beforehand, and made sure he had all his boxes checked by making sure he had ways to get around the city, and knowing which trains, buses and subways to take.

“[What surprised me the most was] that public transit was so common and that almost everyone uses it,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t even remember the last time I rode a bus before I went to New York.”

Rodriguez says that he did not have any questionable

experiences while in New York and that everything was fairly normal.

“[The New York accent] is very much so real,” Rodriguez said.

 “Every borough has its own accent, and the Bronx accent is definitely my favorite.”

Rodriguez says that after staying in the Big Apple for a week that he now wants to live there later on in life. 

“That was my first time ever being in New York, and it exceeded my expectations,” Rodriguez said. “And it wasn’t even one specific thing that made the trip

 amazing, it was the overall experience and atmosphere.”