Goodbye unexpected NYC job

With my time here in America coming to a close very shortly, a few days ago was my last day at my unexpectedly obtained job in New York city, and what a surprisingly awesome day it was made all the more memorable by the great people I was working with.

There were talks of 'Friday night after work drinks' at a nearby bar for a small farewell to me, but I only expected a few people to show up really, as I didn't really think I'd made too high of an impression during my 3 months there.

Turns out that that was not the case at all, and to my humbled delight every single staff member came out to wish me good luck and a fare well, making it a very fun and memorable last night! Plenty of beers and stories were shared, and I hope I impressed some of my 'travel spirit' enthusiasm onto a few of the others who, in my view, work far too hard.

I still cannot fathom how it all came about, for 3 months later to be leaving behind one of the personally expansive and most beneficial experiences of not only this trip, but my entire life. To be able to now put underneath the 'Employment history' section of my CV that I've worked in New York City... looks pretty damn cool!

The hangover the following day on the other hand was not welcomed...

Now I'm obviously used to traveling by now, but it turns out that preparing to come home after such a long time abroad is much more work than I originally thought, as annoyingly it is not as easy as 'just pack your bag and go' as I had hoped it would be. There were gifts to buy for friends back home (which of course I left to the very last minute as always), a few 'must see' places still on my list, and a few 'goodbye dinners', and of course the much dreaded packing of the backpack... which after all the gifts is now much more of a challenge than before!
 
First up on the 'must see' list, and recommended to me highly, was the High Line Park in New York City. I had heard so many good things about this place during my entire trip, but I was always under the impression that it was far away... turns out it was about 5 blocks from where I was living!

And wow was it awesome, I cannot believe I waited until one of my last days for this! So for a brief summary, the High Line is actually an old above-street-level train track (think of a monorail really), that I think runs nearly the length of Manhattan actually. It's been unused and abandoned for... a long time I think, so volunteers have slowly replaced all the dingy tracks and machinery with cool pathways, colours, art, and plants, making for the perfect hide away and vantage point for street views.

 

Definitely one for the Highlights gallery.