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I Visited New York City for the First Time. Here’s Why I’m Shocked.

It was a dream... no more.

Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi
Publishous
5 min readJan 8, 2025

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I have wanted to visit NYC since I was a teenager. The obvious reason is that all chick-flick movies were based in New York. Then came shows like Girl Boss and Gossip Girl that showed what it was like to live, hustle, and thrive in the city.

It was a dream to see skyscrapers so tall and feel what those characters felt. The rush of walking between big buildings, seeing the iconic Empire State Building, taking a stroll in Central Park, and seeing fashion all around me as crisp air kisses my face.

In November 2024, I finally got to visit. I was excited about my trip all year and watched so many YouTube videos on recommendations (me being the traveller I am, I see all famous places online but don’t end up visiting them because I know they’re over-hyped).

Looking back, I had fun, but I don’t want to return. Some things look better on reel compared to reality. For me, this was one of them.

3 things I disliked

I’ll lead you through 3 things I disliked and 4 things I liked, just to make it more fun.

1/ The crowd

I say this as coming from the most populated country in the world. Heck, I was in…

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