My friend John once said, “if you are not exhausted after a visit to New York City, you didn’t do it right.” In the couple of times that I have been to New York, I have left feeling exhausted. I often start my recuperation from New York with a deep sleep on the plane as soon as I find my seat. When I was in New York in September 2018 it was no different. When the time came to head home, I was spent. I was in New York for a week nested between two weekends. So just a couple of days shy of two weeks. It’s hard to do New York City less than that. You need a considerable amount of time to really get into the grove of the city. While I agree with Tom Wolfe that “one belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years” it does take a day or two to get your bearings when you been away from the city.
When I go to New York I try to visit places I have never been before. It is possible to go to New York and visit new places every time you go to the city because there is just so much to see and so much to do. Not to mention that there are constant new developments. So the pictures I took in this trip were mostly from the new places I went to, and also places that are off the beaten track, if there’s even such a track in New York. This New York trip was also special because I experienced the city with a friend from my hometown, Cape Town. We caused all kinds of trouble in the city. It was not enough time. It never is enough time in New York. At the end of our trip to the Big Apple, we promised ourselves that we will come back.
During my New York visit I was lucky enough to be able to visit Fire Island. My friend Stephen, who I met while I was studying at Yale, organised a trip out to Fire Island on my last weekend in New York. The weekend was amazing. Fire Island is another world, a gay Mecca really. It is probably the gayest place outside of San Francisco in the United States I have been to. My time on fire Island was all together too brief. I left the island wanting more, and also wondering it is is that amazing at the end of summer, how is the island when it is peak season. It was a great opportunity to go out there, and I am super grateful to Stephen for organising. It helps to have fun and fabulous friends who understand the need to see the fun places in their city. I have a couple of fabulous pictures from Fire Island with me wearing my Whitney Houston vest and my yellow short with the background of the rainbow flag. It’s the gayest picture taken in the gayest island.
βOne belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.β – Tom Wolfe
