Boston Day 1, NYE in the City! ~ Boston New Year's Eve itinerary

Wednesday, December 31st, 2025

Fitting in one last trip before the year ends! As you know, I am beyond grateful for all of the travel opportunities I've had in 2025, this one included. This year, I traveled to 17 new cities, took 7 round trip flights, visited 6 new states, added 5 new countries, and made 4 trips to Wisconsin. Those are some stats I'm proud of. This trip has been in the works for a while. One of my best friends from Madison moved back home to Boston after graduating, and I finally was able to visit. I coordinated with a few other college friends, Michelle, Josh, and Brian, and they joined me in the Massachusetts adventure.

I had an early flight over that thankfully arrived on time, unlike my other travel companions. I arrived in Boston and at Timmy's front door right at 11am. We had the whole day to explore! I was so giddy and excited to not only see my friend again but to travel this wonderful new city. Plus, I had the best tour guide at my side. First up was an apartment tour, and it was a beautiful place. And not too quickly thereafter, we were on the hunt for some food. While waiting for the others to arrive, we made a plan to visit Newbury, grab lunch, visit a bookstore, and take some photos. It was great having a fellow photographer with me, as my guilt for making others stop and wait for me to get the perfect shot was a worry no more.

We took the train into town, I was already obsessed with the city over the fact they had a good public transport set up. I miss living in Europe deeply, but glimpses such as this brought me back to those fond times and memories. We headed for Newbury because there was a vegan ramen place that we decided on for lunch. And thank goodness we did because it was absolutely divine. It was on Newbury Street itself, one of the stores underneath another store. We sat there for a while eating and catching up, as it had been 6 months since I had seen him last. Far too much time.

Next, we moseyed down the road and stopped at a bookstore. Timmy was looking for a new read and bravely entrusted me to pick him out his next book. I selected Pachinko, one of my favorite reads of 2025 and a phenomenal book about immigration, family, and culture. I picked up a postcard, knowing that was a must-get souvenir for me, and they had lovely options to choose from. We spent so much time at the bookstore because I told Timmy of every book in that store that I read and how much I adored each one, which I called out as a surprisingly large number of books. Reading on average 30 books a year and doing so for 4 years of college and 2 years post-grad, the numbers really add up.

Next up on our day was trying a coffee shop. I was a bit tired from the early morning flight, and I knew I'd need some caffeine to stay up for New Year's tonight, so we stopped at George Howell for an afternoon pick-me-up. This was a highly recommended cafe and they recently opened this new location at the end of Newbury Street. Since it was pretty cold out, we got coffees for there and enjoyed them at the table. Our conversation of choice at this point in the day was a discussion over which was better, Spotify or Apple Music. And that was when I knew we finally caught up on each other's lives, meaning that we could pivot to a good discussion to fill the space. Feeling as though we were back to the college dynamics and conversation, giving me both nostalgia and gratitude.

After almost an hour in the cafe, we left to make our way back to walk through the Newbury neighborhood. It was getting more chilly as the evening neared, but we kept moving, stopping only momentarily for a photo opportunity, but I was dearly enjoying the simplicity of these homes, the avenue mall across the way, dreaming of what this place looked like in all seasons if it was this lovely in the winter. We walked down and back, so that we could cross the Charles River to take us to the MIT campus. Boston is filled with renowned universities, and stepping foot on MIT was a reminder of that. Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and so many more. I have a deep appreciation for academia and I loved feeling its presence laced into this great city.

We walked around the campus a bit until we got word that our friend Brian had landed at Logan International Airport, so we made our way back to Timmy's apartment to greet him. So far, I've had a fantastic day in the city and enjoyed the quality time catching up with a friend I so rarely see. A great day already in the city and now we have a whole another Boston New Year's Eve itinerary coming up!

We hung out at Timmy's place with Brian for a good bit while we planned our NYE evening. We learned there would be fireworks in the Public Garden at 7pm so we set out to arrive there in time to see the show. Back into the city we went. Timmy lives about a 30-minute train ride outside of downtown Boston, but it is a seamless journey to head into the city.

We had some spare time before the fireworks started, and we saw a frozen pond with many patrons gliding across, so we joined them. Sliding, spinning, laughing on the ice before our feet got cold from the contact with the ice and we retreated back to the grass to get a spot to watch the fireworks. As you can expect, a city as extraordinary as Boston would not shy away from a fireworks show. It was spectacular and I especially loved the grand finale. Another moment in which I felt a swell of gratitude in my heart for the ability and privilege to travel and see great people, great places, and great things. After the fireworks, we planned to meet Ally, Timmy's girlfriend, at dinner, but we had some time before our reservation so we walked Commonwealth Avenue, between the trees lit with Christmas lights, dazzling the space above us and making light for our steps forward.

We had dinner at Taco Azul, I went with my most reliable order, rice and beans. I also had a very healthy serving of it and was content with my order, as plain as it may sound. It was lovely getting to meet Ally. We had such a nice dinner and I was so happy that she could join us! Josh and Michelle had finally landed in Boston after being delayed from their original arrival time around 1pm, and they ate at the airport before meeting us in downtown Boston.

What a joy to have the last members of the crew together in Boston! Around 9pm, we met Josh and Michelle just outside of the bar we were planning to hang out at before watching the fireworks show over the Boston harbor at midnight. Big hugs, big smiles, and hearts so full to have my college friend group in front of me, together, exploring a new city. We found a table at a pub to catch up in a lively, spirited atmosphere. I was fueled by both the energy from the pub and the enjoyment of being back with my college friends.

Time flew by at the pub and just like that the hour was approaching to head to the harbor for a second fireworks show. There were so many people gathered, all to celebrate the start of something fresh, the promise of a new year, and I was overcome with a feeling of hope for all that will come in 2026. Both for all that I plan and pray for, and also all I don't know, a possibility I'm unaware of now, but a future just as sweet and purposeful. Happy New Year.