We might be attempting to move the USA in the next few years so we wanted to get a taste of the USA. If we had one month what route should we take? We are only on a limited budget, any ideas?
Phonetic you are clearly blinded by the USA part of the deal and your not considering the downside is a month with me, it ain't good.
Sorry I don't know where you're coming from so I don't know how to accentuate the unique things my country has to offer and the familiarity that will give you comfort. You should see our cities. San Francisco, our Paris; Manhattan, our London; Washington, our... our... well you got me there but it's an extraordinary place and you haven't seen America until you've been here. You should see our scenery. The Rocky Mountains. New England. The redwoods of northwestern California. A Florida or southern California beach. Arches National Monument in Utah. The bison herds in South Dakota. The swamps of the Gulf of Mexico coastline. You should see what little regional culture we have and how it is tied to its geography, and why it still divides us. The pastoral panoramas of the Confederacy that inspired its people to try to maintain a storybook feudal lifestyle against the pressure of history. The ranches of the endless Southwestern desert, the Mexicans and Indians who still live there and the ghosts of their ancestors who once owned the place. Los Angeles, the world's second-largest Mexican city, and adjacent Monterey Park, the nation's first suburban Chinatown. Kansas, the seemingly prosaic spot that Dorothy left the wonders of Oz to return to. Perfectly cleaned, painted, landscaped, and ordered Wisconsin, a little piece of Germany. Again, I don't know where you're coming from. Minneapolis has the Mall of America, so big it has an indoor roller coaster. Rock stars play to audiences of 100,000 in football stadiums. You can get excellent sushi, dim sum, bangers, bratwurst, pad thai, bool go gi, vindaloo, schwarma, and burritos--all in the same block. But if you want to experience our American National Dish, you'll probably find that it's pizza. Obviously no one could do all of this in one month, especially on a limited budget. But if some of those things are what you need to see in order to make your decision, we can narrow it down.
If you really want to get a taste/flavor of the REAL USA, then you should spend as much time as possible in the smaller cities/towns, not the larger ones. The large cities aren't going to show or tell you much about Americans or America ...it's just lot's of the same type of thing your own large cities have ...lots of people in a hurry, who haven't any time for you. Check it out and you'll find that Americans are probably not much different to you and your folks and friends. We wake up, go to work, spend time with our families, play in the yard, watch tv, bitch about "things" that we can't do anything about, then go to bed. If you go to all the large cities, you'll not get any, or very little, of the flavor of real Americans ...you'll get the people who are trying to impress all of the other people in the big city. I wish you the best of luck, but be careful of making snap judgements about the entire nation by what you find or see in one tiny area of the nation. Baron Max
Stay out of the middle. Stay out of the North in the winter, and stay out of the south in the summer. Matter of fact, just come to Portland, Oregon, the rest is just filler.
i say go cheak out southern small towns, becasue it tends to get pretty cold up north around this time, itsa already about 45 or 50 degress outside here in good old Pennsylavania. But osmewherel iek florida it iwl lbe warmer
Don't know if I can top Fraggle Rocker & Der Baron's suggestions but to get the true taste of the USA drive it. Starting in NYC go south through Philadelphia to D.C. (see all the sites in both historic and great cities) go west through Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis. Stop in Kansas City to see me and make the drive across the heart of the Great Plains: Kansas. Wide open prairie once teeming with buffalo and Indians (Native Americans) Big sky and a neverending horizon. Fields of sunflowers and wheat. On to the Rocky Mountains : Through Denver, Salt Lake City and Tahoe. Yosemite is a world class treasure. Hit San Francisco and take the coastal Highway 5 south along the coast to Los Angeles and end your journey here. I know it would take a wee bit more than a month but you would get a taste of all things Americana. From small towns to prairie, to big cities to coasts.
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! LOL!!! THAT is funny! Would be a great bumper sticker!!!!
you guys are way off. Number One is the Grand Canyon! Can't forget that! Almost all foreignbtourists that come to the U.S. go to see the Grand Canyon. And while you're there, take a short drive up to Monument Valley. Of course you have to also see the Golden Gate Bridge while in san Francisco and glance over to Alcatrazz on your way to China Town. Then while out east you have to see the Statue of Liberty, climb the Empire State Building, and visit the National Museum of Art when in New York City, then on to Washington D.C. to The White House, The Capital Building, the Washington Monument and Jefferson and Lincoln Memorial, and a few days exploring the Smithsonian Institute. Plan on 3-Days in D.C.
