A little under three weeks ago I set off on a journey to the United States. This was my first visit in over twenty years, and when counting countries, I’d always included the US as I had actually been to San Francisco when I was 6 years old. But this trip to New York City was an opportunity to ‘officially’ check the USA off my list seeing as I was returning for a 2nd time (seasoned USA pro traveller, of course!)
My plans were simple yet thoroughly loose, as is always my neglectful style. In other words, yet again… I hadn’t prepared ANYTHING for this trip! I was flying into JFK on the 18th of September – arriving very late – and I was meant to be heading across the city in order to find my way to Greenpoint Lodge in Brooklyn as the folks who run the place had very kindly offered me a complimentary stay in one of their beautiful boutique rooms.
I was flying with British Airways and due to the fact I was departing from Dusseldorf, I first had to layover at Heathrow before making my onward journey to JFK. It was a rather surreal feeling to know I was going to be transferring in my own god damn country! That’s a first. Whilst on the initial leg of my journey I got chatting with an awesome couple, whose names totally elude me right now (nice one Anthony). Anyway, the dude was from New Zealand and the lady was from Germany, so if you’re reading this, you know who you guys are and thanks for the awesome company!
The first snag on this adventure came when transiting in London. Now I don’t know whose fault it was, and I’m not about to point the finger of blame at anyone but let’s just say I was sitting on that plane for best part of an hour after we had landed, waiting for ground staff to come and give me assistance. Prior to landing, me and my new Kiwi buddy were taking bets on whether or not I was going to make my connection. He was quietly optimistic that I would make it. Well, I can now say that I totally missed my flight and I wasn’t allowed to take the last available flight of the night as by the time I would be landing at JFK, the ground staff there would no longer be operational.
Although I was disappointed to be missing the first day of my trip to NYC, my feelings of disgruntlement were quickly relieved as the brilliant staff members at the BA connection desk at Heathrow were able to reschedule me onto a flight the following morning and further to this, they also put me up in a 5* hotel called the Sofitel, which is perfectly situated within terminal 5. Not only did I have a luxury hotel room, but I was also treated to a free evening meal and breakfast. Not a bad way to make up for a missed flight. It also meant that I would landing in NYC shortly after midday on the 19th, as opposed to just before midnight on the 18th.
I’d like to apologise to Greenpoint Lodge for missing my stay with you guys and I’m also sorry we were unable to reschedule something for later during my trip. I really appreciate the efforts made though and purely based on pictures from their website, plus guest reviews and their overall customer service, I would truly recommend the Greenpoint Lodge should you ever find yourself looking for place in New York. Check out their website here: greenpointlodge.com/blog – although just a heads up for my fellow disabled travellers, the Greenpoint Lodge is unfortunately not wheelchair friendly.
Up next: Flight to the US + first two nights in NYC
