New York in August: Work, Bagels, and a Bit of Adventure
I just wrapped up a quick solo work trip to New York City—cool weather, a packed schedule, and just enough downtime to explore the city in my own way.
✈ Getting There (Eventually)
This trip started with a hiccup: what should have been a Wednesday night arrival turned into a bleary-eyed 4 a.m. Thursday check-in, thanks to a United Airlines outage. On the bright side, my Houston leg was in first class, which softened the blow.
🏨 Staying in the Flatiron
I stayed at the Freehand Hotel in the Flatiron District. The place had character—modern design, good location—but did try to sneak in an extra fee. Luckily, my company covered it.
☕ Bagels & Pizza (Because New York)
My first morning, I walked to our NYC office, grabbing a breakfast bagel from Gramercy Bagels along the way. It was exactly what you want from a New York bagel—chewy, fresh, and satisfying.
Dinner highlights included East Village Pizza (classic NYC slice vibes) and Tenjou for ramen, which came with a surprise: the noodles and broth were served separately. It took me a moment to figure out the hidden broth compartment, but once I did, it was pure comfort food.
💼 Work That Didn’t Feel Like Work
The NYC office is less “cubicles and fluorescent lights” and more “incubator coworking space,” which made it a great spot for filming some content. I spent time chatting with my coworkers, especially Eunice and Zarif, and enjoyed swapping stories over pizza one night.
The main reason for the trip was to present at a customer training session. Initially, my section of the demo was going to be cut, but the client ended up giving us the final hour—a slot no other vendor (including Google Firebase or Microsoft Power Automate) received.
During the session, the client champion invited attendees to stick around for a deeper dive with me. Seven people stayed, and three of them were so engaged that what was supposed to be 30 minutes turned into a full hour. I showed three demos:
- Star Wars workflow
- Request Router
- Call Forge for AI prompt management
The LinkedIn request router especially caught their attention, they were already imagining how to repurpose it for email.
🎥 Behind the Scenes
After the demo, I headed back to the office with Liam (a newer teammate who’s sharp and detail-oriented) to film a benchmarking short. Later, I walked back to the hotel in the cool NYC air—a small, refreshing moment in a packed trip.
🛍 Souvenirs & Sights
One highlight was The Friends Experience, where I picked up some souvenirs. I also took some time to just sit on a park bench, with two strangers, and watch the city go by. There was something so peaceful about just sitting there, no place to go or be, and just take in the sounds and sights.
🧠 Reflections
What I loved:
- The energy of presenting and seeing people excited about the demos
- Great food (those bagels…)
- Making progress on big work projects even in between events
- Feeling safe and relaxed walking alone at night
What I didn’t love:
- That unnecessary hotel fee attempt
- That there weren’t more n8n employees to interact with.
Overall, the trip was the perfect mix of productive and restorative. I left feeling inspired, connected to my team, and reminded why I love the energy of New York, especially when I can blend work with little slices of everyday city life.