Not to mention Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, The Great Plains and Sioux Reservations in South Dakota. There is more to America than what's on the edges! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
East coast and west coast is a good bet. You can travel seattle to L.A. in a week and a half taking in the coastline, and even stop for a little stay in portland if you want (boring... no, it IS really nice). Two weeks would be even better. Yosemite is amazing but can be too crowded. Then pop over to the grand canyon I think that takes about three days casual travel. Then fly straight to new york. I wouldn't mess with the midwest unless you want LONG stretches of nothing, and then some cool stuff. And I do mean LONG. Then pop over to NYC and drop down south for a week and a half, maybe picking up more of the cultural sites. as there are fewer differences in the topography than from L.A. to seattle. Then spend a few days sitting in the sun in florida, although San Diego might be better, depends on the weather and your preference. There is NO possible way that you can see the whole country in a month, and stop to enjoy any of it. Don't make that mistake.
Sounds to me like we hit all the high points for a tourist. Maybe Laguna or Malibu Beach while in Cal. Key West is a neat place to visit, and a drive through the everglades, but that's a bit out of the way. If you drove down the Atlantic Coast to Florida I'd hit Norfolk Bay and Virginia Beach, Cape Canaveral to watch the Space Shuttle blast off, Daytona Beach during Harley-Davidson Week or Spring Break, St. Augustine, the Fountain of Youth, the Alligator Farm, Parrot Jungle, Disney World, and why not book a cruise from Miami to check out our friendly Caribbean Islands?
Since I'm a graduate student, my view of the US is on a shoestring. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! And since I don't know your tastes, I'm just going to give you a view of my experiences. I usually go on road trips with friends and have driven through Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee. I've also spent some time driving around in Florida. I loved all of them, though Ohio is mostly flatland and gets dreary after a while. Pennsylvania and New York State were my favorite drives, New Jersey is pretty nice too. I like lots of trees and mountains on trips since I don't see them otherwise (I'm a 90% city and beach person). New York City and Washington are worth a trip, I really enjoyed the time I spent in Georgetown, since I'm a food enthusiast. I also enjoyed my trips to Lake Erie, the Aircraft Museum in Dayton (OH), the Smithsonian Museums in Washington (especially the American Indian and African Museum), the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky and the Smoky mountains in Tennessee. The New England fall in Massachusetts and the cherry blossoms of Washington are also worth a look if you like that kind of stuff. I spend a lot of time just walking around in new places and trying out the local diners, mostly I like to just see as much of the place as I can in a short time (since I never have more than 3-5 days off at a stretch), so I use city tours and subways in big cities and just drive around using local brochures in smaller towns or trail maps in the interiors. But mostly I enjoyed the time spent on the road. I think that is the best way to enjoy a place as large and as naturally beautiful as the US, with its lush mountains and endless fields and long gorgeous drives. We've spent a max of 12 hours on the road at one point. I always come back from these trips feeling like I've lived another life in a different dimension, with a completely refreshed mind.
The poor guy isn't looking for a dream vacation in America, he wants to get an idea of what it might be like to live here! I hope he'll have some time to take in the sights, and I couldn't resist putting in a couple of my favorites (I'll take Arches over the Grand Canyon any day), but it's more important to see the way we live. Max's suggestion is good, but should be accompanied by the caution that small-town America is qualitatively different from big-city America. Most immigrants settle in the cities because that's where the jobs and the schools are, so he might be better advised to check out our urban environment and our urban dwellers. Genji, Interstate Five does not run along the California coast. It drops down the middle of the godforsaken San Joaquin Valley, a place even we Californians only drive through at night. You take State Route One south from San Francisco along the coastal cliffs to Morro Bay, where it turns inland and merges into U.S. Highway 101 at San Luis Obispo. From there it's a relatively pleasant rural freeway with frequent views of the shore, through Santa Barbara and Ventura and very shortly thereafter into the westward-creeping suburbs of Los Angeles.
