Free Things to Do in New York City: Parks

Even though New York City is notorious for being expensive, there are many free or low-fee activities for the budget wary traveler. Most of your money will go towards accommodation, food, and beverages.

However, several of the green sanctuaries housed amidst towering sky scrapers offer a wide variety of fun, FREE things to do.

Bryant Park: Bryant Park is located south of Central Park, and it is tucked away between concrete giants. Every morning, some kind of class is offered, such as Tai Chi, barre fitness, dance classes, yoga, etc. The best part is they are all completely free!

My first Tai Chi class, and it was free!

Come back later in the day and catch a few songs from a broadway show, hear a pianist sing, play a game, learn a new language, or watch Shakespeare in Bryant Park. Check out the calendar here.

Shakespeare in Bryant Park: Romeo and Juliet

Romeo hiding amonsgt the crowd!

Prospect Park: Take a free cardio or yoga class, go on a nature walk, play games, take a walk, or just relax in this Brooklyn green space. Click here to visit the website.

Central Park: Being NYC's most famous and largest park, there are plenty of activities to satiate one's thirst for experiencing nature. Fantastic running and walking paths wind through the park. Check out Shakespeare in the Park, however, be prepared to stand in line early in the morning to get tickets. See the Met Symphony play or watch performers dance. Listen to a free concert or two, play frisbee, soak up the sun, or row a boat on "The Lake." Don't forget to visit the animals in the Central Park Zoo! For more information, visit their website. Several activities do cost money, but there are plenty that don't!

My run flew thanks to the awesome scenery!

Free Nicki Minaj concert during my run? Yes, please!

The Highline: The Highline is an abandoned elevated rail line turned park. Inspired by a similar French civic project, NYC repurposed these rails to create an oasis in the sky! This is a must do in NYC (the views are breathtaking!).

The flora is native to the area.

Beautiful escape

The parks in NYC bring nature and relief from the hectic, busy lives and buildings that surround them. Make sure to add a visit to any or all of these oases into your itinerary!

3 Reasons Budget Travelers Should NOT Visit Jamaica in High Season

High season in Jamaica is considered to be from December 15th – April 15th. This makes sense, considering the majority of tourists visiting are experiencing cold weather back home. Many people from USA, Canada, and Europe flock to the warmer climates of the Caribbean, but here is why you should avoid Jamaica during this window. If it wasn't for our ridiculously cheap plane ticket ($290.50 RT), I am not sure Jamaica would have been an option.

Cost distribution for Jamaica

Cruise Ship Industry

Cruise Ship docked in Ocho Rios

Every major cruise line from, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian makes stops in Jamaica. Jamaica destinations are also featured from Galveston, New Orleans, and Miami departures. To add to the influx, Jamaica has not one port, not two ports, but three possible ports to dock. These 3 ports lie within 100 km of each other on the North end of the island. The mixture of these impacts makes this island a high traffic area. In fact, of the 6 days we were on the island, there was a cruise ship docked 5 of the days. My point being that all the excursions and attractions are tailored to the cruise ships. Many of the attractions do not open until 10am and close around 4pm. If you have never been on a cruise, when the ship docks, the persons aboard are allowed to leave for X amount of hours. This time usually begins mid-morning and ends mid-afternoon. It is also customary for the cruise lines to offer packages to the customers filling up attractions extremely fast during high season. This makes it difficult for budget travelers to plan excursions.

Transportation

That should read, LACK of transportation. Although this point coincides with the cruise ship industry, it is so frustrating that it deserves its own point.

Most we've ever spent on transport

There are no rental cars available at the ports. Every person coming off the cruise ship relies on a taxi/shuttle to get them to the destination. As a taxi driver trying to make a living, it makes sense they should be fighting over the cruise line people because their time is limited.They cannot afford to skip on rides; they are backed in a corner. The traveler that came by air who can haggle and say no is overlooked and considered secondary. To add to the frustration, the stranded persons coming off the ship have caused the rates to soar. A taxi can cost anywhere from $0.50/km and up with the best deals driving further. The other reason for the high price is that the taxis/shuttles do not hang out at attractions like Appleton Estate, the Blue Hole, or Cockpit Country. They are still at the ports. So if you do happen to convince someone to give you a ride, you have to work it so that they will wait at the attraction in order for you to have a ride home. Look for route taxis (red license plates) to save some money.

Food

Everyone has to eat, it doesn't matter if you are traveling or not. However, cheap eating is hard to come by in Jamaica. Most city hubs such as Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril have restaurants that rival the cost of the average American restaurant. So I end up paying the same price for a smaller portion?  If you enter a place with no prices on the menu, ASK! This country's #1 resource is tourism. It is sometimes refreshing to end a long day with a nice cold one, especially in a tropical setting like Jamaica. The server knows as well as I do a bottle of Red Stripe is not worth $4. Despite all this, we did find some cheap food, usually off the street which you can only try your luck for so long before it catches up to you. Most places only accept cash and although the Jamaican dollar is the national currency, the USA dollar is widely accepted. At the time of our visit, $1 = 115J, but if your meal came out to 2,000J and all you had was American...well they now say $1 = 100J and this little over pay adds up after a couple meals. 

So would I come back to Jamaica? Yes, but I would rent a car and think about mid-April to mid-December time frame.

Compare some of the other places we've been:
3 more days in Alaska was only $500 more!
A 3 day weekend in Chicago was $500 less!