'When my life fell apart, I booked this last-minute holiday. It's the best thing I've ever done.'

Two years ago, I was planning a wedding and a future that looked nothing like my present.

If you'd told me then that I would be sitting on a bench in Central Park — eating a cream cheese bagel with three weeks of solo travel in New York ahead of me — I wouldn't have believed you.

Not because of New York. I've loved that city since I was nine. It was the alone part that seemed impossible

I'd heard people talk about solo travel — how liberating it feels to have complete freedom over your itinerary, what you do or don't do — but I'd always dismissed it. Why choose to travel alone when you could share the experience with someone else?

Then life made the choice for me.

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2023 was the year my entire life changed in what felt like an instant. I was engaged and planning a wedding one minute, and single, living back with my parents the next.

It became both the worst year of my life and one of the most formative. It was the year I cried the most but also became my favourite version of myself.

After the breakup, I threw myself into work. The timing was perfect — work was going well while my personal life was not. I cocooned myself in a comfort zone of going to the office and seeing my family and friends, with nothing pushing me beyond those boundaries.

Then everyone started planning holidays. I was the only single one in my friend group, and they were all going away with their partners. My parents were heading off just the two of them, and my siblings with their single friends.

I felt really lost. What would I do on a solo holiday? Who would I talk to?

One night over drinks, a friend told me about their solo trip to the US in their twenties, describing it as one of the best experiences of their life.

I was Googling New York flights on my way home. Book it and deal with the Big Feelings later, I told myself.

So I did. No itinerary. No plans. Just me in New York for just shy of three weeks, figuring it out.

It's hands down one of the best things I've ever done.

Pinching myself. Image: Supplied.

Loneliness was my biggest fear before I left. It's something I grappled with following my breakup, even in a room full of people.

I'd visited New York before, but only as a teenager with my family. This time, I wanted to experience the city not as a tourist but as if I actually lived there. I got really lucky with two apartments — one in the Upper East Side and the other in Chelsea — both away from the hotel districts and tourist traps.

On my first night, I dropped my bags and went straight to the supermarket. That 20-minute walk was my first taste of New York life. Families spilling out of restaurants. Couples lounging on stoops. I was surrounded by humanity but completely anonymous.

The night I arrived. Image: Supplied.

I'm an extroverted introvert. I love the energy of being around people without necessarily needing to interact with them. There's a comfort in proximity without obligation.

Being from Sydney and still living near where I grew up, there's a good chance I will run into someone when ducking to the shops. But here? Nope.

(Side note: how good is going to a grocery store when overseas?)

Four months post-breakup, I knew it was time to enter the bizarre world of online dating — and when I got to New York, I changed my location.

Dating abroad operates under different rules. There's a freedom that comes with the knowledge that you're just passing through. You're simply connecting with someone new in a city you love, sharing experiences and stories. And if the date is terrible? Well, you never have to see them again.

The dates themselves were more creative, too. Instead of defaulting to drinks at the nearest bar, one Wednesday night, I found myself being led through a hidden door inside a Five Guys, up to a speakeasy bar, followed by an underground comedy show at 10pm.

After everything that happened in 2023, I entered the new year with one rule: be spontaneous. I've never been what anyone would call a "chill girl" — going with the flow has never been my natural state.

But in New York, each day began making coffee, watching the news, and flipping through my Lonely Planet guide I'd picked up at the airport. Between that and TikTok recommendations, I'd choose somewhere to explore. No pre-booked dinners or tours — just whatever I felt like doing that day.

I don't know how I ever thought I could be bored in New York — the same place that has Broadway, Central Park, and the endless streets of SoHo to explore.

I booked a last-minute show and saw Sarah Hyland in Little Shop of Horrors. I went sailing down the Hudson River on a Saturday night. I wandered through museums at my own pace.

And is people-watching not one of life's greatest simple pleasures? I would often find a restaurant or café I'd saved, sit down, and just observe. There was no rush, no compromise. I could just watch New York unfold around me.

Le Dive in the Lower East Side. Image: Supplied.

The thing I feared most about travelling alone was having too much time to dwell on everything that had happened. But that wasn't the case.

It was actually in those quiet moments — sitting on a park bench or having a drink at a bar — that I found myself getting excited.

I was exactly where I needed to be.

Healing doesn't always look like therapy sessions and tearful conversations. Sometimes it looks like eating pizza alone in the West Village and realising you're perfectly content.

There's something special about having someone you can tell everything to and do everything with. But for the first time in a very long time, I got to make decisions just for myself.

Whenever people talk about solo travel, they describe how freeing it is, how it's "good for the soul." I never truly understood that until now.

The joy of deciding whether to get up and explore or stay in bed watching Netflix all day (I did both, and it was glorious). Solo travel gives you time with your thoughts that's often impossible in your regular routine. I reflected not just on the past year but on what I wanted going forward — with no one else's opinions influencing the conversation.

If you'd told me I would be sitting alone on a bench in Central Park — cream cheese bagel in hand with three weeks of solitary New York adventures ahead — I wouldn't have believed you.

It was probably the best thing I've ever done for myself.

Feature image: Charlotte Begg/Supplied.