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I was in New York City with Only Girl just a few days ago and it was a whirlwind two-day, one-night trip that turned out to be an absolutely perfect trip! Here’s what I did:
Here I am about to go to the airport. My “luggage” is over my shoulder and looks exactly like a purse. Because it is a purse.
We landed at 12:30pm and took a cab from the airport to Battery Park. We took the ferry to two islands–Liberty Island and Ellis Island. My maternal grandparents, as single teens and without knowing anyone, left Sweden and emigrated to America in the early part of the 20th century. They met and married in New York long, long ago. I’ve wanted to visit Ellis Island and stand where they stood when their American Adventure began. It was a very moving experience for 
me and I am so thankful that I finally got the chance to go!
After the ferry deposited us back at Battery Park, Only Girl and I walked to the Freedom Towers and took a picture. That was also a very moving experience.
We kept walking north, up Broadway, until we got to Soho and our hotel. Can you imagine us doing any of this with rolling luggage trailing along behind us? That’s why we did the purse as luggage thing. There was no other option.
We unloaded our purses of our toiletries and then walked a few blocks through charming Soho to have dinner with my editor. That was such fun! We laughed and talked our way through a fabulous dinner.
The next morning at 8 (yawn) we met my agent for breakfast at a picturesque French restaurant in Greenwich Village that was about 15 feet wide and loaded with atmosphere. The food was AMAZING. I had some sort of crepe; that’s all I remember. If you’re a regular to this blog you know how disinterested I am in food as a rule. It was really good food, that’s all I remember. My agent walked us through Greenwich Village to the Penguin Building (it takes up an entire block!) and then it was up the elevator to my editor’s office. I had my make-up done and they shot a video, which was pure fun for me (not sure what they’d have to say about it), then Only Girl and I walked back to our hotel to check out (and I washed my heavy professional make-up off and put on my normal everyday make-up) and repack our purses, then we walked back to Penguin for lunch with a ton of people who were very excited about SORORITY SISTERS and seemed very happy to meet me, and I talked more than I ate (ba
d, bad planning on my part) and then, after all that fun, Penguin arranged for a car to take us to the airport at 2pm. Did I feel like a star?
I felt like a star.
But whirlwind? Yes, it was.
Fun every single minute? Yes, it was.
So, in far less than 48 hours, I saw Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Broadway, the Freedom Memorial, Soho, Greenwich Village and the Penguin Building. I ate at two fabulous restaurants, I got to ride on a boat in NY Harbor, and I only had to pay for cab fare once.
Would I do it again?
In a New York minute.
What’s the shortest vacation you’ve ever taken? How short is too short? How long is too long to live out of a suitcase?
The shortest vacation that I’ve taken is the one-night, two-day trip to an amusement park. One day for the rides; another day for the water park.
The longest trip that I’ve taken is the three-week/almost a month trip to my native homeland. Let’s just say that w/o available (for me) Internet, hot weather, and basically not able to drive for myself (given the “terrific” (hear the sarcasm?) traffic there), I was bored a lot.
Thank goodness you enjoyed your trip, Ms. Claudia! Hope you’ll be able to visit NYC again someday!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 6:19 am.
A month! I don’t know if I could live out of a suitcase for a month, and not being able to drive would get old, too. But how fun that you got to visit your homeland! It must have been quite a trip.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 8:58 am.
It has been quite a trip. However, I couldn’t really feel comfortable visiting my hometown, being that the reminder of “being safe” is always at the top of my mind.
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:58 pm.
what a quick but full trip you had! I surely would have brought a change of clothes for a just in case situation- I’m a spiller on my boob kind of person.
Even at Easter dinner, I made a bib out of my napkin and still managed to plop a gob of mashed potatoes INTO my cleavage. sigh
I took a one day vacation/visiting trip to Charlottetown a few yrs ago with a friend. no overnighting,and a 4 hr drive each way. over in the morning, she visited her family , I hung out with my sister and her grandkids, and headed home at nightfall. I still brought “stuff”.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 6:21 am.
