Being in Manhattan on 11th September 2001

Setting the Scene

I realised the other day it was going to be twenty years since the terrorist attacks in New York on 11th September 2001. It was not something I had thought much about in recent years. It was though an event that has had a big impact on my life, and I have been reliving my memories a lot over the last few days. 2001 was a big year for me. I was twenty-two years old and I had graduated from University in June and was planning to be away from home for at least a year, travelling and working in the United States, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Thailand. I started my trip in late June flying into New York and taking a bus out to Lake Greeley Camp in Pennsylvania. I had done two previous summers (1997 & 2000) at the same camp and it was a place of real magic for me. It was my second summer as the Tennis Director and we had five brand new courts to use. I had two friends, John and Rob, from my University also at the same camp. My girlfriend at the time also worked at Lake Greeley. It was a fantastic time in my life. John and I travelled together for the North American part of my travels and we stayed on at the camp for an extra two weeks after the children had left to pack up and earn a bit of extra cash for our travels. We then went to Toronto via New York to stay with my Aunt for ten days. We then headed back to New York.

September 10th

John and I were staying at a hostel on 20th Street, about a mile from the Twin Towers. My friend from school Matt arrived in New York and we met him at Port Authority (Bus Terminal). It was in the days before smart phones and it was quite a challenge coordinating the meet-up but we found him in the end. The three of us were now due to travel together for the next month in the United States. We enjoyed the evening taking in the sights and even bumped into a friend from university in Times Square who was flying home to the UK the next day (she made it on one of last flights out of New York). My girlfriend was in Boston at the time and was due to make an internal flight to Atlanta the next day. 

September 11th

We were planning to leave New York for Washington DC in the afternoon and our last bit of sightseeing was going to be a trip up the Twin Towers after we had picked up our bus tickets. As we were walking to Port Authority, we kept hearing the same thing about a plane hitting the Twin Towers but generally in New York you keep your head down and don't engage with people who talk to you on the street. Eventually we turned around to have a look and did see smoke coming out of the top of one the towers. As we walked we started to speculate what had happened. The idea of terrorists flying a plane into a building had never entered any of our heads. It was interesting watching documentaries over the years and finding out that the architects of Twin Towers did build them to withstand being hit by a large plane. We arrived at Port Authority and the place was in chaos but we managed to somehow buy some tickets for that day to Washington DC. We also found out more about what had happened, including that the second Tower had also been hit. Matt was particularly concerned as he had a friend who worked in the one of the Towers. We headed back to the hostel to get our bags and the streets were a place of panic. We checked out of the hostel and now were walking around with our big rucksacks. We went back to Port Authority and found out the Lincoln Tunnel was closed and were unable to leave Manhattan that day. Fortunately Matt's friend was not working that day but she was in a state as had lots of colleagues and friends who worked in both Towers. She kindly offered to let us stay at her apartment for the night and we headed to Upper Manhattan. I remember going to a bar that night and everyone was just in shock and trying to watch the news and find out what had happened. We slept that night in the hallway of the apartment. 

September 12th 

On the news we found out that a van with explosives had been found close the bar we had been at the night before. We did not know where the next attack could come from and was tough to know where was safe to go. We also wanted to get news to our families to let them know we were OK. I was also concerned about my girlfriend as one the planes involved in the attacks had departed from Boston. We decided to leave Matt's friend apartment and managed to find a hostel in central Manhattan. We then headed back to Port Authority to find out about travel options and change our tickets. To do this we had to go into a lower level basement area and join a large line of people. Suddenly we heard someone shouting 'bomb', so we just grabbed our bags and started running. I can't recall a scarier moment in my life and once above ground in a coffee shop it took some time for my heart to recover to a more normal beat. 

The Remainder of my Trip

After three days we eventually were able to take the bus and leave Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel and went to stay with a friend in Washington DC. We had managed to communicate with our families and I had made contact with my girlfriend and she was safe. The rest of our time in the United States was a strange time as the country was clearly in a collective shock. A big part of me wanted to head home but I decided to carry on with my travels and made it to nearly all places I had planned to go. I had a one year working visa for Australia but I decided by Christmas I wanted to go home and skipped the Thailand part of my trip too. So I arrived home on 30th December 2001. I had no job and very little money and unsure of my next move.

My Reflections After Twenty Years

I had experienced a certain amount of adversity in my life up until the Twin Tower attacks but had never previously experienced anything like the range of emotions I felt over that period of time. Recalling and reflecting on those events twenty years on is an important step for me to take personally and I hope one day my four year old daughter will read this blog. As tough as an experience as it was to go through I think it has served me well in other challenges I have experienced over the last twenty years. I can draw great strength from managing to cope with the challenges that arose. My thoughts are very much with anyone who was affected by the events of that tragic day and I hope that you have been able find ways to come to terms with what happen.