If you’ve followed me for any length of time, be it on the blog or other social media, then you should know by now that London is my favourite city in the world. I was very fortunate to have been born in the city, spending a chunk of my childhood there and I still very much think of it as home.
I had the luxury of hosting Haleigh in England recently and I was particularly keen to show off London. It was nice to be the host rather than the traveler for once.
I moved out of London in 1997 so I’ve spent most of my life in Peterborough but whenever I’m asked where I’m from I always throw in a little disclaimer – “I live in Peterborough but..”
“I’m from London..”
“You haven’t lived there in 21 years Jason – stop saying that!”
It’s true though. It isn’t meant as disrespectful of Peterborough but I don’t know if I’ll ever feel that same pride that I do for London. I’ll always think of London as home and the reality is I’ll probably never even live in the city again (although if you’ve got a few million spare give me a heads up).
The interesting thing is as a traveler, you’re regularly asked where your favourite place is and as tough as that can be to answer genuinely, it does often lead to me throwing in another disclaimer.
“Excluding London my favourite..”
“Excluding London? So your favourite place is home?”. It does somewhat make a mockery of the question. I’ve visited several places now and perhaps that’s one of the motivations and reasons I travel so much. London sets the standard so keep traveling until I find better, right? I’ve never said London would always be my favourite place in the world and I’m happy to be proven wrong: enter New York City!
I love big cities and if there was anywhere that could challenge my love of London, surely this was the one? A city full of culture, history, diversity and a city that supposedly never sleeps – NYC was my dream destination to visit and one I had high hopes for.
Come June 2016 I was finally visiting for the first time with my friend Kelly. Kelly is my fellow travel-obsessed friend and the chance to go and visit a mutual friend (Pran) who lives over there was as good a reason as any to travel, not that either of us need much excuse. So off we went to NYC for a week!
At this point in time I’d been to the likes of Sydney, Berlin and Amsterdam and whilst worthy challengers I’d yet to be convinced on a London successor to earn the title of “best place in the world”. Could NYC finally surpass London’s high standards?
Stay tuned to find out. NYC part one is next on the blog!
Jason
Jason likes to travel 
Pukka!
I look forward to hearing how the Big Apple stands up to London, Jason!
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Thanks Nick, hopefully won’t keep you waiting long 🙂
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I spent a winter week in New York about three years ago and loved every minute of the trip but I also lived Sydney a lot as well too. Looking forward to your upcoming post.
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Both are incredible cities. I loved Sydney too, definitely due a return down under! I’d love to see NY in the winter too, must have been very different to my June experience haha.
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Can’t leave me in a cliffhanger like that! I need to know. Haha. I’m from the UK but I’ve never been to London. Now I live in Sweden everyone asks me if I’m from London and I’m like ‘no, not everyone from the uk comes from London’ haha 🙂
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Haha I’ll hopefully get some follow up NYC posts up soon to appease your curiosity!
More importantly though, how have you not been to London!? Next time you’re in the UK you have to go! Haha.
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Good! Haha, I don’t know I just never have! Actually I tell I lie, I went to a wedding party once near… Ruislip?! But that’s it! I really want to go to the Science museum and Harry Potter!!!
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Haha, no idea where that is. I haven’t been to the science museum since I was a kid so I need to go back. The Harry Potter tour is REALLY good, although not actually in London. I’d recommend a visit though 🙂
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I completely understand this! I haven’t lived at home (Muskoka, Ontario) for over 10 years now but if someone asks me my favourite place to be, it’s still there! We go back just to go camping and enjoy the beautiful scenery every summer.
Britt | http://alternativelyspeaking.ca
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I’m glad you understand too. I bet going back every summer is wonderful. I’ve yet to visit Canada but hopefully I’ll get there soon 🙂
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Nothing wrong with your hometown being your fave. New York City is a gorgeous place. Lots of rich history. Wow, you’ve been all over the place!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
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Absolutely! Haha, I’ve traveled a bit but there’s still so many places I need to visit. Plus others I need to return to.
Thanks for the comment 🙂
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If you were born in London, you will always be a Londoner. Don’t worry dude, I got your back!
Being a Londoner myself, I can definitely relate with feeling a sense of pride for my city. I’m reluctant to move away from my parents because the reality is that it just so darn expensive to live anywhere else in London!
I absolutely love NYC. I’ve been twice now and each trip I discovered something new and exciting! The food scene there is insane, as well. I ate SO well when I was out there.
Looking forward to reading about your trip to NYC 🙂
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Haha, thanks for having my back! I can definitely understand the reluctance to move on. Enjoy it as long as you can!
I’d definitely love to go back to NYC but a week was a good amount for a first time visit. As you say, the food is really good over there!
Hopefully I’ll have the first post up over the weekend 🙂
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Yay! NYC is a lot closer to me than your other travel journeys so far. Can’t wait to read about your exciting adventure in NYC.
💗 Alexx | Aesthetics by Alexx
https://aestheticsbyalexx.com
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Haha it is! At the beginning of 2016 I’d only been to one state (Florida). I’ve now been to 12 with NYC being my third so the US will get a bit more of a mention in the coming months 🙂
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HI Jason,
NYC is an amazing place! I used to go every 6 weeks or so for a few years while living in Florida and dating a guy in Brooklyn. That was the best because I got to do the “non-touristy” things. You could probably spend 5 years there and never see it all. Loved it!
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Ah, it’s cool you got to visit regularly and also experience some non-touristy things too. We were a little fortunate as our friend lives in Brooklyn so we were able to see some less-touristy stuff too.
You’re right about never being able to see it all too, makes going back all the more exciting 🙂
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You’ve got me itching to go back to NYC!! Great post!
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Thank you! I’m glad I was able to tempt you back, I’ve got a few more NYC posts to come too so maybe I can tempt you further.
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I want to visit NYC during the summer months as when I went during the Christmas period, temperatures were hitting as low as minus 15 degrees at midday!
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I hope you can visit one summer, definitely a great time to visit! I’d love to go back and experience it in a different season too as I’m sure it’s quite a contrast dependent on what time of year you go 🙂
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