LOL Kathy/Cookie, you are just a girl who needs her stuff! Can you imagine what you’d need if you were out and about for a month? I’m imagining the old movies where the heroine has trunks piled next to her and six suitcases piled next to that and she’s holding her little make-up case and a cute purse and is wearing a hat perched delicately on her coiffed head.
That’s how I see you, Kathy. Embrace it!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:02 am.
LOL! I no longer have them, but I used to have 2 hard case makeup cases- the exact kind a woman would have had in the fifties.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 2:23 pm.
LOL, Kathy, I had to chuckle because I did the very same thing! I dropped a glob of sour cream sauce from our potatoes right onto my boob. It was especially funny since I had mentioned a few days ago that my hubby ALWAYS spills stuff on his shirt and I usually don’t.
Thankfully, the shirt I had changed into after church had a busy little pattern on it, so it wasn’t noticable.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:17 am.
With me it’s always salad dressing. I’m a magnet.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:12 am.
HA HAHA! yeah, I’ve learned nevr to tempt fate like that. I had just thought that I should have an apron on when it happened too. I keep one at my sis’s cause i’m always helping in the kitchen but for some reason that day i didn’t.
I was lucky that the blob landed on skin and not clothing and everyone was so busy eating, no one noticed.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 2:26 pm.
The shortest (and really only) vacation I have taken was an 11 day one with my mum and sister. We went to Magnetic Island and had to share I think 2 suitcases (which wasn’t easy). The holiday was supposed to be for 14 days but because the parents of the family we were staying with drank like a fish every day, mum cut it short after 11 days because it was not a healthy atmosphere for us all. As for how long living out of a suitcase, I would have to say for me, it would be anything longer than 4 days. I really don’t like being away from home, so Lord only knows how I will go when I have to go for a sleep apnea test.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 6:36 am.
Oh, yuck! Tough call for your mom to make, but I’d have made the same one.
Ooooh, you’re having the sleep apnea test! I hope you tell us all about it. I’m not sure I could fall asleep in that kind of setting. I hope you don’t have apnea.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:04 am.
I hope I don’t either, but when you snore loud enough to be heard over a television or wake other people up from their sleep with said snoring, then these things have to be checked. Dad however thinks that it might be my adenoids and suggested I try nasal sprays but been there, done that and it did nothing.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:34 am.
At least if it’s apnea it’s very treatable. And wouldn’t it be nice to get enough oxygen to your brain on a regular basis?
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:13 am.
Yeah, I have this weird feeling that it might help with the whole concentration thing because that is like weirdly important for my assignments and stuff. Heck, it could even help with my depression but a large part of that is genetic.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:44 am.
This is what I’ve heard over and over again. That, once diagnosed and treated, people feel so much better! That they’d forgotten what feeling alert and rested really felt like. It’s no fun to have “a problem” but it’s so nice when, if you do, there’s a ready solution. I hope it all goes well for you. The sleeping in the weird place will probably be the worst of it!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:59 am.
Very impressive, Claudia! When does Sorority Sisters come out?
I recently had a 1 day vacation. I was in Austria for work, they lent me a car and I took one day to drive around Lake Constanz. I visited 4 German towns and was in Austria, Germany and Switzerland in one day. I could have added Lichtenstein just to say I could but opted not to. It was a beautiful day and I got to see the lake from every direction.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 7:55 am.
Sorority Sisters, the most magnificent book of all time and in any language, comes out June 5.
What a fun day! It sounds perfect! I would LOVE that mini-vacation.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:06 am.
June 5 – calendar marked!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 5:18 pm.
The shortest trip I ever took was to NY for an overnight. I had a small carry on, which worked great because IV was with me and I could hand it to him and run off to do my editor/agent thing. Otherwise it would NOT have worked.
I think the one day was too short. I always like to see a play in NY and there was NO time for that.
