I'll start by saying that I spent the whole summer working as a lifeguard at a pool in a small town where there was nowhere to go, and transportation was a nightmare. I worked 63 hours a week, which, given the low lifeguard salary and lack of reasons to spend money, allowed me to save up for a big trip. I came to work in America without a group of friends, tried to make friends with someone to travel with, but everyone had tickets for the beginning of September, so I had to do everything myself.

My first trip was in the middle of summer. I asked my company for a week of vacation and went to New York. During that week, I found a day to go and see Niagara Falls. Since it was only the beginning and I had no travel experience, I didn't book accommodation online and didn't really know what or where I needed to see in New York. By a stroke of luck, I met a Mexican-American guy who worked at my pool in landscaping, and he was also heading to New York, so he helped me get there and also helped me find a hostel; I booked a week. Then I asked him to take me to the Empire State Building and buy a city map. Then I said goodbye to him and was left alone. The next day I went to Central Park. I lived in Upper Manhattan and went to the upper part of the park, and after half an hour, I successfully confused south and east. It's a good thing there are so many rickshaws there. One of them was Ukrainian; he said he would take me for free and help me get out. He drove me through the park, took me to Columbus Circle, and explained how I could get to the Statue of Liberty. I had already learned that you can take a free ferry to Staten Island. I also found out where the bus station was, where you could buy tickets to Niagara. So I took the subway to the station, got out, and couldn't find it. It's a good thing a guy helped me get to Greyhound and buy tickets, and I already knew that the next evening I was heading to the falls. When I was riding on that bus all night, I was so cold. I was so glad I wore jeans. The air conditioning on those buses is hellish. But strangely enough, I still use that bus company. I arrived in the morning before the attractions opened. First, I sat in the park, then I noticed that everyone was moving in one direction. I walked over and realized I was so close to the falls. I liked it so much, it's such beauty! Throughout the day, I only used 2 attractions, otherwise, I just walked around and went to cafes. That's how I spent the whole day. My bus back was at 10:30 PM; I specifically bought those tickets to have time to see the falls at night.

Then, returning to New York, I just walked around, rode the subway, and looked around. The biggest downside of traveling alone is that constantly asking people to take your photo gets annoying, and you don't always find people who agree.

As the week ended, I got on a bus and went to Washington, and from there I arranged with acquaintances that they would pick me up (thankfully, by that time I already had acquaintances, because the summer was very slow until I met them). So, I arrived, and it turned out they were still in Ocean City, which is at least another 4 hours of waiting, and I had a huge bag. I decided to wait for them at Union Station. I waited and waited, and since there are so many homeless people in Washington, they were all asking for money, and then towards evening, when it got dark, one of them came up to me and said they had a place to sleep! I was very surprised, but it was still very sweet of them.