This advice is coming from someone who roadtripped the USA all over, crossing it 5 times, been in 40+ states and pretty much seen it all. It is correct that you can not see the whole country in 1 month and if you try to drive around out of your 30 days you would be spending about 10 days in the car on the road, where most of the time you are cruising with 70 mph and wouldn't see much. Also it is very tiring and you can get too much info after a while. So instead of trying to see everything you should either: 1. Fly to 3-4 destinations and see things there. (Let's say 10 days NYC and D.C, 10 days CA, 10 days Gulf of Mexico and FL) Much less driving and you have more time to actually see things. or 2. Pick a bigger geographical area (let's say East Coast) and discover it, leaving the rest of the country for later. Since you are on a limited budget, one cheap way is to use Servas or camping in stateparks. Timing is also important, pick when kids are back in school. If you have more specific questions, fire away..
Yes, if you're on a budget don't come to the USA in the summertime. Unless you really love the deserts of the Southwest, where it's off-season. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Everywhere else (except subtropical Florida) will be full of Americans taking their vacations because their children are out of school, and the prices will be at their maximum. Of course you'll have to schedule carefully and catch the nicer weeks in the spring and fall to avoid spending half your time in dismal weather. Camping out was an excellent suggestion. I don't think any national, state or county park charges more than $20 per night and most of them are less. "Sleeping under the stars" is not common in America except for the young and penniless and the hard-core outdoor enthusiasts--although nobody's going to tell you not to as long as you're doing it in a proper campground. If you don't want the infuriating and time-consuming hassle of a tent you can probably rent a "camper" or what the British call a "caravan" assuming there's no problem with international licenses, insurance, etc, and assuming that your family group is small enough to fit inside one at night. If you opt for more conventional lodging with beds and a roof but still need to minimize expenses, you will have to make plans in advance to deal with that challenge. Use the internet to reserve rooms in advance at the most economical motels and the few economical hotels that are not cockroach farms. American prices are no longer astronomical in comparison with Western European prices, but they are still no bargain. Food is exhorbitantly priced in America. If you plan on dining in cafes and restaurants you will probably spend at least $40 a day per person--without wine or cloth napkins. Even grabbing Big Macs and Egg McMuffins will cost $15--and perhaps leave you with some very boring and unpleasant memories of the USA. If you shop in the grocery stores, especially the big supermarkets, you'll find a vast assortment of food you can eat without the resources of a complete kitchen, at affordable prices. Fresh fruit, bread and a cornucopia of baked goods, canned and otherwise preserved meats and vegetables, packaged sandwiches and salads. Even prepared meals that only require heating in the microwave ovens that many hotels and motels provide in their lobbies or guest rooms. If you like soft drinks, buy them in the market and keep them in an ice chest in the car. Next to "designer water" and the candy-flavored brown broth Starbucks calls "coffee"--and please tell me you don't drink those--they are the most overpriced commodity you can put in your mouth if you buy them in serving cups or from vending machines. Another advantage of camping is that you can cook your own meals, either on a propane stove outside your tent or on the range inside your camper/caravan. If there are just one or two of you... We Americans are not a totally inhospitable lot. There are people who will rent you a bedroom in their home, and maybe even feed you at the family board, just like in regular countries. Especially now, with our economy not in terrific shape and many people struggling to make do. Check out craigslist.org for advertisements of this nature. You will have to learn to navigate the website and perhaps adapt to American dialect, but it won't be difficult. One last thing: Each country has its own culture regarding the combination of alcohol and automobiles. American laws are not consistent from state to state but in most of them you should simply not drive if you've had more than one drink in the last hour or more than two in the entire evening. And don't carry an opened container of beer or any alcoholic beverage in the car--even one that looks empty but isn't quite.
You mean, "If you like the deserts of the Southwest whether its "on" OR "off-season" Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Luckily, I live up in the mountains in Arizona near Colorado where the temperature is already dropping down to freezing. I certainly wouldn't recommend any visitor to enjoy a nice drive through the Sonoran or Mojave Desert to enjoy the beautiful saguaro cactus. And the last place that any Eastern tourist (especially Asian or Oriental) would ever visit is "Death Valley"! Don't even mention such a place.