I have yet to go on a too long vacation. Our 2 weeks in Alaska was just right. But we didn’t have to live out of a suitcase since most of it was a cruise. Dragging my bag from place to place daily would get old fast.
Your trips sounds FANTASTIC!! Congrats.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 8:30 am.
Your Alaska vacation sounded so wonderful, but I’m not sure I could live out of a suitcase for 2 weeks, away from my normal routine. I should try it sometime!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:15 am.
Shortest trips I’ve taken have been day trips to shop. No luggage needed since you’re back home for bed. Is nice to go to a new place and see some things you might not find at home and/or get better prices (we went to outlet malls in PA as a ladies church social for one of them). Longest trip was 2 weeks in London and Paris. I think you could put up with suitcase living for longer than that 2 weeks we did, but you’d have to take it easy and keep plenty of variety in what you decide to do (too many museums for example.. and you won’t want to look at another one for months)
Oh, I have walked through NYC with one carry on and a large purse, so did the 2 friends I met there. It was stinking hot too, but we’d checked out of the hotel and still had stuff to do in Chinatown (mainly eat tasty food
. It wasn’t as fun as it would’ve been w/o the luggage, but it worked. I do prefer to go lighter, but I spill, lots including noticeable stains on jeans.. grrr. Next time though I might just plan on buying all new stuff if I mess mine 
.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 8:45 am.
Honestly, I think that’s the perfect solution. Need a new blouse? Buy one!
I think 2 weeks in London and Paris sounds amazing! I may need to make that trip my 2 week vacation “experiment.”
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:16 am.
You should, plenty to see and do. I got to see Buckingham Palace, catch the view from the London Eye, eat fish and chips in a nice pub, watch The Phantom of the Opera at her majesty’s theater, walk in Hyde park, look at the Rosetta stone and heaps of other things at the British Museum, eat amazing french food (watch out they like their meat rare), see the Louvre, go to the top the Arc de Triomphe (sp?)and the Eiffel tower, tour Versailles and Marie Antoinette’s “little palace”, catch some random entertainment on the streets of Paris, eat rose flavored ice cream at a fancy ice cream parlor, grab crepes and espresso and watch the world go by from a cute cafe, plus heaps more. There’s loads to keep you occupied so you won’t have time (or energy) to be too homesick if you don’t want to.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:49 pm.
So glad you two had fun! I did a one day in NYC once, too, but didn’t get in nearly the amount of stuff you did!
I just took the kids on a quickie 2 and 1/2 day jaunt to the beach. Just a taste! But it was a nice change of scenery for spring break…
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 8:58 am.
Oh, yes, just flying to the beach for a quick jaunt–I love that. It’s Only Girl’s favorite vacation and she’s indulges herself at least half a dozen times a year. Indulge! Yes, we all should!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:18 am.
I make a lot of weekend trips. But I take more than a purse, Claudia!
Your trip sounds fabulous. Why didn’t you stay longer?
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:08 am.
Oh, the same old reasons. Money and time. LOL
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:19 am.
I love taking little weekend vacations. I’ve always packed very lightly when going on a trip, simply because I don’t really need a lot. I usually will take one pair of jeans or shorts (depending on the weather), and then different tops to wear with them. I will only take something nicer if we are planning something else. I’m pretty low-maintenance. The hub usually takes longer than I do to get ready. Even when I actually do wear make up, I used to work at Merle Norman, so I can do full makeup in 15 minutes, but it still looks like I have very little on.
I have to say, I’ve never had a vacation where I thought I had lived out of a suitcase for too long.
Although, I will admit I’m usually really glad to get home–for about 30 minutes…..then I realize that I have Mount Washmore (laundry for four people, usually including multiple baseball uniforms) to contend with, after being gone for a week or so. LOL Now that we will likely do some weekend trips as ‘empty nesters,’ I think the mountain might become less daunting when I get back. Usually after any vacation we ever took, I would take a vacation day after we got back, simply to catch up on all of that.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:27 am.
