2023 was definitely not a prolific year for Spacewocket. However, it is, by far, the year that we did the most in real life. Between the celebration of our 20th wedding anniversary in the Belgian Ardennes, our trip to New-York and the construction of our new gaming rigs we’ve been more busy this year than ever!

Since the big “house in the country move” was a bust, we decided to rain sparkles over our apartment city life. And, oh boy, NYC was perfect for that.

We’ve stayed 10 days and we had a blast from the first minute to the last. Visiting it in September is perfect, the autumn vibe is right around the corner but the temperatures are still very soft and there is left tourists than in summer.

My best advice, if you go to New-York, is to plan an entire day for Dumbo, Central Park and Coney Island. These are the places that we’ve loved most and I really think that they deserve an entire day.

Don’t listen to people saying that NYC is dirty, unsafe and filled with hobos, it’s absolutely not true. We felt safe the entire trip and New-York is one of the cleanest city I’ve seen so far. Another myth to debunk is that the food is bad. Of course, if you don’t get prepared and rely only on food trucks, you won’t have a great culinary time. However, there are great places to eat all over the city, you just have to make a little research before your trip because most of those places are hidden.

The best way to enjoy such a gigantic city is to make a list of all you wanna see and group everything by neighbourhoods, so you don’t spend your days travelling from one place to another. For example, you can take the ferry from Manhattan to Dumbo (4$) and spend the day walking around. When the evening comes, have a few beers at the Evil Twin Brewery, then eat a pizza at the infamous Juliana’s. After night fall, walk the Brooklyn Bridge toward the Manhattan skyline, most tourists will be gone.

The same goes for Central Park, you can end a good day hanging in the park with a good beer and a burger at the nearby Thompson’s. The place is hidden inside a super chique hotel, don’t be afraid to enter!

We’ll miss New-York as much we’ll miss having such a trip ahead of us. 2023 is definitely a special year, and it’s not over yet!

Questing in the Broken Isles without flying reminded me of those old times, when flying in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor wasn’t even possible. I remember that both zones were so huge that having to travel without Flightmaster, Zeppelin or Ship required a lot of time. A few weeks ago, I took my hunter out for a little test: let’s cross the entire Eastern Kingdoms with a ground mount (no flying!), passing through each zone and capital city.

Something I’ve learned out of this experience is that I completely forgot that not every zone has a path that leads to the next one. Sometimes you have to return to the previous zone to be able to travel to another.

Anyways, my adventure started North, in Silvermoon City, traveling all the way down to Stranglethorn Vale… I barely go to Silvermoon City, there is no special reason for that. Maybe is it its misfortunate location or the fact that I always get lost overthere, but I don’t really feel attracted to the Blood Elven Capital.

Upon my arrival, I noticed the red carpet and couldn’t stop but think: oh guys, you shouldn’t have…

From Silvermoon City, I traveled instantly to the gloomy Ghostlands. A beautiful and eerie forest that I remember keenly from when I leveled my hunter. Next on my path was Eastern Plaguelands… I passed through the entire zone before reaching Light’s Hope Chapel. A bit too Alliance for my taste so, I quickly moved on to the Western Plaguelands.

Once I arrived in Andorhal, I visited the local Inn. I cannot recommend this place cause that crazy Undead Innkeeper likes to do weird rituals that, in his opinion, are completely harmless. Don’t believe him, he’s a madman! After my successful escape I ended up in Tirisfal Glades…

I quickly payed my respects to our new Warchief in Brill. I don’t know if she likes flowers though… maybe she would have prefered a human sacrifice but hey, we’re in Tirisfall Glades, all I could find were scruffy looking dead things… After that I headed for Silverpine Forest, passing through Undercity.

I love Silverpine Forest and it’s magnificent trees, not to mention the pumpkin patches! It makes me dream about my favourite season of the year: Autumn and Halloween… I’m already counting down to the most wonderful time of the year. While wandering around like a tourist, I spotted the beautiful Ruins of Gilneas in the distance…

Well, all I can say is this: not so friendly these Worgen. Wolves make excellent pets and when I tried to tame one of them, he started poking me with something that resembled a toothpick. What a waste… So, on I went, passing back for a bit through Gilneas and Silverpine to get to Hillsbrad Foothills, followed by the Hinterlands. Here is where I made my first mistake. I had completely forgotten about the fact that you can’t pass from each zone to another. This is exactly what happened here: I couldn’t find a path that lead from Hinterlands to Arathi Highlands so, I had to run the entire way back to Hillsbrad to be able to go to Ararthi.

While getting lost, I stumbled upon this cranky Dwarf with red glowing eyes. We shared a few jokes (mainly about exploding the wrong things) and ended up exchanging Engineering recipes for dynamite and fireworks. I asked him to join me on my trip, but he declined politely so, off I went to the Wetlands.

It was easy to go from the Wetlands to the Twighlight Highlands. Since I’ve never done any Archeology in Cataclysm, I thought it was about time to do something about that. So, I started digging up some fossils before my departure to Loch Modan. Once again I had to first go back to the Wetlands to be able to travel to Loch Modan. From there I passed through the South Gate Pass to go to Dun Morogh.

I had looked forward to the moment to sample some of those famous Dwarven Ales. Unfortunately, the Guards at the main gate of Ironforge seemed to be pretty on the defense when it came to sharing their brews. They sapped me and started poking me before I could unmount. Well, I guess I could see that one coming. After all, they’re Alliance… After I one-shotted them, I left this unwelcoming place.

Next on the map was Vashj’ir… it quickly proved impossible to get there with my Waterstrider as I died due to “fatigue” on every attempt.

So, I went back to Loch Modan to go to the Searing Gorge. From there I passed through Blackrock Spire to go to the Burning Steppes, followed by the Redridge Mountains, Elwynn Forest (Goldshire and Stormwind) and Westfall.

When I wanted to go and admire the pumpkin patches in Westfall, I noticed these huge walking scarecrows that haunt their grounds. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that there were no pumpkins… these abominations probably trampled them all. I wonder what kind of idiot came up with the creation of these stuffed machines. I could probably teach him a lesson or two about Engineering.

From Westfall, I could easily travel through Duskwood and the Deadwind Pass, to arrive shortly after in the Swamp of Sorrows.

Upon my arrival in the Swamp of Sorrows, I met up with the local Wind Rider Master, Breyk. I tried to explain him that he shouldn’t wave around with his spear like that when he talks, after all, it’s not a toothpick. But, he wouldn’t listen so, I gave up and left for the Blasted Lands. From there, I couldn’t find a road leading to Stranglethorn Vale so, I had to head back to Duskwood to reach this Goblin infested place.

Like they say: where there are Goblins, there are treasures. I had stumbled upon a big one, but from the look of the skeletons, it seemed to be cursed. So, I’ve left it where I’ve found it. Knowing these Goblins, you never know where these trinkets and coins have been. And… that’s where my journey ends.

While writing this post and checking the map of the Eastern Kingdoms, I realized that I’ve completely forgotten the Badlands. I don’t know how I could have, but I did… too bad ;p The entire traject, with stops for screenshots and running back and forth for finding rideable paths included, took a bit over two hours in total. Two hours of pure nostalgia. I definitely should go back more often!