Fuelled by Wanderlust

Travel is all about the experience and the memories gained. But a critical factor that is often ignored is timing. Being in the right place at the right time can (and does) change absolutely everything.

This is precisely what I’ve discovered about my love affair with New York City. I adore it all the time, but only one time of year made me fall “in love” with the city. And I now make the pilgrimage at the same time each and every year.

December in New York City is as magical a time as any on earth. To be more exact, there is one particular week each year that will ensnare the heart of any traveller. And that is from December 2nd to 9th.

To be present for the world’s largest Christmas Tree being lit in Rockefeller Centre may seem kitschy, but to be a physical part of it is otherworldly. It is now what Christmas “feels” like to me.

Being present in NYC at this time will ensure being able to attend the Radio City Music Hall’s annual “Christmas Spectacular”, which surprisingly is not an exaggeration. The lights, the music and the perfectly-legged Rockettes. I became Little Orphan Annie mesmerized in that darkened Radio City Music Hall with Daddy Warbucks looking on.

A lesser know NYC gem at Christmas is the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. A legend in our time, the Apollo has seen more greats grace its stage than are possible to imagine. And every December, the Apollo puts on incredible Christmas shows reliving the glory days of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald and wrapping it all up nicely with a bow of soul.

Finally, the week culminates with one of the greatest musical history experiences of my life. At any time of the day or night on December 8th, one can venture down to Strawberry Fields in Central Park to partake in the celebration of Beatle John Lennon’s life on the anniversary of his death. Standing side by side with hundreds of fans singing the songs of the Beatles and chanting prose of love and peace and simply imagining what may have been. All the while gazing beyond Strawberry Fields to the Dakota building where Lennon took his last breath.

This is a week filled with wonderment and magic that cannot be replicated in any way, in any other place on earth. The heartbeat of New York City beats within me all year long, but threatens an attack every December if I don’t get my fix.

And from December 2nd to December 9th, there is no where else on earth I would rather be.