NYC Loving

The one thing I've never been very good at is waiting. So as I wait to board my flight, I'm taking a moment to talk about my favourite city.

When I was 14, I was bitten by the Big Apple fever. Having friends and family in the city allowed for frequent visits. At that time my memories of the city were romanticized childhood ones; Broadway lights at Times Square, the beautifully lit Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, climbing up the Statue of Liberty, shopping at Victoria's Secret and any other US store that wasn't found in Canada (at the time). However, now as an adult...New York City is even more freaking amazing.

The big city is so much better when you're at an age to be a part of everything. The constant buzzing of things happening in the air feeds directly to my energy source and I feel like being out all the time. Born and raised in Toronto, I always felt like I needed a bigger city to put my dreams into perspective. I've come here alone, with family, and with friends and each time is a new adventure for me. This trip I'm flying solo, but being alone in such an influential metropolis puts you in your place in every way, even to the over-analytic, hyper-sensitive thinkers like yours truly.

What is it that sucks so many of us into New York City and makes us never want to leave? For one there's the undeniable cool factor that, while other cities try *ahem...Toronto*, they can't seem to come close to. Come on Toronto, it's about time you create your own sustainable identity and stop copying cities like NYC, Hong Kong, Paris. I also used to get a kick out of how much the city gets featured in television and film. Serendipity 3? That's where John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale ate ice cream (I'm not a fan on rom-coms whatsoever but this one has a soft spot for me, probably because I was 12 when I first saw it). There's also the constant activity that such a large city can handle on an everyday level. The only other cities I can compare to that capacity is Hong Kong or Tokyo. 

The fondness for the Big Apple is nothing new. In fact, all you hear is how people want to "make it in New York". At the end of the day, this is the city where it happens, whether you are looking for your dream job, fame, love, amazing food....the opportunities are endless. In the very least, it's where we go in hopes of finding these opportunities and end up creating new experiences on the many paths there. You never know who you might bump into in a city of 7 million + (I know I've met countless characters on the streets of NYC but that's an entire new post if I want to talk about them). Sure, Toronto is my hometown and it's where my family and most of my friends reside, but I'm young, relatively carefree, and a dreamer...I belong in NYC.