A much needed holiday break in the US

I recently returned from a much needed holiday break in the USA and it was so great.

Living in Galapagos is amazing and there is not one day that I do not appreciate the wonderful life we have here, but island fever is a very real thing and sometimes we just need a break. So with both work and leisure purposes in mind, my husband and I saw a flight sale from Guayaquil to NYC and took advantage.

Living in South America allows us to find great flight sales into and around the US. I was able to book return flights from Guayaquil city to JFK, New York for $500USD per person. As our travel dates were in January, which is low season in the States due to winter weather, I was able to get a great deal on an Airbnb apartment in the Upper West Side. We also decided to add to our US travel by visiting Washington DC. Again as January is low season we were able to get a nice self-contained suite in a quality hotel for a very reasonable price in the heart of downtown DC.

Over New Year’s, knowing that we were boarding a flight to the US in a couple of weeks, we watched as the coldest New Year’s Eve hit NYC, and an extremely volatile storm unleashed heavy snow and freezing conditions all along the East coast. Not the best for tropical island paradise residents who don’t really own winter clothing, but we remained positive. I even hopefully said, ‘Maybe global warming will work in our favour and there will be an unseasonably warm snap whilst we are there?’ Which was met with blank stares from those I told my theory too.

But that’s exactly what happened! Upon our arrival to JFK at 2am, we decided to take the AMTRAK from Penn Station to Washington DC rather than pay for an overnight hotel room. But when we landed in -3 degree temperatures and walked the NYC streets from one subway station to another at 4am with no gloves, no scarves and one layer of clothing, I was completely unprepared for the level of cold we found ourselves in. Luckily, arriving a few hours later in DC the sun was shining and hotel check in staff told us the weather would be warming for the remainder of the week.

Having not left Ecuador for 18 months, 9 months of which had been spent in Galapagos Islands, it was so exhilarating to arrive into a Western World country knowing that everything would be so easy. There are shops like Victoria Secret, Lush and Best Buy where the newest quality products are available at good prices. Amazon is so easy and everything is available at your finger tips, and having an Airbnb apartment that items could be delivered to, we took full advantage of the Amazon juggernaut that does not exist at all in South America.

Finally the food. Ohhhh the food! Vegan eating is so easy in the US, at restaurants, take away places, and supermarkets. Our first night in Washington DC we ended up with 3 types of takeaway that were all regular restaurants with vegan options within a 10 minute walk of the hotel. Overindulgence I know, but that first night our hearts and stomachs were filled with Western World fat person joy!

We indulged completely in delicious pizza with vegan cheese, Chinese and Thai takeway, and Wholefoods vegan ice cream. We even found Michelin Star Restaurant NIX in NYC that offered affordable Michelin Star food with a separate entirely vegan menu.

The joy we felt from shopping, visiting museums and monuments, and dining out made our 2 week holiday so great.

Though we only saw snow on our final day in NY, we were able to walk through Central Park in both dreary, rainy conditions and bright sunny days and see the lakes frozen over.

The break in the US was exactly what we needed to restock on items we needed, enjoy ourselves to the full and return to Galapagos refreshed and grateful for our tropical island lives.