Destination USA

Ambiance

The temperament of the people in the United States varies quite dramatically with the part of the country that you're in. In the South life is slow and the people are friendly. In the East, the pace can be frantic, worth is typically defined by professional accomplishments, and traditional thought prevails. In the West, liberal thinking is more accepted and quality of life concerns drive decisions. In the North where the weather tends to be more harsh, people are typically more unassuming or down to earth and they treasure the stark natural beauty of the outdoors.

The greatest thing about the US is that there is a great deal of organization, convenience, and economy built into everything. As a result, many things are quite inexpensive. Everything has a schedule that you can usually depend on. There is a convenience store on almost every corner where you can buy stuff. Basic food is available all over the place for cheap and good food isn't very expensive. The police force is relatively uncorrupt. Stores are open all day (no siestas) and some are even open all night. Probably the nicest thing for a traveler in the US is that service is a profession, so every time you're buying something, someone is usually there to help you.

The typical line of thinking in the US is that bigger is better… for almost everything. Whether it's cars, portions of food, houses, hotels, roads, vocal cords, bank accounts, televisions, cities, grocery stores, muscles, or even breasts… the bigger, the better. You could easily fit two or three European micro-mini cars in the same parking space as a nineteen foot long Fold Excursion. When you buy a soda at the corner store, the sizes are large, big gulp, super big gulp, and super-tanker. Houses are 4,000 square feet, televisions are five foot big screens, Vegas hotels have 5000 rooms, Costco (a grocery store) sells pretzels in five pound bags, when you order fast food they ask if you want it super-sized, it takes an hour to drive across Los Angeles, everybody goes to the gym in an effort to get "big", and even the fat people are enormous. Europeans find this particularly amusing. They even get a kick out of how big the distances are between towns.

The US is often perceived by foreign travelers as a dangerous place to travel because of all the violence portrayed in American media, particularly hand gun and gang related. While gun related deaths in the US are approaching staggering numbers, it is really only dangerous in certain concentrated sections of large cities. Many people in the US truly believe that they live in the safest country on earth. If you don't go looking for trouble, it usually won't find you. Nonetheless, it is wise to be cautious and aware in big cities that you're unfamiliar with.

Lay of the Land

The weather in the US varies wildly from one place to another. Hawaii and parts of Florida are downright tropical while parts of Alaska are frozen tundra for most of the year. In the continental US, the Northeast and the Midwest have severe seasons where it's blistering hot in the summer and frozen in the winter. In the southwest part of the country, it's warm in the middle of winter and hot in the summer. The Northwest is beautiful in the summer, but miserably gloomy the rest of the year. The Southeast is hot and sticky in the heart of the summer and mild the rest of the year. Hawaii and southern California have the only really dependable year-round warm climates. The best bet for a traveler is to travel in the north during the summer and move south towards fall and winter.

The US is a huge country and quite diverse in its landscape. The Northwest has oodles of outdoor activities and is home to the beautiful San Juan Islands. San Francisco is a beautifully scenic and metropolitan city. Southern California has many seaside and beach towns. Hollywood is the movie capital of the world. Las Vegas, in the middle of nowhere, is an awe inspiring spectacle of American excess and greed. Hawaii is a renowned tropical paradise with tons to keep a traveler busy. Alaska is a rich wildlife treasure. The Southwest has many unique natural wonders including the Grand Canyon, Zion national park, Carlsbad Caverns, vast deserts, and the unique cactus countryside of Arizona. The Midwest is home to five huge great lakes. Texas is home to the American cowboy lifestyle. New Orleans is the heartbeat of American jazz and the venue for the America's Mardi Gras. New York is a world class metropolitan city. This is only the short list and there are many, many more treasures in the US that are all worth experiencing first hand.

Backpacker Scene

The US backpacker scene has a great deal of potential, but that's about where it ends. Travelers who have trekked around Europe, Australia, or even Southeast Asia will be rather disappointed in the backpacker scene found throughout the US. Hostels aren't the traditional means of accommodation for American youth like European hostels are for European youth throughout Europe. As a result, there isn't very many hostels, only about 400 as compared to over 2000 in Europe… and the ones there are can hardly be called hostels, for the most part.