Isn’t that the truth? It’s all the stuff that piles up while I’m gone that is the “cost” of going off to play. Laundry, empty fridge, bills piled on the counter, the raggedy lawn. . . all the things that wait for my return.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:33 am.
I have made a lot of little trips and quite a few big trips. I think the shortest were the jaunts up to San Francisco from LA for the day. It was usually for MacWorld or some other business reason and we would catch the early morning flight, do our thing, eat, might see a little bit of the city, then fly back to LA. No luggage taken, only a satchel for carrying papers and laptops.
My longest trips were to SE Asia (right at 3 weeks) and UK and Europe (3.5 weeks) both done with one mid-sized suitcase and a carryon. The 3.5 week trip was approaching too long, but I was having such a lovely time that I didn’t realize it until I was on the plane toward home and thought “yeah, I am really looking forward to my bed, my cat and my home.”
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:10 am.
That’s so impressive! Being gone for anything close to a month is a LONG time to be away, but at least you get to really see and experience the place you’re visiting. You’ve been so many places! It’s awe inspiring. Good for you, Sheridan!
(I need to get out more.)
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:15 am.
My husband took a very short trip (not a vacation, but for work)several years ago when he flew to South Africa for a meeting. The trip takes about 24 hours! He spent about 48 hours there, then got back on a plane for the 24 hour return trip! I would have taken a few extra days, because, seriously, when will he ever go back to South Africa?!??! He didn’t get to see anything other than the scenery from the airport to his hotel and from the hotel to the meeting place.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:24 am.
Oh, that’s just wrong! They couldn’t tele-conference that? What a waste of time and energy!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:01 am.
By the way.. love how festive and springy it looks in here this morning!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:56 am.
Isn’t it pretty! Spring!! So pretty, so colorful.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:00 am.
Me too! Love those tulips!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:29 am.
What a perfect short trip to NYC. Sounds delightful. My shortest vacation (guess it’s really a day trip): Austin to San Francisco in the morning, lunch and hanging out with my daughter, San Francisco to Austin the same night. I’m a ticket counter/gate agent for an airline. The perks are worth every bag I tag and put on the belt.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:48 am.
That sounds fabulous!! I’d love a quick trip like that. What a jet-setter!
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:34 pm.
I have had a few 2 day vacations like yours. Usually with dh, so that is nice too. They are little breaks and very special in part because they are so short, so there is no “i should be doing x instead” hanging over you. 3 days and 2 nights is about the limit for that kind of mental freedom, it seems to me. Also, as vacations get longer one is tempted to overplan them (at least I am) and they start taking on their own intensity that the shorties don’t have.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:58 am.
You’re so right. There was something very freeing about the trip being so short—it was impossible to over-do anything, and it felt like a little getaway and not so much a Trip.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:35 pm.
We went to sea world for the weekend. I came back with a severe nasty sunburn and an empty wallet but the kids loved it and that was what was important to me:)
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 12:02 pm.
Ouch! I’m sorry about the sunburn, but I’ve been to Sea World and it is a fun time.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:36 pm.
It wasn’t a vacation, but I flew to Birmingham Alabama, got in at midnight, did a book signing the next day, and flew back home. All and all, gone about twenty four hours.
Sounds like you had a great time in NY.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 12:38 pm.
I’ve always wanted to see Birmingham! Sounds like a fun jaunt, as long as you can sleep anywhere. Sleeping on a plane would make such a difference.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:37 pm.
Sounds like you had a great time! I’m looking forward to seeing the video. Every time I’m going to be on camera, I put a lot of make-up on, but it never seems to be enough. They say the camera adds 10 pounds… but it also seems to remove one’s make-up, no matter how much you’re wearing.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 12:42 pm.
It was layers and layers of make-up, which then settled into every wrinkle. Not a pretty sight. It was such a relief to wash it off.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:38 pm.
Oh, that sounds like fun! I’m glad you two had such a good time.
