New York I'm home and couldn't be happier! So many questions as to why I made this decision to return to one of the hardest hit states in the country during this pandemic. My answer is something that probably only a true New Yorker could understand. As a professional Travel Consultant, I guide clients daily on making the best travel decisions, so of course I ran this personal decision through my mind many times before making it for myself.
There is a certain feeling that being a New Yorker creates and a bond to the city that can only be explained by living here - and not just living here but calling hit home. While the rest of the world seemed to fear
our state (even people from it), and many transplants fled from the uncertainty - I had missed my home tremendously while I was away for the last 2 months.
Back in the first week March I left the city for a pre-sheduled visit to my parents for about a week. Every day since then things just kept getting worse and worse and I finally realized that my scheduled return wasn't going to happen. My flight was automatcially cancelled as utter chaos in the travel industry started to take form. A calm visit with family suddenly turned into game time - as I spent most my days on the phone and computer assisting clients with the uncertainty of their travel plans and calming the storm.
By the third week, although grateful to be in a "no case" state (at that time) and with my family, anxiety had started to set in. I felt disconnected from not just my physical home in New York, but from what I considered my community . It sounds odd and is definitely a bit inexplicable, but New York is my home and all I really wanted to do was be there. For a quarter of a century NYC has been where I worked, played and met the most amazing people in my life. It is where I had my first job, founded my own business and learned many life lessons. There is a strength, a love, a passion and a power that New York exudes and is the DNA fabric of what it is to be a New Yorker. I have been thankful and blessed to weather the height of this viral tsunami some place else but to be back just feels right.
As New Yorkers we thrive off the energy of our city, the togetherness of communities and we have been through challenging recovery times throughout the decades and survived - because as it is said we are: New York Tough, New York Smart, New York Strong and quite frankly and simply - I Love New York.