A hostel in the US is usually a place to sleep - period. Only a select few US hostels even approach the resort-like hostels of Australia. The overwhelming majority are small house hostels or run down city hostels. The sad reality is that there just really isn't that much competition. A US city of one million people might have two or three legitimate, but entirely unremarkable, hostels and a couple other places that don't even deserve to be called a hostel… and that's pretty pathetic. Hopefully, as the US holds a great deal of tourism potential, there will be a dramatic change over the next decade. One note for US citizens thinking about backpacking around the states, many hostel owners won't allow US youth to stay in their hostels… apparently they don't want to compromise their international flavor. I personally think they've got much bigger problems to solve than this. For now, it's backpacker beware and be thankful that inexpensive hotels and motels are actually quite abundant. Mid-week in Las Vegas, you can still get a really nice hotel room at a downtown casino for about US$30.

If you can suffer through the uninspiring hostel selection, you'll find that there are numerous activities to keep a backpacker busy. Each section of the country has many unique activities. Whether is surfing on the beaches in California and Hawaii, island hopping in the Northwest, mountain biking or skiing in the Rockies, living the cowboy lifestyle in Texas, joining the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, risking it all in Vegas, touring the numerous historic sites of the East Coast, or partying all night in the Big Apple (New York) you're bound to find something to keep you busy most anywhere you go. One catch… the drinking age is 21 in the states and they take it pretty seriously. If you're under 21, I'd venture to say that you're backpacking on the wrong continent.

The heaviest backpacker season for the states is from May to September. On average occupancy levels run at about eighty percent of capacity during this time of year, but keep in mind that the good hostels will definitely require booking ahead to ensure a bed. The rest of the year, most hostels are half full at best… especially in the colder climate areas.

Nobody has quite cracked the nut on putting together a good transportation system for backpackers traveling around the US. The US has a problem very similar to that of Australia in that the country is absolutely huge and so it's quite a haul to get around on the ground. Amtrak (the US train system) has some unlimited travel passes that aren't too expensive, but the rail system can't hold a candle to Europe. There's a few backpacker bus companies, but none that compare to the service of Australia's Oz Experience. Flying around the country is a bit expensive, but much more affordable than in either Europe or Australia. If you just want to hit a few hotspots on your way around the globe, I'd recommend flying. If you want to spend some quality time in the states, I'd recommend buying a big inexpensive American convertible and hitting the open road. Gas is cheap, cars are cheap, and the national highway system is second to none in the world… plus you don't have to pay any tolls like throughout Europe or dodge Kangaroos that go bump in the night like throughout Australia.

The best part of the US is that most things are so inexpensive. There's millions of fiscally-challenged college students at every college in the country (which there's a bunch of). To live on the cheap in the US you need to assume the mindset of the average college student. I'd recommend mapping out your journey by connecting the dots between college towns. It's going to be a more enjoyable youth oriented atmosphere in these towns anyways, plus you're more likely to find cheap food and beer every night of the week. It's really amazing how well you can live in the US for close to nothing. It's cheap to get around. Accommodations aren't overly expensive, especially if you're traveling with a buddy or two. The food is dirt cheap, and you can even go out to the bars without it costing you an arm and a leg. Just go where the college kids go.

Avoid the downtown trendy yuppie scenes… all those people are caught up in living the thousand dollar millionaire lifestyle, whereby they valet park the new car that they can't really afford, stand in long lines outside lame clubs, get gouged by US$20 cover charges, and pay US$10 a shot for flavored vodka, all so they can feel like they're living it up. Then they are in utter disbelief when you tell them you're traveling around the world for six months for less than they spend on the weekends during the same six months - they don't believe you and automatically assume you must be some kind of bohemian-disguised trust fund baby.

I'd put a high-end spending cap of about US$75 per day, and you should really be able to get by great for US$50. Since you'll likely be opting for inexpensive hotels quite a bit, your daily spending will be quite different between the solo traveler and a pack of three or four travelers. One other piece of financial advice… I'd recommend penciling in Vegas near the end of your trip or your trip may be shorter than you anticipated.