)
The quickest trip I’ve ever taken was right after our wedding. DH was going back to college for a different degree, and he started the week after we got married, so there was no time for a honeymoon. We drove from Boca Raton (FL) to the west coast, St. Pete’s, for two days at a B&B. It was relaxing and fun, and we got to go to the Salvatore Dali Museum, DH’s favorite artist. And there was this fabulous Indian restaurant down the street from our B&B. ( ( Our real honeymoon took place over his Dec break, and we went skiing in Quebec.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:03 pm.
Oh, that sounds like fun! Really, the more I think about it, I prefer short jaunts. I’m all about being relaxed.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 1:39 pm.
Wow, that really IS whirlwind! I once went to Michigan for a lunch date (my publisher sent me), but that’s the only time I ever did something like that. Oh, and when I was a kid, we went to Paris for two days, Amsterdam for two days, and London for two days. Talk about whirlwind! We did see a lot, though.
If I have to spend a night, though, I have to have a small suitcase. I could never make it with a purse. I just couldn’t. I’m amazed that you can do that!
I would have made a lousy flight attendant. *G*
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 4:03 pm.
How fun! Two days in a big city sounds perfect. I’d love to see Paris and Amsterdam—Only Girl is way ahead of me on that.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 5:04 pm.
I liked day trips because you get to leave your home, but still come home to your bed. Being in LA there are SO many things to do during the day. During winter break we had fabulous weather, so we hiked to the Hollywood sign. Then, when they had “ski week” – really a furlough week – we took them to the Fair Oaks Pharmacy in South Pasadena and the Huntington. We’ve, also, gone to Hollywood Museum at the old Max Factor Studio as well as the Hollywood Heritage Museum, which is housed in the barn where Paramount was started. The kids love it.
The longest trip away from home might have been for 3 weeks when one of my younger sisters got married in Montana. It was SO long, and I was SO family-ed out when I got home. I was so happy to be home with my husband. SO happy that our ds arrived 9 months later, lol. With the kids we did a 10 day trip that started in Boston and ended in Williamsburg. It was fun, but we ran out time to see everything that we wanted to see.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 4:06 pm.
Two kids on a 10 day trip—-you’re my hero! LOL Traveling with small children is a whole other blog topic.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 5:05 pm.
LOL, thanks. We started traveling with them when they were young, and they’ve always known what the expectations are. We’ve never had a problem with them misbehaving on trips. My daughter is a MONSTER!!!!! when she has low blood sugar, and I always make sure that I have something that she’ll eat readily accessible. Anytime we’re driving we have books on cd. I think we’re going to have to find something new to listen to since we’ve been listening to Harry Potter because our dd is sick of Harry – and I don’t think it’s appropriate for her (wild imagination) to be listening to the last 2 books.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 6:07 pm.
It’s so great that you’ve given your kids a history of traveling. My hat is truly off to you.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:03 pm.
There is no such thing as too short – we have to grab those adventures where we can. It sounds like you had lots of fun and packed in a bunch of stuff in your two day/one night stay! I like your big purse idea – I think I might have had to sneak in an extra pair of pants!
Vacation and a suitcase – my daughter and I did 10 days in London/Paris with ‘just smaller than carryon type bags’. This involved flying, taking trains, the metro and the chunnel. I built my outfits around a main color and I rinsed in the sink with liquid laundry soap (al-la Rick Steves if you know his travel methods, smiles). Mind you, I was ready for a real clothes washing after that long, but I could have taken less and stayed longer…it was worth every minute of traveling light!
I did 5 days in New York in the same bag, we did the battery park/Ellis Island/Big bus tour/5 shows/coney island/empire state building (I always think I’ll sleep when I get home) and again felt like I could have done it with less.
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 7:30 pm.
I do the same thing—travel with a central color and build around that. It makes clothing choices so much easier. I also wash out my things in the sink, if I’m staying anywhere for more than 3 days. One reason is that I don’t like to pack dirty clothes! LOL
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 9:05 pm.